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WaruiReview: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse

Started by Jango, May 21, 2010, 02:01:51 AM

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Jango

Intro:
Admit it, you bought this game because you wanted the Max hat in Team Fortress 2 (in addition to the exclusive weapons which turned out to be reskins of the Scout's Pistol and the Spy's Revolver)... okay that was my knee-jerk reaction too. Although for what it's worth, I was at least vaguely familiar with Sam & Max prior to this event. Okay I just watched a few episodes of the TV show, happy now?

So unfortunately, when it comes to reviewing these games, I am going to be reviewing it without taking into context any of the Sam & Max games before it (except for "Abe Lincoln Must Die" which I started after playing through this one). With that said, I hope to review every game as it comes out.

Jango

Intro:
The way this game is set up is like Grave of the Fireflies but not in WWII-ravaged Japan, and a hell of a lot funnier.



Gameplay:
It's an adventure game. You walk around, look for common items to pick up, and talk to people for more information on what you're supposed to be doing. So what makes this different from the other experiences? It's self-aware and funny as hell. Characters mock you for wasting their time by asking them questions, the main antagonist states that he's looking for a tool that will help him solve puzzles using a combination of everyday items, and Max at one point tries to use your car and the tools in it to set up an adult phone service for rabbits. It's crazy but it works.

As far as the controls go, movement is oddly enough controlled like in a Valve FPS, although everything is viewed in the third person. You use W,A,S, and D for your movements, and you often have to hold a combination of one or the other to get somewhere, and you click on stuff with your mouse to investigate. If you're headed to a doorway, you can click your mouse again to make Sam break out into a run. So it's not strictly point-and-click per-se.

Then there are Max's toys. You get four in this game, although only two of them actually get much use. The ones that you will use strictly for the intro are Rhinoplasty, which turns Max into a copy of whatever image is on it, and a deck of playing cards, which lets you read someone's thoughts. Unfortunately these are horribly underplayed as you'll find out soon enough. Your main toys however are pretty inventive. Future Vision (in the shape of an old viewfinder) lets you point at certain things and see what can or will happen. Sometimes it's a hint on how to prevent something, sometimes it's a clue in the right direction, and other times it's just some weird random occurence that won't help at all but are funny distractions. The last toy is a phone that lets you teleport to any phone you know the phone number to. The teleportation one is quite interesting in that for solving several puzzles, you have to think out of the box in how to use it. I'll give you a hint, when you get it, the description is more literal and flexible than you think it is.



Graphics:
Nothing overly complex, and they probably give off a better cartoony vibe than most cel-shaded games you see on the market nowadays. There are some problems on the lower graphic settings though where you'll see some weird lighting spots in some instances of low light (ie: Momma Bosco's lab)

Sound:
The music is pretty well-done, but nothing memorable.

Rehash Value:
Could be but I haven't played much of the earlier ones lol.

Plot:
You start off at the end of the story where you knock an evil gorilla overlord named General Skunkape into an interdimensional prison called "The Penal Zone." It turns out this is the result of Sam seeing the future with a toy he found, but then Skunkape shows up promising... peace?

Difficulty:
Most of it should be pretty easy at first, but a lot of the puzzles involving the teleport are a bit tricky at first simply on the grounds that you have to really be able to think differently when using it, as I mentioned before. Others just involve some clever things that aren't obvious at first but make sense.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Final Thoughts:
I really hope that the other two toys get more playtime in Episode Two, but this one is a good starter for what looks to be a promising Season.



Also Max has some of the best lines in a game for a video game character ever.

K.O.D

Actually I played both Season 1 and Season 2 long ago, didn't want the game only for the hats and weapons.

Jango

Oh I know that (still remember your Max avatar from long ago), I'm just saying that a lot of people did, especially when you go on TF2 servers and hear people complain about the game while they run around with their Max hats.

UHMEEEEBA

You really should play the last two seasons if you ever get the chance they're both good as well.




Heck if you can get DOS Box running or something Sam & Max Hit the Road is still good.



Having said that regarding your uncertain Rehash Value, Telltale does recycle a lot of stuff in these games but they're a fairly low budget company so that's understandable.

K.O.D

since youtube was being a bitch, here's a direct link for an awesome line in episode 2

http://kod.trinitymugen.net/sammax.avi