For those of you unfamiliar with the Monkey Island series of games, let me give you a quick resume of the game style. (If you've played them before you can skip the next paragraph).

This is an adventure game. What this basically means is that you have to go around the various locations, talking to people to find clues, pick up objects, use them on other objects (which may be ones you can see and use but not pick up), and try to solve any puzzles along the way. (For example, you need to buy a sailing ship but you have no money... you get money but it/s not enough... maybe you can do something to convince the seller to lower the price... is there something he wants doing that could convince him to give you 50% off... etc). There is a definite storyline, which progresses as you go through the game (provided, of course, that you solve the puzzles that get in your way...) This makes the game somewhat linear, I guess, but I have never minded that myself and kind of like this sort of goal-oriented questing.

Escape from Monkey Island is a slight departure from the first three games (see The Monkey Island Archives for details of these). It features the same sort of gameplay, that is your piratey adventure lark, but this time Guybrush has gone 3D.

A brief summary of the plot so far… Guybrish Threepwood (the player’s character) was once a wannabe pirate. In the first game he has to pass three tests to prove his worth, after which he ends up on the mysterious Monkey Island, home of the evil Zombie pirate LeChuck. On the way he falls in love with Governor Elaine Marley, who unfortunately happens to be LeChuck’s love interest as well. (He doesn’t let the small fact that he’s dead get in the way too much). LeChuck is in the end defeated.

In the second Monkey Island game, LeChuck’s revenge, Guybrush loses his newfound wealth almost immediately and goes off in search of a fabled treasure called “Big Whoop”. However, this is not quite the treasure he thought it would be… Not only that, but LeChuck turns out to be not quite as extinct as was thought…

In the third instalment, Curse of Monkey Island, Guybrush unwittingly gives Elaine a cursed ring for an engagement ring (well it happens…) and has to find a more powerful magic to defeat the curse…. Oh and guess what, LeChuck’s still at large…

Escape from Monkey Island starts with Guybrush and Elaine as prisoners on a ship, though at least it’s not LeChuck’s… but guess what? He’s still around. Once they escape and reach Melee Island, Elaine has a new foe to contend with to retrieve her lost governorship… an Australian who wants to turn the islands into a tourist spot! And that’s just the start… oh and did I mention that LeChuck is still around, with new and terrible plans?

The graphics are great (back in the days when I had only a Voodoo 2 card (8mb) it struggled a bit, but my nice new Nvidia GE Force 4 (64mb) has no problems with it. But there are several details levels if your 3D card isn’t one of the newer models, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble. The 3D is nice, and especially adds to the atmosphere of the cut scenes, which are again fully voice-acted.

The interface is similar to that used in Curse of Monkey Island (use three options – Use, Pick Up, Talk), except that you use the cursor keys instead of the mouse. It works okay, but the mouse felt more comfortable to use. It’s not really a problem, but it could have been better to be honest.

The puzzle element has shifted slightly too. The first two games were pure adventure puzzles – ie find out what to use with what etc. Curse of Monkey Island did have the naval battles, but basically followed the same pattern. There are still plenty of “proper” adventure puzzles here too, but also some logic puzzles and at least one that depends entirely on timing. While this does add variety, the puzzles aren’t really thought out as well as in MI1 and 3, in general, and some of them are ridiculously tricky. Also, many adventure gamers would view these other puzzles as irrelevant and annoyances – after all, you wouldn’t by a racing game only to have to beat a tetris variant to get to the next race… In my opinion, the difficulty is too high. As with the second game, I needed to look at online hints many times before I completed it. Perhaps this is designed to add to the longevity of the game, but adding hours of frustration is not the same thing as adding hours of gameplay…

Overall this is not as bad as some people have made it out to be. It’s still a good game, and enjoyable. But what really makes a good adventure game is the puzzles, and this game falls down slightly in this regard. Of course, this is mainly a matter of opinion, but my opinion is the only one I can really give. (well I can also give my sister’s opinion – we always used to play this type of game as a team – believe me, the male and female brain combination works ten times better than either on their own).

The humour, which is a vital part to all of the Monkey Island games, is here in force. With the difficulty of the puzzles, sometimes this is all that keeps you playing. It’s funny throughout, and some parts are simply hysterical. (When Pagnose Pete (who is scared of ducks, the reason he is a pegnose…) is a prisoner, try using the duck whistle on him… Cruel but very funny. Also a quick hint – if you want to save yourself a lot of time, you DO NOT need to get all the prosthetic pieces… I took aaaaaaaaaaages doing it and created an “abomination of creation”, spent the whole game wondering where you used it… and found that you didn’t use it for anything. If you try and use it on someone he cries “It’s Alive!” and throws it, but then all the items clutter your inventory unless you spend the time putting them back together… very annoying. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!).

If you’ve played the older games, you’ll be pleased to know the old favourites are back – including my personal favourites, Murray and Lemonhead. The treatment they get in 3D is usually very good.

I’ve given it four stars because it is a good game. But it’s not a brilliant one. A worthwhile addition to the Monkey Island series, but in my opinion only the third in terms of enjoyment. (For me it goes 3, 1, 4, 2 – though if you’re new to the series you
should definitely play 1 first).


Graphics: 9 – can’t really fault them on quality, but they don’t fit the game as well as the graphics in Curse of Monkey Island did

Sound: 10 – great voice acting, good music and SFX

Playability: 8 - easy to use interface if not my favourite, you can work out what you’re meant to try to do pretty quickly even if you’ve never played this type of game before

Longevity: 7 - will last you a fair while, but much of the time will be frustration rather than playing

Replay Value: 6 - you may well come back to it after you get bored of yet more Doom clones…

Value For Money: 8 - now it’s out on budget it represents very good value for money

Overall Rating: 8/10



Reviews of other Graphical Adventure / Detective Games

The Monkey Island Archives (MI1-3)

Bladerunner

Discworld: Noir

Grim Fandango

Law & Order 2: Double or Nothing


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My Top Ten Commercial Graphical Adventure Games



Recommended: Yes