A certain general fashion, not to say a trend, has arisen here lately: serving food for the mind in small, ultra-small and even microscopic portions. Short films, short pages and mini-short-to-one-tooth-games are becoming more and more popular. In some ways it is understandable – a constant lack of time, coupled with information overload, forces modern people to strive for a “quick rest”. And preferably, in a light way, without particularly straining the already tired brain of the day.
Gentlemen from Telltale Games caught the breath of the times in time and brilliantly adapted to the demands of society. From time to time, their adventure episodes become smaller and smaller. If the chapters Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures or Tales of Monkey Island seemed small to us, and the series Sam & Max until the third season – very small, then Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Episode 1: The Penal Zone looks even more modest.
Don’t think about the white monkey
Over two seasons of Telltale’s studies on the topic Sam & Max we are already accustomed to the “interactive cartoon” format. So it’s unlikely The Penal Zone will come as a surprise: there’s not much you’ll have to do here yourself either. Basically – watch, listen and enjoy. And only occasionally pick up some poorly lying object.
Not that this method… ahem… gaming is particularly stressful. The plot is absurd beyond measure, the characters’ lines are still delightful in their delirium, the characters are still colorful. We are already familiar with most of the NPCs from previous episodes, but there is also a newcomer – the villainous white gorilla, codenamed General Skunkape. Or Skankepi. Each character pronounces his name in his own way.
Apes is an intergalactic criminal, and https://royal77casino.co.uk/ he came to Earth to do all sorts of evil. The villain’s immediate plans are completely in line with tradition: to collect magical artifacts – “toys of power” – and then destroy the city where Sam and Max live. Of course, a sweet couple of free detectives must prevent the primate from carrying out such a terrible plan. The heroes are helped by an alien green brain in a jar and Max’s new superpowers (hello to the X-Men and other superheroes). It just so happens that the items you are looking for first fall into the rabbit’s paws. As a result, our little friend receives various useful skills: foreseeing the near future, teleportation, telekinesis and similar tricks. What will be useful in everyday life?.
At first glance, the script outline is extremely simple and not that very new. All the beauty is in the little things, without which the brand Sam & Max wouldn’t be so popular.
Let’s start from the end..
After all, this is exactly the way the developers chose to present the plot. First we watch as Sam and Max defeat the monkey general and take him to a space prison. And only then do we return back to the very origin of events, where gorillas still roam freely. By the way, we will have to make excursions into the future constantly. As a rule, the magical gift of foresight shows the rabbit the moment of local triumph, that is, the outcome of each mini-collision. And then, after completing a few simple tasks, we come to the same event in real time. Unusual, agree.
Today Sam and Max are not old men yet, but already very honored veterans. Their story together began in 1987 with the comics Sam & Max: Freelance Police. The heroes entered the gaming space five years later. Legendary adventure Sam & Max Hit the Road from no less legendary LucasArts turned out to be a bestseller, became a classic, earned a place in the pantheon, and did all the other things that cool quests at the time loved to do with the quest-loving public.
First issue Sam & Max in episodes took place in 2006. Even then, developers from Telltale Games confidently took matters into their own hands. The dog and the rabbit “dressed up” in 3D, but in spirit they remained the same absurd detectives from the delusional world as they were known and loved before.
However, not everywhere and not always Telltale manages to surprise a sophisticated player. When Max, convincing Stinky’s dad that the gorilla is evil, makes the argument "He’s not even human"!" – it’s funny. Or when the same Grandpa Stinky admits his terrible hatred of NPCs. However, the joke repeated three hundred times by all the characters on the topic “oh, you’ll ask questions again, where would we be without this in an adventure game” ceases to inspire after the second use. No, we understand, in fact, it’s even nice to constantly feel a kind of slight self-irony from the developers in the gaming atmosphere, but why such an obvious overkill??
Cartoon? Cartoon
The situation is approximately the same with active actions. We are ready to put up with the childish ease of tasks. However, completing the quest “exchange one thing for another and get a third in return” for the hundred and first time is not interesting. Especially when we know from the very beginning exactly who needs to take what. Here is an example: a harmful old man does not give away the demonic broth, pinning unreasonable financial hopes on it. At the same time, Sam accidentally gets a voucher for a special trip for mole people. And wow, what a coincidence – among our friends there is only one mole man, who also recently bought a lottery ticket. By the way, thanks to max foresight, we find out that this particular ticket will be the lucky one in the current draw. In general, the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea – it’s hard not to guess what needs to be done here.
But games with rabbit abilities are much more enjoyable. We have to use artifacts quite often, and we are allowed to try not only the options necessary for passing, but also several “side” ones – just for extra fun. Let’s say, reading the thoughts of an alien brain is, in principle, pointless. But it’s interesting to try! And in general, around us there are always a bunch of objects that are useless for progress, which are nevertheless worth examining for the sake of Sam-Max’s comments.
Maybe, Telltale you have to try very hard to create a bad game. So far they haven’t succeeded. Yes, season three Sam & Max Perhaps it didn’t start out very well when compared with other studio creations. Yes, Wallace and Gromit deeper and more graceful, and Monkey Island more harmonious. But still The Penal Zone remains in the “good old adventure games” section, “good games” section, “worth a try” catalogue, 2010 edition.
Pros: traditional absurd humor; an atmosphere of general delirium; funny magic tricks with superpowers.
Cons: some pattern of situations; overly easy tasks; repetitions of jokes.
