Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal Comments by Kristan Reed

well i just got the demo - so i'll be trying this over lunch :)

Really looking forward to some old-school adventuring :)

Really not digging the look of this game... I would have preferred something a little more traditional, maybe hand drawn characters or something?

Oh Kristan, you're spoiling the game somewhat.

I'm about an hour into it, just visited Deep Gut, and I had to skip over the vast majority of the second page of this review. I don't think there should be any description of any aspect of the game really, beyond that opening section which isn't going to take much away from the experience.

Really not digging the look of this game... I would have preferred something a little more traditional, maybe hand drawn characters or something?

How do you hand-draw 3D characters? Also, I think they do look sort of hand-drawn. It's not exactly Gears of War graphics!

My mum always tells me off when I say something is 'extremely average'

Am I the only one who just can't adjust to 3D Monkey Island?

Might be nostalgia but I prefer the blocky pixel art of old... ;)

Yeah, there's more character in the Monkey Island 2 sprites than these 3d models. I am not sure why that is, perhaps because they make it easier for your imagination to fill in the blanks.

Don't try root beer, it's horrible.

Right, a question to anyone's whose played this game, how does it compare to previous games?

Personally I loved Monkey Island 1 and 2, 3 (The best looking one by far) was only repetitive in the very long insult fighting bit and didn't like number 4 that much.

Pretty much what I was expecting, although the control system sounds weird. What's wrong with point & click?

I'm waiting for the inevitable box set. I prefer physical copies that can sit on my shelf to all this digital tomfoolery.

I only see PC reviews around the webs, but this one has a Wii icon as well. Is it exactly the same game? How does the wiimote fare?

I don't normally post in here, but could you revise the part referring to clues? I've done the maze section myself and was gleefully satisfied when I hit upon the answer. I think you're more or less giving them the answer a teeny bit.

Root beer tastes and smells like TCP. I wonder if it also has antiseptic properties? Anyway, as Quark pointed out in Deep Space 9, if you drink enough of it, you start to like it.

It's going to be a long month's wait until the next episode.. sigh..

I never played the original last time. I'll likely come back and give this series a look after I get through the XBLA one.

That'll do for me !

Apparently they didn't do point & click because they wanted to have camera angles where you can't see the floor, and if there's no floor, there's nothing to click on so you can walk there.

It makes sense, and the WASD + mouse cursor controls are a good alternative, but why did the introductory tutorial focus on that weird hula hoop instead of WASD?

Root beer is delicious!

i'll buy this when/if it comes out on xbla

Hmm, sounds both good and disappointing at the same time :/

Think will give them the benefit of the doubt and grab it off Steam.
Hope they lavish a bit more love on the later episodes though.

Is there a Wii version of this? The article on the front page has the Wii icon next to the PC one.

If you get it off Steam you miss out on the FREE DVD of all the eps plus bonus materials (I found that out the hard way with S&M season 1!) get it from Telltales site instead for that option.

Just (bother to) get my S&M season 2 DVD this week and it's nice to have a box and some exclusive bonus bits.

Does anyone know when the Wii version is out?

@adcworks Yeah me too.

I preordered the PC version because it has the same specs as Wallace and Gromit which works on my Laptop... Sadly this one doesn't seem to so far!! Lucky I intend to upgrade soon.

Still, my main reason for ordering the PC preorder (other than the Steve Purcell slipcase) was for decent old skool mouse control like S&M. A little bothered by this new system which sounds like it'll work much better on the 360 or Wii.

WHY didn't they launch it on XBLA as well? Surely it's easier to convert to than the Wii?!

@crazyhorse174 I understand how you feel, but I think the majority of fans (myself included) took to Dominic Armato and consider him as much a part of Guybrush now as any aspect of the character...

Anyway, can't you turn VO off and just play with subtitles like all Telltale games?

(I remember getting annoyed with them all on the PC and switching subtitles OFF as soon as the game began!)

I think 7 is quite harsh actually. It's made me laugh out loud several times and is very much a Monkey Island games. In contrast, Sam and Max made me laugh never - it was just boring going through all those dialogue options.

This chapter is an 8 for me. It's very enjoyable.

Its good to see MI back, but they shouldnt really be bringing it back just for the sake of it...although remakes and re-envisions seem to be big business these days.

What does this even mean? It's not come back 'just for the sake of it' - it's come back because they've got a good game to share with us.

Its good to see MI back, but they shouldnt really be bringing it back just for the sake of it...although remakes and re-envisions seem to be big business these days.

What does this even mean? It's not come back 'just for the sake of it' - it's come back because they've got a good game to share with us.

What does it even mean? Well they're bringing back a much loved franchise and stomping all over it to make a quick buck, is what it means. How can it even be MI without Ron Gilbert being involved?

i've got mixed emotions, to be honest, i was expecting the score to be a bit lower after reading the review.

and sadly, i'm entirely on the side of those few people to whom the new look of the game doesn't appeal at all.

maybe my perception of the new title is a little bit jaded, but "the secret of monkey island" & "the lure of the temptress" were the two best adventure games i've ever played.

and that was back in the amiga days...

/starting UAE

edit: typos

I've only played half an hour or so (just looking around the island), but I have to say I think the review is a little on the harsh side. If the writing and puzzle design of a game like this are really good, then thats basically everything you want covered.

I'll also say that despite not really liking the look of the game when it was first shown, 20 minutes in I was convinced, in places its just gorgeous, even at worst it looks good.

