Review: Monkey Island Tales 1 HD

17 Jul, 2011

Title: Monkey Island Tales 1 HD
Platform: iPad
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
TL;DR: Not quite the same resemblance to the blundering, witty Guybrush Threepwood we all love and adore, but it will do.
Family Friendly?: Click here to skip the detail and see if this game is right for your family!

I was one of those people that grew up loving Guybrush Threepwood. It’s one of the best point-and-click adventure games I’ve played; the puzzles were innovative and creative, the characters were all loveable and relatable, and the graphics (for the time) were outstandingly good. When Monkey Island made the switch from 2D graphics to 3D, I enjoyed it a lot but it was agreed by many that at that time … well, perhaps Guybrush simply was not ready to be put into 3D just yet.

But as the point-and-click adventure genre began to decline, LucasArts’ Escape from Monkey Island was the company’s last adventure in 2000. Consequently, we haven’t had a new Monkey Island game in a long time.
The good news is that LucasArts has not forgotten its heritage! They have teamed up with Telltale Games (creators of Wallace & Gromit, Sam & Max) to release a new episodic series, the five-part Tales of Monkey Island. And with many of the developers at Telltale refugees of LucasArts, you can be sure that Tales of Monkey Island is about as real as a Monkey Island game can get.

The game begins with our dashing hero, Guybrush Threepwood, in the midst of attempting to save his wife Elaine and confronting his arch nemesis, the evil ghost pirate LeChuck. Meanwhile there’s some weird voodoo stuff going on with a bunch of magical monkeys that LeChuck has captured, and Elaine is less worried about her own safety than she is the humane treatment of animals (“Will someone PLEASE think of the monkeys?!”). The dialogue is comic gold, and I found myself laughing out loud regularly.

The intro acts as a tutorial, as you search for the final ingredient in Guybrush’s magical cutlass recipe (root beer?) so he can defeat LeChuck and save the day. Walking, investigating, and the game’s brand of problem-solving are introduced, and it does a good job of giving the player a general feel of how Monkey Island works. To interact with stuff, simply click it and Guybrush will add his two cents in as he gets to work. Movement is with the mouse or WASD, but I found the mouse control scheme was a little touchy during my playthrough, so WASD ended up being much more convenient. Anyway, Guybrush’s valiant attempt to defeat the villain is foiled, and he ends up (via some unfortunate coincidences) knocked overboard. He’s washed ashore on Flotsam Island, where all the wind flies into the island, making it impossible to leave on a boat. Logic won’t stop Guybrush though: he’s got a wife and nemesis to catch.

The graphics are fully 3D, and quite impressive. The game eschews realistic graphics for a very cartoony and stylized look, which definitely adds to the humor (Guybrush’s facial expressions are quite amusing). The environments are detailed and very interactive, as is expected from an adventure game such as this. Something I noticed and was impressed by was the camera. It’s always placed in a way that doesn’t hinder gameplay, but is slightly more dynamic than the typical profile view you see in other point-and-click games. Nothing major, but it does give a more cinematic feel.

And if the visuals don’t blow you away, the music will. The original composer for the Monkey Island series returns with more reggae-ish tunes. Watch out, though; I’ve been involuntarily humming the music for a while now, and it’s probably not going to stop anytime soon.

But wait! There’s more! The original voice-acting cast has returned as well, and they give wonderful performances. The voices are perfectly matched with their characters, and it just adds some more frosting on the already sugar-sweet cake.

Monkey Island has just about everything that a loyal fan could ask for, and it’s just as awesome for the uninitiated. I only have one real problem with this game, and it’s something that I knew about beforehand, so I was expecting it. My complaint is this: this is part 1 of 5. I want to play all of the other parts now as well and I hope this is not the end for our loveable Guybrush!

For all those Monkey Island fans or simply those who love adventure games and are itching for a great game to play, I would definitely recommend this to all. While you’re at it, definitely do try the Monkey Island: Special Edition version as well and play it real old-school.

Good times!

• Looks great and sounds even better
• an appropriate game length
• Witty dialogue

Bad times :(

• Staple characters (other than Guybrush) are a bit too absent in this episode
• The ending
• Some puzzles were a bit non-challenging

Family Focus

I definitely would say this is a family game. The humour is not vulgar in the slightest and the puzzles are ones that mostly everybody can complete. The difficulty isn’t too bad but there may be parts where they get stuck. This game enables you to think outside the box and really gets the gears grinding so any child that loves playing with puzzles and jigsaws will enjoy this game.