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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Telltale Games Publisher: Telltale Games |
Telltale Games just recently offered gamers a great adventure game on the Xbox Live Arcade in the form of “Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures: Fright of the Bumblebees.” Before the developer started playing
around with the Wallace & Gromit franchise, it brought back the LucasArts Sam & Max Franchise as an episodic series for players. The first season of Sam & Max’s new adventures was well received by players. These
gaming for only $20. The problem is that they don’t run together very well. The games were originally designed for the PC and it seems they haven’t been properly optimized for play on the console. Players will find the
same issues with the Sam & Max game that has been released on the Nintendo Wii.
When it comes to this graphic adventure, Sam & Max are superstars of the specific genre. The original game, “Sam & Max Hit the Road” is a beloved classic of fans of the series. The so-called dog and strange rabbit-
thing are freelance police who spend their days investigating odd crimes and trading cheesy one line jokes with each other. These episodes share some recurring characters and locations between them, but each has
its very own story line. All of them are available from the very start, so if players get stuck on one of them, they can always skip around between episodes.
It is unfortunate that pointing and clicking isn’t as easy with an analog stick as it is with typical mouse. It can be frustrating trying to highlight some of the game’s smaller items that appear on the screen. Most of the
puzzles involve players using the right items on the right people or objects in the world around them, and like many games in this specific genre, the solutions can often times be very obscure. Completing each
adventure takes a lot of experimentation with combinations that don’t make much sense and that often times doesn’t appeal to large number of players. Though graphic adventures games are just as much about the
writing of the story line as they are about the overall game play value, “Sam & Max Save The World” is stuffed with a variety of crazy characters and one line jokes. However, it is not quite as funny as it tries to be
throughout the game. The back and forth jokes between the two main characters starts getting old before they even have a chance to leave their office in the first episode of the series.
The real disappointment of the game is that the game doesn’t run very smoothly. Interacting with just about any object in the world will cause the game to slow down and any actions that are taking place in the
background of the main action will cause a hiccup in the overall game play. Players will also encounter several instances where the voice over work cuts out and characters silently move their lips in a cheesy Japanese
film form.
There are a total six episodes in “Sam & Max Save The World” and they include: Episode 1: Culture Shock; Episode 2: Situation: Comedy; Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball; Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must
Die!; Episode 5: Reality 2.0; and Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon.
For those gamers that crave these types of game can probably look beyond the jokes that are trying too hard and the inconsistent frame rate of the game in order to soak up some classic point and click action. Telltale
Games is one of the very few developers making these games anymore and they do it very well. It is just too bad that these particular adventures couldn’t have been optimized for play with an Xbox 360 controller, much
like the new “Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventure” was able to. An analog stick is not an ideal tool for playing through a game that relies very heavily on point and click actions.
Though the slow pace and often very difficult puzzles solutions that are required to move through the storyline is not for every type of player, anyone that is a fan of the Sam & Max franchise will probably get their fix with the
latest release of the series, “Sam & Max Save The World.” Each episode in the series will take players several hours to get through, so with roughly 20 to 25 hours of game play with a price tag of $20 seems to be a
fairly reasonable price. This is a pretty good deal for those who enjoy the series and have the patience to work their way through each of the episodes in the Xbox Live Arcade release. However, for any of those who aren’
t able to take their time working through the game and want to quickly defeat the title, “Sam & Max Save The World” isn’t the proper game. Since this game has a high difficulty level and has controls that feel very
awkward, this title can only be referred to fans of the series, hopefully the developers next attempt at releasing a Sam & Max title on the Xbox 360 will be able to be saved from its terrible control scheme.
around with the Wallace & Gromit franchise, it brought back the LucasArts Sam & Max Franchise as an episodic series for players. The first season of Sam & Max’s new adventures was well received by players. These
gaming for only $20. The problem is that they don’t run together very well. The games were originally designed for the PC and it seems they haven’t been properly optimized for play on the console. Players will find the
same issues with the Sam & Max game that has been released on the Nintendo Wii.
When it comes to this graphic adventure, Sam & Max are superstars of the specific genre. The original game, “Sam & Max Hit the Road” is a beloved classic of fans of the series. The so-called dog and strange rabbit-
thing are freelance police who spend their days investigating odd crimes and trading cheesy one line jokes with each other. These episodes share some recurring characters and locations between them, but each has
its very own story line. All of them are available from the very start, so if players get stuck on one of them, they can always skip around between episodes.
It is unfortunate that pointing and clicking isn’t as easy with an analog stick as it is with typical mouse. It can be frustrating trying to highlight some of the game’s smaller items that appear on the screen. Most of the
puzzles involve players using the right items on the right people or objects in the world around them, and like many games in this specific genre, the solutions can often times be very obscure. Completing each
adventure takes a lot of experimentation with combinations that don’t make much sense and that often times doesn’t appeal to large number of players. Though graphic adventures games are just as much about the
writing of the story line as they are about the overall game play value, “Sam & Max Save The World” is stuffed with a variety of crazy characters and one line jokes. However, it is not quite as funny as it tries to be
throughout the game. The back and forth jokes between the two main characters starts getting old before they even have a chance to leave their office in the first episode of the series.
The real disappointment of the game is that the game doesn’t run very smoothly. Interacting with just about any object in the world will cause the game to slow down and any actions that are taking place in the
background of the main action will cause a hiccup in the overall game play. Players will also encounter several instances where the voice over work cuts out and characters silently move their lips in a cheesy Japanese
film form.
There are a total six episodes in “Sam & Max Save The World” and they include: Episode 1: Culture Shock; Episode 2: Situation: Comedy; Episode 3: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball; Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must
Die!; Episode 5: Reality 2.0; and Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon.
For those gamers that crave these types of game can probably look beyond the jokes that are trying too hard and the inconsistent frame rate of the game in order to soak up some classic point and click action. Telltale
Games is one of the very few developers making these games anymore and they do it very well. It is just too bad that these particular adventures couldn’t have been optimized for play with an Xbox 360 controller, much
like the new “Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventure” was able to. An analog stick is not an ideal tool for playing through a game that relies very heavily on point and click actions.
Though the slow pace and often very difficult puzzles solutions that are required to move through the storyline is not for every type of player, anyone that is a fan of the Sam & Max franchise will probably get their fix with the
latest release of the series, “Sam & Max Save The World.” Each episode in the series will take players several hours to get through, so with roughly 20 to 25 hours of game play with a price tag of $20 seems to be a
fairly reasonable price. This is a pretty good deal for those who enjoy the series and have the patience to work their way through each of the episodes in the Xbox Live Arcade release. However, for any of those who aren’
t able to take their time working through the game and want to quickly defeat the title, “Sam & Max Save The World” isn’t the proper game. Since this game has a high difficulty level and has controls that feel very
awkward, this title can only be referred to fans of the series, hopefully the developers next attempt at releasing a Sam & Max title on the Xbox 360 will be able to be saved from its terrible control scheme.
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