I've always wanted to play a Sam and Max game ever since I saw them, I was heavily put off with the point and click aspect. Telltale has come a long way with their point and click games and the way they tell stories is amazing. I had to go back to their earlier games to really see how far they've come as developers. Like the more recent games, it's episodic and is five episodes long. Although it follows a story, each individual episode feels like it's own.
I love both Sam and Max, Sam is a giant talking dog in a suit and Max is an eccentric rabbit, together they are private investigators. I love the cartoony-ness and the environments we're taken to. A lot of the side characters are less impressive, but most of them look great in the cartoon setting. I really liked how different each episode was, it wasn't always Sam and Max as the playable characters.
There is a lot of funny dialogue, the dialogue options also fade out once you've picked them so you know if you've mentioned it. Max has psychic powers, he can see future visions, read minds, make people say things and a few others. Because all the episodes are so different, you don't get access to all the powers from the start, or even at the same time. The saving was really slow and it was awkward to tell which was the right save file.
Episode 1: The Penal Zone. I was thrown straight into the game here, no characters were really introduced so I assumed we had seen all these characters in previous games. You are on a spaceship with an even space gorilla who has captured you and a talking brain is your guide in getting off the ship. Yep. I didn't know what the heck was going on either. It makes more sense as the episodes went on though. We were introduced into a few of Sam's pyschic powers. We get to read minds and also use a modelling clay that lets us transform into useful objects. The whole episode takes place on the spaceship.
Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak. The second episode was so much different, there was a projector with a number of reels. Each reel was a different part of the episode and you could play at later parts from the start. I thought this was really well done, having to jump ahead to make progress in a previous episode was clever. We controlled Sam and Max's grandfather as we went to the past and continue the search for the Devil's Toybox.
Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain. The beginning of this episode was my favourite part of the entire game. Sam, usually with a happy face, gets mad as he interrogates fellow citizens about Max's brain. I love how snarky Sam was and how he interrupted people, it was really funny. With Max out of the picture, Sam is accompanied by the child pharaoh; Sammun-Mak. His brain is temporarily put in Max's body, therefore giving him the same abilities as what Max had.
Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls. A horde of half-naked Sam clones fill the streets, as they search for the toys of power. With Sam and Max also looking for the toys of power, they discover a cloning chamber underground, with the clonemaster being the one tracking down the toys. The episode ends with a boss fight that leads to a huge problem.
Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep. With a giant monster roaming the city, Sam and some friends must journey into the beast and take it down from the inside. Travelling through different areas of the body like the stomach, brain etc is where the majority of the game takes place. We also get to finally confront General Skun-ka'pe, who has been the enemy since the first episode.
You were thrown into this game as if you had played them before, all the characters were introduced like we already knew them. As a new player, I didn't like it, I wanted to know about the characters, rather than just a quick hello and that's it. If the older games ever go on sale, I'd definitely pick them up, as I thought they were enjoyable and I loved how unique each episode was.
6.6/10
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