Sam and Max is one of the best point and clicks ever to ‘hit the road' if you'll excuse the reference. Any p ‘n' c fan will tell you the private dick dog and his long-eared sidekick hit during the glory days of adventure gaming.
Part blues brothers, part film noir pastiche, Sam and Max Hit the Road was a mix of surreal humour and head-scratching puzzles. Even when you got stuck, the tension was eased by, "that's a completely unusable thingemy bob" or "you're looking hale and hearty little buddy" – two phrases, which never failed to raise a smile. They are also phrases I've applied to frustrating moments in other games, most of which had had humour lobotomies.
However, Sam and Max's fame was short lived and gamers everywhere yearned for a sequel. Now our wait is over, but was it better when we just had vain expectation to keep us going?
There have been rumours for many years that a Sam and Max sequel was on the way and then the rumours would be refuted and then they'd start again. And so it went on, until finally, Tell Tale Games announced a real life bona fide sequel.
Well, dear play chums, needless to say my heart was all aflutter to hear such news. This time around Sam and Max is being brought to us by the power of the Internet, in downloadable, bite size chunks thanks to good old GameTap. Episodic gaming has arrived and I was just about to partake.
Episode one is called Culture Shock and no sooner had I downloaded it, than the familiar silhouettes of my favourite furry sleuths hit the screen. The game began in their office, harking back to the good old days and I settled down for some quality pointing and clicking.
The first major disappointment was the voices. The original actors weren't available I guess. Well it has been over ten years, so I guess we can't really blame them if they're ‘currently engaged with other projects.' But the loss of the original voices for Sam and Max is a bitter blow for a die hard fan. I know I shouldn't quibble, but the new voices just aren't quite as good.
I did put aside my misgivings about the voices and have to say the style of the graphics is spot on and carries on where the original left off. There's even a goofy jazz soundtrack included to keep us toe-tappingly happy.
My other major gripe is that it's just not that funny. Other reviewers may tell you otherwise, but then they must be on crazy pills because it's not. There are a few chuckles along the way, but they didn't even say, "it's a completely unusable thingemy bob"!
That all said, there are some nice puzzles to er"puzzle over and clicking on everything does uncover some humour, even if the one liners leave a lot to be desired. At times I did think perhaps they should have left well enough alone, but at least Telltale hasn't given us the travesty that was Broken Sword's entry into 3D gaming. Instead, Telltale has stayed true to the genre, rather than dragging it kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
For less than £5 I really can't grumble and I may just download episodes two and three to give the renaissance of Sam and Max a proper chance. Maybe episodic gaming is the future of point and click, which is better than the non-existent future it had this time last year. So let's raise a glass to Telltale for keeping the heart of adventure gaming going.
My only request is, please put in the hale and hearty and unusable thingemy bob lines!!
Most played: Sam and Max
Most wanted: Halo 3