Telltale games, having
repeatedly struck gold with their countless adventure games, has been
blessed with the opportunity to revive one of the most beloved franchises in
the genre’s history: Monkey Island. For years, the best thing many adventure
games could count on was the zany misadventures of
Guybrush Threepwood, gallantly outthinking
his foes and thwarting zombie pirates in an effort to rescue his beloved
Elaine. Now that technology has opened up the possibilities for what can be
achieved in an adventure title, many fans were eager to learn if the franchise
was able to hold its own.
The initial
distinction between the older and newer versions of Monkey Island can be seen
plainly in the visual style. Granted, the artists have not attempted to
completely reinvent the aesthetic design by utilizing lifelike characters or
system-straining graphical effects. That being said, the new Monkey Island
does hold up very nicely on the graphical front. The quirky, exaggerated
characters still appear as such, only now they are three dimensional. The
change might be jarring for fans of the original 2-D animated graphical
design, but the signature visual style does seem to be miraculously
maintained. Threepwood is still the gangly,
sarcastic buccaneer, and Le Chuck remains a burly nemesis with a grossly
unkempt beard. The comedic contrast extends far beyond the game’s
presentation, however.
Being mostly bare-bones as far as narrative and
gameplay, it is to be expected that the franchise’s revival does not require
any hard experience with the previous titles. At the core of this latest
outing, like any good adventure game, is a strong script. The garbled nonsense
that comprises the title of this first chapter, “Launch of the Screaming
Narwhal,” should give newcomers a reasonable first impression of what they’re
in for. In keeping with the tradition of Monkey Island humor, many of the
jokes are anachronistic and playful. The player isn’t necessarily enveloped in
the game world, but the experience is comparable to an interactive Saturday
morning cartoon. Silly characters, absurd scenarios, and an occasional play on
words might keep some of the younger crowd away from Monkey Island, but there
isn’t anything wholly inappropriate about the game. All told, this should be a
suitable title for all ages, even if some of the jokes will right go over the
heads of children.
Telltale has smartly introduced the main
characters within the first few minutes, which is not only effective on a
practical level, but also helps to solidify the protagonist’s primary
motivation throughout the tale. Everyone’s rescued the damsel in distress
before, but Elaine is not your old-fashioned dame; in fact, the animation and
voice acting during her brief reintroduction lends authentic appeal and charm
to her character, so the player instantly cares about her. One might say she
is even more the traditional rugged hero than Threepwood
himself, which makes the premise considerably more refreshing. The majority of
the tale follows Threepwood’s efforts to locate
his roguishly charismatic spouse, after being stranded on a bizarre island.
For the uninitiated, gameplay remains as simply
as ever. The player character is effortlessly guided through the world either
with the arrow keys or the mouse-dragging method, so the game can be played
with the mouse exclusively. The puzzles, though not overwhelmingly difficult,
do require enough concentration that you will feel pleasantly distracted yet
not altogether consumed by the experience. This aspect lends itself nicely to
the casual crowd of gamers, though some might find themselves wishing for a
bit more depth. Interaction with characters is just the same as before; simply
select a line of dialogue or subject matter, and
Threepwood will mouth off appropriately (or inappropriately, as the
case may be). Thorough conversationalists will find many hidden jokes, but it
isn’t quite enough to turn up the replay value of the entire title.
Richly laden with consummate voice acting and
familiar musical cues, the audio is probably the highlight of Chapter 1. This
is fortunate, given the high level of reliance on audio; at least one puzzle
forced me to actually turn the speakers up considerably before I could solve
it. As fun as the adventure might have been, this outing does feel a bit on
the short side. This might be overlooked given the game’s context with a
series, but without greater replayability, it’s
hard to say just how many people will find Monkey Island to be well-suited to
their tastes. Make no mistake, though – this is still a worthy successor to
the series, and fans will certainly rejoice at the rebirth of
Threepwood and company.
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Gameplay: 8.0
Monkey Island is
simple to pick up and play, and therefore has little in the way of “glitches.”
Generally a smooth experience.
Graphics: 6.5
Simple and
smooth, though a bit more polish would have enhanced the characters.
Sound: 8.5
Some
of the audio feels lackluster, but this can be ignored with all the great
voice acting.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Puzzles have a
reasonable challenge, while the characters’ verbal hints seem to rap ever so
pleasantly upon the fourth wall.
Concept: 6.0
Not exactly
original or innovative, Telltale seems to have taken the safer, traditional
route. The mechanics still manage to work, though.
Overall: 7.9
It’s
a short ride, and not something you’ll probably be playing time and again. For
what’s there, Chapter 1 certainly delivers an adequate adventure for a classic
hero. It just seems like something new could have been done with it.
