The adventure game genre seemed to be in a coma since the late 90s. Thinking the money was in more fast paced genres, LucasArts ended up canceling their Sam & Max sequel project, Sam & Max Freelance Police. Several former LucasArts employees proceeded to form Telltale Games which not only managed to revive Sam & Max, but perhaps the whole adventure games genre.
Telltale's Sam & Max does what many adventure series have failed to do -- it maintains the classic appeal of the original games, while still updating and making it accessible and entertaining to newcomers.
It's Fun and Easy
Even though Sam & Max is 3-D now, it is easier than ever to use. There are no problems with picky maps which require you to click in a specific spot to enter a new room. The graphics are clear, so there are no issues with pixel sized items the user can't decipher. Also, without the traditional "use", "push", "open" type commands, the user won't have to endure being unable to turn on a light for choosing "use" instead of "push." All the annoyances of old school point 'n clicks are gone.
Also, even though Sam & Max is in a different dimension, it still retains the quirky cartoonish look it had in the 90s. That isn't the only thing that remains the same -- Telltale managed to preserve the iconic humor Sam & Max is known for. While keeping the jokes current with the events (like the eagle with gas in one claw in the oval office) it still maintains the character of classic Sam & Max jokes.
Sam & Max is available for purchase through the Tell Tale Games website and the download is surprisingly fast and easy, as is the installation. The game play requirements aren't too high, and the game will run smoothly even on a 5-year-old computer.
The best part is the full Episode 104, Abe Lincoln Must Die is available free.
Some Criticisms
No games are perfect, and Sam & Max has some faults as well:
- The episodes seem a bit short, and can be at times, a tad bit anti-climatic. Even though the episodes can stand alone story-wise, there is little development as far as complex charactery is concerned.
- For the most part, the puzzles are easy and the solutions can often be inferred by what the characters say to each other. The lowest hint level is highly recommended. Surprising solutions to puzzles are rare.
- The load time for certain rooms, such as Bosco's Inconvenience can be a tad long. (The load time differs per computer. A computer with 2.66 GHz pentium 4 processor, 512 MB RAM, and a NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX 440 AGP 8x graphics card could take as long as 5 mins to load.)
- The music and dance sequences can be humorous initially, but can tend to be annoying through repetition.
- The intro and credit scenes aren't skippable.
- As with most adventure games, the replay value of the game isn't high. Players will probably run through it twice at most.
Overall, Sam & Max brings the best of traditional adventure games and puts it together with what the modern era has to offer to create an entertaining and hilarious game which is definitely worth playing.
