Sam & Max Episode 2: Situation: Comedy
February 20,2007 - What with all the talk about episodic gaming, it’s difficult not to know what episodic gaming is about. Acting as a spearhead movement for the remainder of Valve’s Half-Life series and a revival tactic for Ritual’s SiN, both companies have spent oodles of time expanding (to the press) on their episodic visions, desires and groundbreaking gameplay schemes. But despite assurances of a short wait between installments, neither Ritual nor Valve has released a new episode in over eight months.

Which, all in all, rather belies the true nature of episodic gaming. The original idea of several self-contained stories, akin to say a TV show, appearing regularly, has been lost on Valve and Ritual. Ironically it’s the largely unknown Telltale who has delivered on their episodic promises. A testament to their work ethic is the set of three Sam & Max titles currently nestling on our hard drive (all appearing in under four months), which happen to be the games we’re reviewing simultaneously today.

November 1st 2006 saw the arrival of Episode 1: Culture Shock. Its $8.95 price tag set the precedent for the rest of the series. That is $26.85 for the three being reviewed. Considering the five or so hours of gameplay on offer, it’s not a bad deal, though each episode has a considerable waft of brevity to it. Thankfully, there’s enough charm to warrant the admission fee despite the quality of the gameplay not being consistent throughout the trio.

We’ll return to that point later. What is consistent is the appreciable effort made to immerse long-time fans into the new world. We have the titular characters, rabid rabbit Max and anthropomorphic deadpan-delivering Sam (a dog), both beautifully recreated with voices that sound absolutely perfect – even the office is readily familiar.

Only halfway through the six-part series, there is already enough reason to engage in the zany antics of the titular duo—with almost illimitable possibilities for the following episodes. Even with a group of fairly humdrum non playable characters, the main characters are so wonderfully inventive that it’s difficult to not be swept along with the ride.

That’s not to say the series (and we use this term to describe the three titles currently available) is perfect. While the characters are quirky and some of the game’s situations force a snicker, you never find yourself doubled over in painful (yet joyful) laughter. Then again, few games are genuinely funny. People tend to over-exaggerate how humorous games can be, jumping on the bandwagon and proclaiming “X” and “Y” to be the next Monty Python – Sam & Max isn’t even Black Adder. It’s never that funny, but it is cheerful with resonating charm.

There’s much potential to the series. The first episode sets the stage, introducing an oddball story and a different take on the whole “good guy, bad guy” motif. But it’s not until episode three that Sam & Max really shines. The Mole The Mob And The Meatball might be the briefest, but for the short while it lasts, you’ll enjoy the tale and inspired dialogue. It even reminded us of Grim Fandango.

The control scheme is a far cry from LucasArts’ 1998 classic though. The mouse is used for everything, be it walking or interacting with items in the game world. As a general rule Telltale has shied away from making the game too difficult – to say Sam & Max is easy is like saying the Nintendo 64 is dead: it’s true, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Graphically Sam & Max is a solid effort. Possibly to satisfy PC purists (who love tinkering), Telltale includes the odd visual option that changes the resolution and visual crispness. At default, though, it looks fine. Anyone with a half-decent computer need not worry about stuttering frame rates (though the load times are a mite grating). Episode 2, however, suffers severe slowdown for some reason. In fact, this really serves to compound Situation: Comedy to be the weakest of the three. Despite an interesting premise (one of appearing on live TV), this is the one to avoid if you must. It loses out to the first by the virtue of being a follower (and followers are never as exciting) and fails to match episode 3’s puzzling delights.

In all honesty though, you shouldn’t be missing any of the episodes. Think of it like an episode of The Office (The UK version of course, for the US version is utterly poor); you’ll know what is going on, but you may miss some of the gags. And you just don’t feel complete, anyway.

All three episodes feature driving mini games, serving as a mild diversion from the pointing-and-clicking. Though The Mole The Mob And The Meatball has the most satisfying puzzles, these never border on the brilliance of, say, a Grim Fandango conundrum. But there just isn’t scope for this. Fortunately, you don’t get any mind-numbing puzzles that can only be solved by luck either.

Recurring themes in each episode and Telltale’s ability to tie the installments together instill a certain progressive feel. And really, buying the whole package is the main aim here, because one episode is never sufficient. Should you buy the whole thing (and you’ll probably find yourself doing anyway to see what happens), you’ll find yourself paying the same as a full-priced game, thus making your decision to indulge in Telltale’s series an important one to consider. Are you willing to be there for the long haul? It’s perfectly easy to buy one episode and write off the rest, though this is fraught with, “should I get the next?” And if you like adventures, you really should. Based on the quality of the three we’ve played, Telltale is hitting the right notes. If they can find enough substance for the continuing chapters we’ll continue to advocate their creations. Valve and Ritual, follow Telltale’s lead.

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