Tales of Monkey Island ahoy! Gameplay video, new screens |
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| BY Eric Wigdahl Jul. 2nd, 2009 | More on: |
Avast! Tales of Monkey Island will put into port in less than a week, hauling in the classic adventure gaming and pirate comedy. LucasArts and Telltale Games have sent out a brief gameplay video of the newest installment in the treasured series. The first episode, “Launch of the Screaming Narwahl,” is coming to PC and Wii with four more episodes on the horizon.
Guybrush, LeChuck, and Elaine are there in ye olde damsel-in-distress dilemma. The hero is cracking jokes and they look prettier than Spanish doubloons (and oddly similar to Sam & Max games). And of course, Guybrush screws up and everyone is going to die because of it. The voice actors are still savvy from their last voyage. If the video isn’t enough for you landlubbers, there are new screens to tickle your fancy. All in all the game seems seaworthy, so unfurl the main sails and set a course to the best monkey-infested island on the map!
July 2nd, 2009
at 11:09 am
Well, they made LeChuck a tad different from how I remember him.. and the way the graphics engine works is still way too much like it always has. It never seems to bring the characters to a proper life… but as always , Guybrush VA is top notch, I don’t even notice anything different about it from all those years back.. that guy is keeping his lungs in great shape!
July 2nd, 2009
at 11:02 pm
Well, Dan’s post about Zelda has a point: That game series hasn’t made drastic changes since it came out. And the reason for it is because it works. Same can be said for any long-lasting game series and why should Monkey Island be any different? I don’t think anyone wants it to be different; I certainly don’t. And yes, Dominic Armato still has it. His work definitely deserves some credit for keeping the old feel in this stuff.
Food for thought: How important is the graphical quality in an adventure game anyway? Most point-and-clicks rely on story and comedy for entertainment value. And not to throw gorgeousness out the window (I played some TLJ) but who would be disappointed in an adventure game release today that isn’t rendered beautifully?
July 3rd, 2009
at 12:58 am
I think that point and click adventures used to be ahead of the curve when it came to “teh pretties” in the past. It’s just that for some reason, they fell out of favor for a long time. Telltale games has done a great job rebooting Sam & Max and now Monkey Island (even though they have yet to release it on a system that I’d buy it on).
If these were on PSN, I’d have bought them weeks/months ago. Why they can’t port this stuff to the PS3 is beyond me. I can’t imagine that it’s terribly intensive on the hardware. Sony, if you’re listening, go and help them. You have a customer waiting to spend monies.
July 3rd, 2009
at 10:17 am
You’re probably right. The only reason why a point-and-click would favor PC and Wii over 360 and PS3 is the point-and-click. Not that using a control stick to would ruin an adventure game in any way, the PC mouse and Wii remotes are just more classic control styles for the genre.
Who knows, maybe the sales will be huge enough that they decide to port it to other consoles.
July 3rd, 2009
at 10:23 am
Well, I wasn’t saying the engine was much different from the older MI games (since it sort of is) , just saying I’d have liked the engine they’re using (the one they made all their other games with, Sam and Max , etc) to be a bit less obvious about it’s limitations in making their characters move. It’s like you could supplant Sam’s head onto Guybrushes (for instance, when he shakes his head). And the graphics themselves aren’t problematic whatsoever! All very much nostalgic and intriguing for those who’ve played the entire series.