Screenshots :.
Sam and Max Ep 202: Moai Better Blues
PC
Matt
22-01-2008
"There's an obvious Beach Boys reference here somewhere."
"Cleaning up after Jay's lunch is indeed a miserable task."
"These things are a little miserable."
We’re now some three weeks into 2008, and after a short period of New Year enthusiasm the grind has more-than-likely set in for most of us (well, if you’re not jammy enough to sit around playing video games all day for a living, that is). As a result it’s likely that a good few of you are searching around for some sort of entertainment to put a bit of a smile on your face, and those who haven’t chosen to see if guinea pigs can ride cats like a horse or to make the world’s biggest Scalextric circuit and almost burn down your house in the resultant electrical fire will probably be wanting a decent video game to pass the time.
The Sam and Max series from Telltale is a pretty handy option, what with each episode costing about as much as a ham sandwich from M&S and packing in a good deal of humour into their five-hour lifespan. We’re now into the second series of the episodic format that the bunny and canine detective duo are served to us in nowadays, and with the previous episode – Ice Station Santa – proving to be a cracking good way to waste an evening it’s to episode two that we head with high hopes.
Moai Better Blues sees the little guys being sucked into a rather large red triangle near the start of the episode and deposited on Easter Island, where they find themselves amongst a whole host of previously-missing people in a rather curious guise, a trio of moaning Maoi heads and bickering couple Sybil and Abe Lincoln. Whilst this might sound like a brilliant time for everyone to take a holiday, unfortunately a rather ominous volcano is threatening to explode and the only ones who can help are Sam and Max. Cue adventure!
The great thing to report about this episode is that, as the previous instalment hinted at, the quality of the writing is going from strength-to-strength. There are moments in Maoi Better Blues when you will laugh so much your nose might start running, such as when Sam and Max conspire to get a giant stone head… er, stoned, and when everyone’s favourite quartet of misguided computers the C.O.P.S have the duo play their own special version of a musical rhythm game. Expect bagpipes. It’s all a little surreal and it makes for a very enjoyable few hours.
The good thing this time around is that the puzzles match up to the level of humour as well, with a few of them being real noodle-benders. The thing that is more of a relief than anything is that they never seem to rely on you clicking every-single-bloody-thing you come across every time you visit a location and then surprising you that it’s suddenly become an item you need – at all times you are given the items you need and left to work out what you need to do with the things. It’s certainly a lot less frustrating than Sam and Max games previous, although that’s not to say that you won’t come to a bit of a grinding halt on a couple of occasions. One puzzle in particular is a bit on the obscure side, but for the most part it’s just lining up the logic strands in your brain.
So it’s a big thumbs-up from me for Moai Better Blues, and in general the second series is seeing Telltale put to rights some of the complaints that were issued their direction after the end of the last season. It might not be busting into vastly new territory or providing something amazingly innovative, but as a chunk-sized piece of humour-filled puzzling you can’t really fault it. If you’re not on the Sam and Max bandwagon yet, now might be an appropriate moment to jump on.
The Sam and Max series from Telltale is a pretty handy option, what with each episode costing about as much as a ham sandwich from M&S and packing in a good deal of humour into their five-hour lifespan. We’re now into the second series of the episodic format that the bunny and canine detective duo are served to us in nowadays, and with the previous episode – Ice Station Santa – proving to be a cracking good way to waste an evening it’s to episode two that we head with high hopes.
Moai Better Blues sees the little guys being sucked into a rather large red triangle near the start of the episode and deposited on Easter Island, where they find themselves amongst a whole host of previously-missing people in a rather curious guise, a trio of moaning Maoi heads and bickering couple Sybil and Abe Lincoln. Whilst this might sound like a brilliant time for everyone to take a holiday, unfortunately a rather ominous volcano is threatening to explode and the only ones who can help are Sam and Max. Cue adventure!
The great thing to report about this episode is that, as the previous instalment hinted at, the quality of the writing is going from strength-to-strength. There are moments in Maoi Better Blues when you will laugh so much your nose might start running, such as when Sam and Max conspire to get a giant stone head… er, stoned, and when everyone’s favourite quartet of misguided computers the C.O.P.S have the duo play their own special version of a musical rhythm game. Expect bagpipes. It’s all a little surreal and it makes for a very enjoyable few hours.
The good thing this time around is that the puzzles match up to the level of humour as well, with a few of them being real noodle-benders. The thing that is more of a relief than anything is that they never seem to rely on you clicking every-single-bloody-thing you come across every time you visit a location and then surprising you that it’s suddenly become an item you need – at all times you are given the items you need and left to work out what you need to do with the things. It’s certainly a lot less frustrating than Sam and Max games previous, although that’s not to say that you won’t come to a bit of a grinding halt on a couple of occasions. One puzzle in particular is a bit on the obscure side, but for the most part it’s just lining up the logic strands in your brain.
So it’s a big thumbs-up from me for Moai Better Blues, and in general the second series is seeing Telltale put to rights some of the complaints that were issued their direction after the end of the last season. It might not be busting into vastly new territory or providing something amazingly innovative, but as a chunk-sized piece of humour-filled puzzling you can’t really fault it. If you’re not on the Sam and Max bandwagon yet, now might be an appropriate moment to jump on.
8/10
