Monkey Island: The Launch Of The Screaming Narwhal (PC)

...the first game, Secret of Monkey Island, having been recently re-vamped and re-released for the PC, wii and iPhone, now is as good a time as any to discover - or re-live - the Monkey Island saga, with this brand new release from Telltale Games.

Nine long years ago, LucasArts - the adventure game giants behind Sam 'n' Max, Grim Fandango, and Monkey Islands 1 through 4 - sounded their own death knell within the realm of point-and-clicks ...
...it easier to accept that Monkey Island - and traditional point-and-clicks - would be no more.

It was when new game developer Telltale Games (with many ex-LucasArts members onboard) purchased the rights to Sam 'n' Max, resulting in new adventures with familiar characters, that fans perked up and began to realise that perhaps their nostalgia would not have to remain just that - nostalgia. But no one was prepared for Telltale's announcement ... more

With the first game, Secret of Monkey Island, having been recently re-vamped and re-released for the PC, wii and iPhone, now is as good a time as any to discover - or re-live - the Monkey Island saga, with this brand new release from Telltale Games.

Nine long years ago, LucasArts - the adventure game giants behind Sam 'n' Max, Grim Fandango, and Monkey Islands 1 through 4 - sounded their own death knell within the realm of point-and-clicks and announced that Escape from Monkey Island was to be their last release. This came despite main character Guybrush's joke in 'Escape' that he had an 'unbreakable 5-game contract', and was perhaps part the cause and part the result of a trend for declining interest in adventure games in favour of graphically-intense, fast-paced action simulations. That 'Escape' was not universally praised by dedicated fans thanks to its new 3D graphics and change of controls perhaps made it easier to accept that Monkey Island - and traditional point-and-clicks - would be no more.

It was when new game developer Telltale Games (with many ex-LucasArts members onboard) purchased the rights to Sam 'n' Max, resulting in new adventures with familiar characters, that fans perked up and began to realise that perhaps their nostalgia would not have to remain just that - nostalgia. But no one was prepared for Telltale's announcement on June 6, 2009, that within just one month Monkey Island's fifth installment (and first since 2000) would be available for purchase via download. On July 7, the first chapter of this installment - Tales of Monkey Island - was released, causing the Telltale website to crash with overenthusiastic gamers. Tales of Monkey Island will consist of five chapters overall, each being released monthly, with purchasers receiving a CD set once all have been completed. I present to you Tales of Monkey Island, Chapter 1: The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal.

The plot of the game follows roughly where we left Guybrush Threepwood, self-proclaimed 'mighty pirate', after he Escaped from Monkey Island. For those who have never played the series and intend to do so with no prior knowledge whatsoever, minor SPOILERS FOLLOW:
Guybrush Threepwood has seemingly fulfilled his wishes of becoming a pirate and has married long-time sweetheart Governor Elaine Marley - though the demon pirate Captain LeChuck still vies for her affection, and will stop at nothing to make her his undead bride. In the opening scene (demo version as well), Elaine is once again held captive. Guybrush, while attempting a daring rescue between two nauseatingly swaying pirate ships, washes up on Flotsam Island, with LeChuck and Elaine long gone. If commandeering a vessel and crew to set after his arch-nemesis seems tricky enough, hopes of escape seem impossible when Guybrush is told that the Flotsam Island winds always blow inwards - meaning [i]you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave[/i]. To make matters worse, Guybrush's hand has contracted LeChuck's voodoo pox and has a mind of its own.
(End of spoilers)

But does the gameplay satisfy?

Graphics: The first thing fans will notice is a pronounced change in graphics from its nine-year-old predecessor. Telltale Games has a smooth style, resulting in characters that with a shiny, plasticine-like finish. It is built entirely on 3-dimensional models - contrast this with the highly pixelated 1990 Secret of Monkey Island, or fan-favourite 1997's Curse of Monkey Island (cartoony, but evocative). Guybrush himself is leaner, and sports a questionable goatee. Still, fans are used to characters' appearances changing throughout the series - inevitable, given the long gaps between releases in which game design has developed substantially - so for most, the newfangled appearance takes only a small amount of getting used to.

