Over the past few years Telltale Games have established themselves as the premiere company for old-school, point-and-click adventure gaming. Sam & Max, Strong Bad and Wallace and Gromit all find themselves getting the episodic gaming treatment from the loving hands at Telltale, and it’s been pretty much a universal truism that whenever a new series is announced by the studio adventure gamers’ ears perk up and excitement starts to build. Never has that sentiment been more appropriate than right now, as Telltale has announced that they are partnering with LucasArts to bring one of the most beloved adventure franchises back to life. That’s right; Monkey Island is back so it’s time to warm up not only your clicking finger but also your sense of humor.
Those newer to gaming can be forgiven for not knowing much about Monkey Island; after all this was a franchise started nearly 20 years ago by a company which, at the time, wasn’t exactly a power player in the industry. The original Monkey Island games followed the adventures of Guybrush Threepwood and his battles with the dastardly demonic pirate LeChuck. Along the way, Guybrush falls in love with the lovely Elaine, and the two live happily ever after. Or, at least they try to until LeChuck kidnaps her again and again, because apparently she’s easy to snatch.
That’s where things pick up this time around, with Elaine once again LeChuck’s prisoner and Guybrush nobly swooping in to save the day. This time around, thanks to the power of enchanted root beer Guybrush has the power to defeat LeChuck once and for all. Unfortunately though, our hero gets a little too arrogant, and while showing off for Elaine loses the magical beverage and has to improvise. After hastily combining a root and some beer Guybrush stabs LeChuck only to find that the homemade brew didn’t defeat the evil pirate for good but rather, gasp, turned him human! Even worse, in the battle a bit of LeChuck’s evil essence embedded itself in our hero’s hand, thereby cursing his digits and making life doubly hard for our reluctant hero. Guybrush is promptly shipwrecked as LeChuck sails off with Elaine and our story then begins. Rest assured that from here on out, hilarity shall ensue.
Telltale has planned Tales of Monkey Island as a five-part series, and they’re approaching the game a bit differently than they have other titles in their stable. Most other franchises have seen each episode as a stand-alone experience with perhaps a very loose thread running amongst all the titles to tie them together. The new Monkey Island games are going in a completely different direction, with the episodes all leaning heavily on one another to tell one long, epic story. Rather than getting the sitcom treatment, Monkey Island will instead follow a narrative structure more like Lost or Heroes, but hopefully with less time travel and whispered angst-ridden dialogue.
Another conventional change is that Telltale is experimenting with direct control over characters rather than the old fashioned “click over here to walk to this spot” model. In the demo we saw Guybrush was controlled with the arrow keys, but the Telltale crew also stated that the control scheme was subject to change, and the final build might be more mouse-driven. We saw Telltale jump wholeheartedly into direct control with Wallace & Grommit, and that seemed to work out well enough, so perhaps the old control model is the sort of thing that is slowly being phased out in favor of a more modern approach.
Lest traditionalists worry that everything they know and love about Monkey Island is about to get thrown away fear not, as there are some familiar comforts for you. First up, the voice actors who provide the personalities for Guybrush, LeChuck, Elaine and the Voodoo Lady are all back, so prepare to hear the dulcet tones of yesteryear once again. The super-fans could hardly stand to hear anyone else play these iconic roles, so fear not as everything is as it should be.
The other major addition to the game falls under the category of everything old being new again. For the first time in a Telltale game, players will be able to combine items in their inventory to create new tools. While this is an adventure game staple Telltale had previously shied away from utilizing it in their titles for fear of alienating those new to the genre. Now it’s time to please the hardcore by bringing it back and making it an integral part of the experience. Still, the team is working hard to make sure that item combinations make sense, and the game will provide ample clues to help you figure out which combinations you’ll need in order to succeed. Yes, the inclusion of item combinations will likely make the game a bit harder, but it will also make it a more authentic experience, and ultimately will likely improve matters for the better.
Telltale is really throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us in order to gain attention for Tales of Monkey Island and make the franchise relevant again. Updates in graphics and gameplay make the franchise more appealing than ever, and generous preorder incentives including a special edition cover and a voucher for a free Telltale game really show that the studio is fully behind this new series. It’s not as though you need all this incentive to go play a new Monkey Island game, but you’re quickly running out of reasons to avoid it. The adventure begins July 7 on PC and WiiWare, will you be there?
