Game Reviews: Sam & Max – The Devil’s Playhouse
I haven’t done a game review in a while, have I? It’s not for a lack of gaming, that’s for certain – I definitely have a few things to say about my experiences with “Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe” and “Katamari Damacy.” But what got me out of my procrastination was finishing the third season of Sam & Max last night, and finding myself just a little overwhelmed at how far the series has come over the years.
For anyone unfamiliar, “Sam & Max” is an adventure game comedy about two freelance cops in New York – one’s a dog, the other’s a rabbit, and they go around solving bizarre “crimes” of a paranormal nature. The first game was back in 1993 with “Sam & Max Hit The Road” where they travel across America looking for a missing Bigfoot. A few years ago, Telltales Games started making new, shorter games in episodic format, and released them as seasons (much like a TV show.) It’s been very successful since then and “The Devil’s Playhouse” is Season 3 of the series.
I’ll keep this review of “The Devil’s Playhouse” as spoiler-free as possible, but I really wanted to comment on some of the more innovative features of the new five-episode season. The general premise of the story is that Max suddenly develops psychic abilities, and becomes a target for many power-hungry villains. Throughout the adventure, you discover special “Toys of Power” that unlock even more abilities, such as Future Vision, Teleportation, and Shape-Shifting. This lends to some interesting puzzle solving as you have to use Max’s psychic powers in tandem with Sam’s inventory to progress throughout the game. This results in a lot of unusual – but brilliant – situations where you’re required to think outside-the-box, especially in the scenarios where you have to experience the story non-chronologically. Experimenting with the powers often leads to success, or to some incredibly funny and/or awkward scenes.
The other thing that stands out about Season 3 is how grown-up the series has become at this point. The non-sequiturs and infantile humor are still abundant, but the story and characters have gone through all kinds of development. Everyone has a back-story, their own share of secrets, and intricate relationships. On top of that, the story takes some very dark turns – not funny dark, as is tradition for the series – but, well… let’s just say characters die. Good characters – that I like. And I feel sad when they die – yet I want to keep playing. It’s very involving. The words “epic” and “emotional” normally never apply to Sam & Max (the series specializes in general silliness,) but this season is a big exception.
In spite of my love for this season, it’s still hard to recommend to everyone. To really appreciate it, you have to go through the first two seasons, learn about the characters, and follow some very important sub-plots which factor into this season. On top of that, if you don’t share the game’s unique sense of humor and abnormality, you’ll probably get fed up or offended after one episode. Sam & Max can be an acquired taste for some people. Fortunately for me, I’ve been following their work since I was a kid, so it’s already part of my personality.
That out of the way, I just want to share some personal thoughts on the various episodes:
Episode 1, The Penal Zone: I thought this was a great opener for the season, as it introduced me to the new puzzle-solving system, and the story played out like a blend of “The Twilight Zone” meets “The X-Files.” Max’s Future-Vision ability really makes this episode fun.
Episode 2, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak: This was the first episode of the season that truly blew my mind. Explaining why would spoil it, but I can say that Sam sports a pretty awesome mustache in this one.
Episode 3, They Stole Max’s Brain: Oddly enough, I didn’t like this episode. It starts out great, but gets disappointing very quickly as they rush from one plot to another. Then there’s the question of all the red herrings left around the game – buttons and levers that do nothing, items I can’t take, pointless shape-shifting forms, a completely useless new character – it’s like they forgot to put in the puzzles – and the ones they left in can be easily solved by accident. Personally, I think they let the new guy design this episode.
Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls: This one redeems Episode 3. With a darker tone, some great cinematography, and one heck of a huge EPIC pay-off, this was my favorite of the season until…
Episode 5, The City That Dares Not Sleep: In which they took the huge epic pay-off from Episode 4 and made a whole episode about it. The puzzles in this one were very fun to figure out – albeit too easy at times – and there was some very creative elements to the overall design. This one turned out to be especially heavy on the drama, however, as well as convoluted and bizarre sub-plots (Sybil’s story is a little too weird, even for me.) And the ending… oh, man. Right now, the Telltale forums are abuzz with people debating the ending like it was “Inception.” Some hate it, some love it. Personally, I think it’s one of the best adventure game endings ever written, but maybe that’s just me.
All in all, a great season, a great adventure, and some great fun. All the more reason to look forward to Telltale’s “Back to the Future” later this year.
September 01 2010 | Video Games | No Comments »
Today marks a milestone as I finally add something new to the “Games” tab here on the site. Chapter 1 of “The Silver Lining” is out, and it’s available for download over at