Sam and Max Save the World
July 15th 2009 02:44
- Paul Frew
I never played Sam and Max Hit the Road – it’s on my list of games I never got around to playing along with Psychonauts and Grim Fandango. I was always interested in it. I love PI games and I love comedies so this was a great combination. I was excited when the episodes were announced but again I never got around to playing it simply because I had given up on PC gaming. But on the same day I bought Big Finish Games’ Three Cards to Midnight, Steam was having a sale on Season 1 and Season 2 of Sam and Max so I bought those too – disregarding the lack of funds in my bank account. I just finished Season 1 – just in time for it to come out on Xbox Live so I don’t look foolish for reviewing it so late after its release.
Sam and Max Season 1 is a game you must buy no matter what system you own… well, except PS3 because it’s not available on it. You can get this on the Wii, PC and 360 and they are all equally entertaining no matter what system you play it on. For those of you unfamiliar with the antagonists – Sam is your old school Sam Spade PI type character except he’s a dog. While Max is a psychopathic rabbit type character who thrives on violence. They’re a great pair and two of the funniest characters you’ll ever encounter in the video game world.
Sam and Max’s latest case involves of hypnotism. It seems like every case they take part in involves someone out of control because their mind is under someone else’s control. They story unravels over six episodes with the main difference between episodes being the location you travel too. The gameplay remains the same though. You’ll always need to interact with two locals in your neighbourhood and you’ll often have to click on every object clickable just in case it is of some importance – fortunately you’ll always get some great banter from Sam and Max on every item.
What’s also fortunate is that all the puzzles can be solved logically unlike some of the older point-and-click adventure games. For example in one puzzle you’ll need to break into a Lunar Lander – luckily the window is open just a little bit. You also happen to have a coathanger in your inventory. You do the math.
I can’t think of a reason not to buy this game. If I really wanted to nitpick I could say the only downside is that you do have to bounce between locations sometimes too frequently. One episode required you to pick up an object, travel to the office, use the object, travel back to the original location to use it again, then travel back to the office again. It can be a little annoying – but I think it’s only the one episode where it seems to drag on a little bit.
Otherwise this is a fantastic game and one that should not be missed out on. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry but most importantly you’ll have fun.
Sam and Max Season 1 is available at www.telltalegames.com ($US19.95 – episode 4 can be downloaded for free), Xbox Live (1600 MS Points) and on the Wii (wherever Wii games are sold).
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