Sam & Max: Season 1 – PC – Review

Sam & Max are
back, many years after their first adventure in 1993. I bought my first computer
in 1995, and Kings Quest 6 and Sam & Max were some of the first games I played.
I thought Sam & Max was hilarious, and I rank it up
there with Day of the Tentacle for sheer fun. I was very happy when Telltale
decided to release a new Sam & Max adventure.

Sam & Max
Season 1 was initially released in a series of episodic chapters, one every few
months, beginning in the fall of 2006. These episodes could be downloaded from
their website. This seems to be a relevant and financially sound method of
delivering adventure games, but I, personally, prefer to have the entire game at
once. Now, I can.

GameZone
has reviews of all six chapters onsite, so I won’t be reviewing the entire game,
but will touch on the highlights and the new additional material.

Each episode is
a stand-alone adventure, but they all tie in to a bigger plot. It seems that
someone is out to take over Earth by mind-control, and all the episodes present
different aspects of mind-control in some truly hysterical stories. Paranoids
will be nodding their heads; urban legends abound in these stories. The episodes
deal with the mafia, politics, moon exploration, computers, and virtual reality,
amongst many other things.

Common
characters and sub-stories thread these adventures together, like having a
character named Bosco in all the episodes. He runs
an “inconvenience” store, and he is in a different disguise in every one. This
is because he’s determined to avoid harassment from whatever nefarious others
are trying to take over his store. His funniest persona is French, and his fake
French accent is too funny. His character serves as a common theme by providing
a mighty weapon that Sam & Max are sure to need. Another ongoing character is
Sybil, who has a different career in every episode, like a match-maker or a beta
tester for virtual reality games.

And, of course,
there’s Sam & Max! Telltale did an incredible job of updating these characters
graphically without losing any of their cartoon appeal, and their personalities
are exactly the same. Max evinces his same strange and cracked humor, and Sam is
the straight guy who keeps spouting long lines of exclamatory remarks, shades of
Batman meets Dragnet.

This is an
old-style point-n-click third-person adventure, with lots of hot spots
to click and dialogue to read. Not only is the dialogue funny, but the sight
gags are numerous and pointed. True to Sam & Max, the entire game is drawn in a
cartoon style, similar to a comic strip without the balloons. The puzzles are
mostly inventory-based and are pretty easy. This game is more about the
adventure and story, rather than perplexing conundrums.

Along with the
six episodes, there is new content in the form of behind-the-scenes interviews
with different people involved in this production, wallpaper, music, character
bios and concept art. Some content that can be also found on the Web site is a
collection of all of the trailers and the Web comic. I especially loved viewing
the interviews with Steve Purcell and the others who
worked on the game during production. The wallpaper is nice, and the music files
are cool.

This is a great
deal for $35, even if you’ve already played the episodes separately. I, for one,
sure appreciate having a boxed game (I always keep the boxes of games I keep!),
and the bonus content really adds to the value. I wholeheartedly recommend this
game to any adventure fan, and even to those who may have never played an
adventure. It’s especially relevant for families with teens, as they will love
the stories and smart-alecky characters.

Gameplay: 8.5

Welcome to the wacky world of Sam & Max! It’s not the end, but the journey that
is the adventure. This game is what all comedic adventures should strive to be.
The puzzles aren’t too hard, but they do require a bit of thought, and the
dialogue and humor is just right.

Graphics: 8.0

The
graphics are exactly what they should be, bright and cartoony. Sam & Max look
just the same.

Sound: 8.0

The
music is all great. There are some really silly songs in some of these episodes,
too.

Difficulty: Medium
Not
too easy, not too hard.

Concept: 7.0

This
game isn’t meant to be anything startlingly new, that’s the point. It’s for
people who love adventure games and humor.

Overall: 8.5

It’s
everything it should be: great humor, great dialogue and funny stories. Sam &
Max are as nutty as ever, and their takes on current cultural icons are very
humorous. The puzzles aren’t very difficult and could be more challenging, but
on the whole, this is a great game for anyone, and families with teens should
especially consider it.