Sam & Max on general release

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 November, 2006

With demo version available.

The first instalment in Telltale Games' episodic revival of LucasArts' adventure classic Sam & Max is now available to download and buy on the developer's website.

Up to now, it had only been possible to do that using US-centric digital distribution system GameTap, which will continue to enjoy two-week exclusivity on new releases.

Called Culture Shock, the first episode in the six-long point-and-click series sees the comedy duo teaming up to try and find out why former child stars are wreaking havoc.

It costs US$ 8.95 to buy, but if you prefer you can always try the demo version, which is also available from Telltale's website. Then, if you like it, you can fork over the cash and continue playing.

There's also the option of paying US$ 34.95 for the entire series of six episodes, downloading new ones as they come out. Telltale will even send you a CD of them all when the run concludes.

For more on the game, check out Kristan's enthusiastic review.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • crazyhorse174 #1 6 years ago

    Doesn't seem like such a bad deal...might download the demo first though.

  • Kostabi #2 6 years ago

    Paid for - downloading now.

    /taps feet.

  • MisterFalseName #3 6 years ago

    My concern about the game, having completed it, is the episodic nature. I don't think its right for adventure games.

    It appears that each episode is a self contained story... which is fine, except that the number of characters, items and locations are therefore pretty limited. Its very hard to get stuck and most the puzzles are reasonably easy because there's only a certain amount of things you can do.

    Still, I enjoyed it - and I'll probably buy the others. It just can't compete with a full sized adventure in my eyes unfortunately.

  • MisterFalseName #4 6 years ago

    Possibly, but if the inventory empties on each episode's completion then there really isn't that much to do, y'know? If you get stuck you can try everything on everything very quickly.

    I should add that I still really enjoyed it, but at the same time I think it could annoy pretty quickly. I was hoping for a "to be continued" at the end, so it could branch off like a real adventure game but it does just end...

  • dsmx #5 6 years ago

    I've paid for it and downloaded it and it is a very good game for around 5 pounds there's not much that can beat it. Except mabye the orgional sam and max.

  • MisterFalseName #6 6 years ago

    Uh... on and off a few hours I think. Like the reviewer, I was looking at everything and having ever conversation.

    It is a funny game too (love Max's reaction when you walk into him!) and the graphical style is pretty ace.

    But over those few hours there aren't actually many puzzles in the whole thing. I think I only picked up about 6 items in total, and there was a limit to the number of things that could be interacted with and as such it never really taxes the grey matter much.

    That said, I did manage to get stuck at the end. :/

  • udat #7 6 years ago

    Yay, thanks for the reminder. Buying now.

    As promised, I'd forgotten.

  • dsmx #8 6 years ago

    My main complaints after finishing it is the length and the lack of puzzles, nothing really that difficult in it, I hope they fix both these things in the next episode.

  • SeanLB #9 6 years ago

    It makes a great introduction and groundbase to build from for what the future episodes to come. I just hope that it doesn't become the foundations of the future episodes, and something to rest onbut instead they take it forward with each one. I'm sure it won't and they'll continually take it forward.
    Edited by SeanLB at 02/11/06 @ 12:33

  • Markusdragon #10 6 years ago

    Downloaded it and completed it last night, it was pretty damn fun. At last; a game based on an existing franchise that's fun for more than just nostalgic reasons.

    Only managed to get stuck enough to look at a hint site twice though. By point and click standards that's extremely easy, but not quite as easy as Bone was.

    But then, I didn't buy it for the challenge, I bought it for the sense of humour, something which it has in buckets.

  • Veldaban #11 6 years ago

    Don't really understand the comments about the length, not for the price they're charging anyway. As for the difficulty, yeah, they can probably increase that a little bit in future episodes. I don't agree that the games are too short for more devious puzzles, there's more than room enough for them. Problem is that most puzzles in this episode are 1 or 2-step while they could be 3 or 4-step. Still, better this than requiring the bizarre logic that killed adventure games in the first place.

    Anyway, yeah, awesome game this... funny (unlike most games), nice graphical style (unlike most games with their murky "realism";) and just plain fun to play through.

  • Veldaban #12 6 years ago

    Well, you can definitely rush through it, but if you take your time and look at everything (which is worth it) it can easily take you 2-3 hours, it's a lot bigger than the demo. Of course, it also depends on how smart you are solving the puzzles. :)

  • dsmx #13 6 years ago

    The game is easily 2-3 hours long, it's just that just as you really get into the game it ends.

    Also the game feels like it could of been longer, these are just my thoughts it is still a great game just be aware it doesn't last long.

  • Kostabi #14 6 years ago

    I've just played it for about an hour and already had enough laughs to justify the price of admission.

    After watching the trailers I was worried it'd be terribly unfunny, but in truth, it's hilarious. Just like the original... only better.

  • smelly #15 6 years ago

    $9 for 2 or 3 hours entertainment? So about same as going to the cinema/reting a dvd then?

    Sorted.

    Might hang out and get the whole 6 episode box set next year though.

  • Veldaban #16 6 years ago

    If you pre-order the whole season now it's even cheaper, around $6 per episode.

  • smelly #17 6 years ago

    Yip. That's why I said i might do that.

    Or maybe wait for the wii version... As I hate playing pc games unless I *REALLY* have to.

    Edited by smelly at 02/11/06 @ 21:35

  • NegativeZero #18 6 years ago

    It's good, extremely good if you were a fan of the original. There are a few minor flaws (can't run it in 16:10 on my 24", the lip-synch is a bit dodgy and I encountered a nasty crash) but overall it's pretty solid and seems well worth the asking price.

    @johnsto: if it was on Steam, I can guarantee I wouldn't buy it. Nothing's worse than having to use that piece of shit all the time, especially when it's running in the background chowing down on resources and bandwidth.