Sam and Max, the canine and rabbity thing freelance duo, has been around for many years, whether in comics or TV or gaming. Either solving mysterious situations such as cockroaches on the moon to a rampaging robotic Lincoln statue or hitting the road in their Desoto, they’re always here with their different brand of humor and surreal type of imagination.
And boy, was this game a surreal type of imagination. Once Telltale Games began distributing new Sam and Max episodic games, they have been delighting fans and game critics with their graphics, humor, and puzzles. After going forward in Season Two by sending the Freelance Police to the North Pole, Space and Time, and even the depths of Hell, Telltale decided to set the weirdness level up to 11 and gave us The Devil’s Playhouse.
In the time between Sam and Max Season 2 to The Devil’s Playhouse, Telltale grew up with Strong Bad, Wallace and Gromit, and more nobly, Monkey Island. This game really shows that the past two games were made in the late 1990s!
But before I discuss the changes, let me tell you a story. Max, the rabbiy thing, discovers one of the Toys of Power, a View Master, and activates its full potential as he has the power to see into the future. He, as well as his canine buddy, Sam, peer into the future where they are trapped and then foiled by the power-hungry space gorilla, General Skun-ka’pe. They not only have to fulfill their victory once Skun-ka’pe arrives, but uses the other Toys of Power as well. Once Skun-ka’pe is the dimensional prison known as the Penal Zone {tee hee}, it shows that it’s only the beginning of their toy troubles as not only they find a movie featuring their ancestors using the Toys of Power, trapped in the alternate dimension where a kid pharaoh rules all, and get ambushed by millions of Sam clones, they uncover the source of the toys: The Devil’s Toybox, predicting the one who uses the Toys of Power will bring about the End-Times.
Since I moved out of the way with exposition of the last 4 episodes, the gameplay is usual when you play a Sam and Max game. You move Sam around, talking to people {or beings}, picking and using items, and just observing the background for added humor. This game has a new feature where you can play as Max to access the Toys of Power with the power to shapeshift, hide for a short time, mind read, or even throw your voice into something {or somebody} else. It’s amusing to add to the story, but it does add for the more difficult that Sam alone can’t solve, so it’s not a waste of space.
To talk about today’s game, I must tell you about the spoilers of last episode. So, if you want to play the game, SPOILERS ARE AHEAD! Yes, I know I spoiled a lot of people on CBG: TCB #1, but this is going to make up for it.
After the last chapter where the Devil’s Toybox is finally destroyed, Max turns into a huge slimy creature after infusing himself into the seed of Yog Soggth Junior and proceeds to rampage the city of New York, giving a story a twist by destroying the toybox prematurely and adding to complete unexpectability!
So, is this game what all Sam and Max fans looking forward to? Let’s find out, as I review Episode Five of Sam and Max: The Devil’s Playhouse…THE CITY THAT DARES NOT TO SLEEP!
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| Fake inspirations are a trademark for the series. |
STORY:
As expected, the story takes place one week after the events of the last episode. Sam must devise a rescue team to enter into the body of the beast to save his formerly little buddy. That’s just the short version, because inside the body is retro-kitsch as each body organ interior looks like a living room, exercise room, kitchen, and game room.Recurring characters from the season return such as Skun-ka’pe, the Stinkys, Paiperwaite and the C.O.P.S. as well as some characters we didn’t see all season such as Mr. Feathery, Sybil, and Satan, who is proving to us that this season’s events has nothing to do with him or the depths of Hell.
GAMEPLAY:
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| I can say that Demon Max is the best thing Telltale whipped out EVER. |
The game is a point-and-click adventure, in case, most of you people didn’t get that. You move Sam, talk to people, get and use items, yadda yadda yadda. The big difference in this episode is that Max is too grotesque and powerful to use his psychic powers.
However, you can move Demon Max once you can get the arms and legs under control. It lagged a little bit on my computer, but I don’t care. A beast of epic proportions can do that to an electronic.
You can use the keyboard or mouse to move them around. I recommend the keyboard because it’s more useful to get to the inventory quickly as well as switch to Max.
GRAPHICS :
Now I’m going out of the way of saying that the graphics of The Devil’s Playhouse, this episode included, makes the previous two seasons look like they made in the N64 era! The buildings are detailed, there are now shadows and shade on some of the characters, and for the first time ever, you can clearly see how Sam is feeling by facial expressions!
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| THRILL at the details on everywhere you go! |
The game had a few glitches, but at least for the game like Sam and Max, you need good writing to make the story sell.
SCRIPT:
I didn’t want to expect the ending or the big villain reveal, so I tried to get away from these details until the game came out after this long wait.
It was worth the wait because not only the humor was fresh, the writing at times were emotional, including the ending. The big villain reveal is probably what everybody playing this game thought it would be, but at least Telltale managed to twist it further.
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| With a cast with this, you're not expecting some big names behind some of them. |
The voices from the previous two seasons return. Oh, by the by, kudos on bringing Roger Jackson to play another super-intelligent, evil monkey. I really want to give David Nowlin a big hand for playing Sam this season. He was kind of bland on the first two seasons, but by the third season brings the consequences of Max’s psychic powers that proves that Sam can’t live without Max by his side.
One more thing, the ending of the series is the best in Telltale’s gaming history. Just wanted you all to know that.
FINAL VERDICT:
This is an excellent conclusion for one of Telltale’s best series yet. The graphics are great; the writing is great, the whole aspect to make this series weirder than it was supposed to be? Great.
If you are familiar with Sam and Max, get the game. If you’re not, what are you waiting for? They came out with comics, cartoons, and even games! It’s not hard to check there two out.
All and all, The City that Dares Not Sleep is funny, action-packed, and full of drama! That is why I’m giving this game a 5 star rating, a first for this review series, as well as a newly-christened Random Fandom Epictude of Fandom guarantee!
Congratulations, Telltale, you deserve that to gloat to the other companies by having another rave review.
Next time, in honor of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, I’m going to look at the three other alternate Spider-Men!
RATING:
* * * * *
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| As the sun rises, so does our expectations for a fourth season for the Freelance Police. |
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