Episode Two of Season Two takes everyone’s favorite furry freelance crime fighters to Easter Island for an adventure full of intrigue, comedy, and cultural references.We already reviewed the first episode of season two— does the second improve upon any of its faults, or isSam and Maxhitting its sophomore slump?
Hit the jump to find out.
Sam & Max Episode 202: Moai Better Blues(PC)Telltale GamesReleased January 10th, 2008
I should seriously hope this review is completely redundant for your purposes – that you’ve already purchasedSam and Max Season Two, and eagerly await each new episode with the enthusiasm of a twelve year old on Christmas Eve. The previousSam and Maxepisodes, to put it briefly, are fun.Moai Better Bluesis no different. Mostly.
This time around, everybody’s favorite anthropomorphic duo has to saveEaster Islandfrom an impending volcano eruption through use of portals, gongs, and talking Moai statues. The previous episodes were pretty damned funny, andMoai Better Bluesis no different: the dialogue is crisp and funny as ever, the new supporting characters (many of which happen to be infant versions of some famous missing persons – don’t ask) are great, and the identity of the evil archenemy Sam and Max meet halfway through the game is so surreally wacky that I couldn’t bear spoiling it here.
Gameplay-wise, very little has changed; but again, this isn’t particularly awful.Moai’s action is confined almost exclusively toEaster Islandthis time around, with only two or three necessary detours to Bosco’s and Stinky’s. Other episodes forced the player to spend a significant time in and around Sam and Max’s neighborhood;Moaikeeps the player almost exclusively insideEaster Island. This is not a huge difference, as none of the previousSam and Maxepisodes have required a great deal of location-hopping, but itisa somewhat noticeable one. Personally, I preferred the change of scenery: getting used to the new characters and unusual puzzle logic ofEaster Islandmade for a fresher, more immersive puzzle-solving experience. As I wasn’t constantly worried that I’d have to run back to Bosco or Sybil to get a necessary item, I felt more at ease, and subsequently more interested, with my tasks onEaster Island.
The unusual, somewhat out-of-place action sequences fromIce Station Santaare back, and they’re more irrelevant than ever. They’re kinda fun at times – the “rhythm minigame,” which requires the player to drive into bagpipe icons as they speed down the road, is interesting in its simplistic marriage of music and gameplay – but they’re not deep or challenging enough to really leave much of an impression, and (consideringSam and Maxis, you know, anadventuregame) it’s not as if fans of the series have been clamoring for these little twitch-reliant minigame distractions.Moai Better Blues’ action minigames are occasionally fun, but completely unnecessary and forgettable – they’re the Jennifer Aniston of videogames.
I’d hoped Sam and Max’s second season would feature some seriously increased difficulty; having completed the first two episodes of this year, however, it appears my wishes (and the wishes of many other die-hardSam and Maxfans) must go unfulfilled. The helpful, intuitive hint system is still around, but there’s never been less of a reason to use it:Moai Better Bluesis, to my mind, the single easiestSam and Maxepisode ever released. I only paused to really think things through once or twice throughout the entire 3-4 hour running time, and my initial puzzle-solving instincts were never wrong. I say this not as an adventure gaming master – I literallyneeda walkthrough to progress through any LucasArts or Sierra adventure title – butMoai’s puzzles are disappointingly easy (perhaps due to the fact that many problems revolve around use of portals, a game mechanic many of us have just hada great deal of experience with).
Beyond its simplistic, obvious puzzle solutions,Moai Better Bluessadly neglects to include one of the greatest staples of theSam and Maxepisodic series: the boss showdowns. Every otherSam and Maxepisode climaxes by placing Sam and Max in some sort of seemingly impossible situation they cannot escape, where they have to (through a mix of wits and violence) defeat the episode’s main antagonist. InSituation: Comedy, Sam had to trick a hypnotized talk show host into knocking herself unconscious. InIce Station Santa, the duo had to face off against an evil, SMG-toting Santa Claus. InMoai Better Blues, our heroes have to, uh, throw a specific item into a portal. This episode ends with a whimper, where all others ended with a bang; considering how funny and odd the episode’s antagonist is, I would havelovedto see a puzzling boss showdown, but instead the developers opted to conclude the story with a boring, nondescript, slightly tweaked version of a puzzle from earlier in the episode. To be honest, it almost feels like Telltale ran out of time and/or money and were forced to end the game prematurely.
All things considered,Moai Better Bluesis a fun, entertaining, but unfortunately disappointing entry in theSam and Maxseries. It retains the great writing of the other episodes, but its considerable lack of difficulty and completely lackluster ending make this episode the worst in the series thus far. Granted, being the worstSam and Maxepisode is like being the ugliest Playboy bunny or the least bitchy co-host onThe View; it’s generally effective at what it sets out to do, and fans of the other episodes will still find a great deal of enjoyment out of it, butMoai Better Bluescould stand to be much better.
6.0