Assuming it continues like this its at least a solid 8, perhaps even a 9.

I also think the score is a little on the low side. I thought the puzzles and humour were great. Not sure how they could recreate the pixelated style of the originals now anyway.

Biggest problem I had was getting it to match my LCD TV resolution. But there is a work around in the forums.

Looking forward to part 2.

"In addition, the introductory section also suffers a little because of a lurching camera, caused by the swell of the ocean waves. With the entire playing area bobbing around rhythmically, it makes the routine process of finding hotspots rather more troubling than it ought to be, and in tandem with the quirky new control system it feels like Telltale almost set out to make you feel seasick."

I can't say that I even noticed this issue nevermind found it a nuisance. How odd.

Re: the control system though... the lack of true point and click movement is a strange oversight in a game that traditionally could be played solely with the mouse. The left-button-click-plus-move control doesn't feel precise nor do the cursor keys particularly, although they're more preferable.

The really peculiar thing about this game is that it supports the Xbox 360 controller for movement, it even lets you call up the menus with Start, navigate them with the D-pad, select options with A and exit them with B but, try as I did, I just could not get the in-game cursor to move with the analogue sticks or D-pad thus rendering the whole idea of controller support completely redundant in my opinion. Why only half support the controller? Do the developers expect peopel to move with the controller and point and click with the mouse or something? :?

What does it even mean? Well they're bringing back a much loved franchise and stomping all over it to make a quick buck, is what it means. How can it even be MI without Ron Gilbert being involved?
Except they haven't "stomped all over it". This episode is actually a good game, and very much in keeping with the MI traditions. Have you actually played it? As for Ron Gilbert, he was involved, albeit only in a consultant capacity. Still, that's more than his involvement in MI3, and most people consider that a good MI game.

I was looking at this on Steam but coulld only see a season pack for £24.99.. if they had confidence in the product I could have bought the first episode standalone. Maybe I just missed it, I dunno.

I ended up buying Braid instead.

"... notably on a map-based puzzle where using auditory clues guides the way..."

That's a spoiler IMO.

Anyway, I think Tales of Monkey Island Chapter is great, easily deserving of 8.5 from me. It captures the Monkey Island flavour almost perfectly, the puzzles are fun, the dialogue is amusing and the audio/visuals are perfect. I couldn't have asked for more except perhaps the full game all in one go. Seems odd to sell the game in chapters when you can only purchase the complete package anyway, something that makes sense seeing as there's a story arc supposedly spanning all five chapters.

I know from Kristian Reed's 5/10 Banjo-Kazooie review that he's very critical compared with myself so as soon as I saw his name at the top of the review I knew the game wouldn't get more than 7/10. Drat, I do hate it when I'm right!

@Darren If you download Xpadder, you can map the cursor to the right stick on the 360 pad. Plays pretty well this way. For me, it's much nicer than using the odd mouse controls or keyboard to move around.

Xpadder: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Syst...

Count me as one of the people who thinks that 7/10 is too low. I wasn't a fan of the looks originally but after a while you do get used to it. Likewise for the control system. Get passed that and it's most definitely a Monkey Island game - great jokes, fun puzzles, genuine laugh out loud moments. Only criticism from me (other than the aformentioned) is that only episode 1 is available now. I want more!

On the subject of buying the game, you can still get it from Telltale's website for $34.95 (which works out at under £23) and get a free episode of another game with it. Better price and more content than on Steam.

7 seems pretty harsh. I finished it just now, I'd peg it more as a 9.

The Marquis was especially hilarious.

@HSH25 - I paid £24.99 for Tales of Monkey Island on Steam and got Wallace and Gromit Episode 1 free so there's only a couple of quid in it... for a change (as I think Steam are a rip off normally for new releases). I already have Wallace & Gromit for the 360 but the PC version is nevertheless a very welcome bonus because it runs smoother, looks nicer and has superior controls to the clunky, juddery console version.

If you buy it from Telltale you can choose which episode though (so you could have had the second one).

Also theres the option of having it on a Collectors DVD at the end of the season for the cost of shipping.

Obviously no use to you now, but other people might want to consider it.

Totally disagree there. I'd've given it a 9. Maybe an 8 instead.

What does it even mean? Well they're bringing back a much loved franchise and stomping all over it to make a quick buck, is what it means. How can it even be MI without Ron Gilbert being involved?

Except it's a great game, very much in the mood and style of MI, and for the last bloody time, Ron Gilbert was involved.

Nice Discworld ref, Kristan.

@HSH25 - Well that's a good point but unfortunately for me I didn't know I could buy the game from anywhere else but Steam. Had I known I would probably have bought the game with Wallace & Gromit Episode 2 from Telltale. Still I know now so I can purchase future releases direct from them. Thanks all the same.

Darren wrote:

"... notably on a map-based puzzle where using HEY I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA WHY DON'T I JUST COMPLETELY GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER TO TWO OF THE GAME'S PUZZLES? THAT WAY I'LL SHOW THE READERS THAT I'VE FINISHED IT AND I'M REALLY REALLY CLEVER HAHAHAHAHAHA..."

That's a spoiler IMO.

Absolutely right it is. In fact he's just given away the solution to a significant part of the puzzling. I'm glad I read his review in full after I finished the game. What an idiot.

Could you people stop talking about the spoilers?? I've avoided reading the review so I wouldn't bump into any of them!!