Controls: Then there are the new controls. To move Guybrush, you have to click and drag the mouse cursor as if you are pulling him, which I find slightly cumbersome. Thankfully, he can also be controlled with the WASD keys; but it is still markedly different from the pointing-and-clicking of the earlier days. In addition, the inventory (random objects Guybrush collects and stores in his trousers) is called up by pressing a tab on the right of the screen, and objects are combined not by picking one up and 'using' it on another but by being placed in a peculiar combining device and pressing a plus-sign to effect the action. Lastly, there are no more action verbs. Whereas before you had the choice of Looking, Talking, Using, Pushing, Pulling etc. an object, now all you can do is click and Guybrush will take whatever course of action is appropriate. This might seem convenient, but it seems to make the puzzles substantially easier to solve - with just a click, you'll know what is worth picking up (Guybrush will do so immediately) or if it can be used on the spot (and how it should be used). For an already short game, I found it hard to justify a short-cut as subtantial as this.

Characters: Besides the unholy trinity of the Guybrush-Elaine-LeChuck love triangle, the vast majority of other characters (there aren't many) are all unfortunate residents of Flotsam Island that we have not encountered before. One of the main gripes gamers have had with this chapter is the lack of detail given to Guybrush's supporting cast, and it is certainly pronouncable - the background characters have relatively little to say besides lines of dialogue central to the plot, which is a shame for a game that uses humour so pivotally. In addition, their facial expressions are rudimentary and often bear no correllation to what is being said. Again, a shame for a game normally rich in dialogue, with such talented voice actors. A last gripe comes in the form of Guybrush's own limited dialogue options - when selecting speech, the lines displayed are abridged versions of what he ends up saying when they are selected, resulting in a list of choices that I found uninteresting and unconvincing. It is a stark contrast with, for example, a list of options in Escape from Monkey Island which might consist of eight varied and entertaining (though not always relevant) lines. Somehow, choosing from 'I need a boat to get to Elaine!', 'I need a boat to get to LeChuck!' and 'I need a boat to get off this island!' tends to reduce one's involvement in the story.

On a much brighter note, the voice actors do a brilliant job as always. Dominic Armato has been the voice of Guybrush since the third installment (prior to this, the player had to make do with subtitles) and brings out, flawlessly, the aspects of Guybrush's character we love (somewhat cheesy humour, random observations and delusions of grandeur). Elaine Marley is a recurring voice actor as well (British, although in the previous installment she had inexplicably become American) and LeChuck's gruff piratey demeanour is matched by the gruffest of piratey voices.

Puzzles: In general, the puzzles in this episode seem noticeably easier than in any of the previous games, which may owe in part to the simplified interface of object interaction. There are also few locations to explore, and some frustrating places we cannot enter and can only assume will be revisited in a later chapter.

Longevity: It enjoys good longevity for an episodic game, but I and undoubtedly many other fans are new to adventure games broken up into 'monthly' installments. It is no surprise, then, that the abrupt cliffhanger ending has been criticised. My unfamiliarity with episodic games in general (it is Telltale Game's modus operandi, seen also in Sam 'n' Max and Wallace & Gromit) made it hard for me to assess my progress in the game and I anticipated an ending that could come at any moment, rather like a demo. Episodic games are not to everyone's taste, and fans online bide their time in this hiatus by speculating on Chapter 2's release (which has been pushed back by a couple of weeks). Some may feel the long gaps between installments interrupt the adventure's momentum - I for one will certainly play all installments back-to-back once they have been released.

In sum, this is a game worthy of its status as 5th in the Monkey Island series, but departs from familiar gameplay perhaps too much and as yet has not lived up to the humour and character-development of previous installments. For someone who is unfamiliar with Monkey Island or adventure games in general, this would be a very unwise place to start - not because you need to have played previous games to follow the plot, but because of its interstitial and somewhat experimental quality. For fans, there are still plenty of in-jokes and well-loved voice-acting and music to make the game worth the booty (£5), safe in the knowledge that for the next few months at least, the Monkey Island saga will continue to unfurl.

 

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