 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Telltale Games |
| Publisher: | Telltale Games | |
| Genre: | Adventure | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Available via GameTap 11/08, through Telltale 11/09 | |
| Buy Now: |   |
It seemed like a risky move at the time. Episodic gaming had never really proven itself as a profitable niche in the gaming industry, and the point-n-click adventure genre hasn’t exactly set the sales charts on fire in the past, oh, 15 years or so. Nevertheless, deep down we were rooting for Telltale Games to make this whole episodic Sam & Max thing work, and the critical acclaim and sales of Season One have definitively proven that they have.
Nevertheless, much like the genre itself, Telltale Games now needs to continue to evolve the franchise in order to stay relevant (and avoid stagnation given they’re releasing these episodes so closely together), and it’s obvious that they realize that. As a result, Sam & Max Episode 201: Ice Station Santa brings several new features to the franchise. There’s now a tutorial mode based on the first puzzle in last season’s Culture Shock to get newbies up to speed. There’s also a new hint system with five different levels (from none to horribly intrusive) to control the frequency of hints that Max will offer throughout the game. I actually found the hint system a little too helpful (when I turned it on I wanted a little nudge in the right direction, not the shove I got on all but the lowest setting), but of course it’s entirely optional.
Generally I’m against using any sort of hint system at all, but turned to it on a couple of occasions because this episode is quite frankly hard at times. While none of the puzzles in the game are head-scratching difficult, there’s a surprising amount of stuff to find and utilize in this one short episode that makes me think they took complaints of Season 1’s rather modest difficulty level a little too far. Our adventure starts out with a gigantic robot attacking Sam & Max’s neighborhood, and after hilariously sharing its favorite pop songs the robot is vanquished. It’s then that Sam & Max learn the robot was sent to them as a present from Santa himself, and thus they dash off to the North Pole to quell the threat of a demon-possessed, gun-toting Santa Claus and save Christmas.
I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice it to say that the series’ trademark off-the-wall humor is here in full force. The game definitely presents a dark twist to the Christmas season (as if a demon-possessed Santa Claus wasn’t enough), including the bald, snaggle-toothed elves that work in Santa’s shop, and Santa’s new toy line including Torture Me Elmer dolls, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse dolls, cannons, and more. Sam and Max’s dialog play off of this setting to near-perfection, in particular a memorable exchange with an elf where they verbally abuse it to convince it to cry for reasons I’ll let you discover on your own.
While this episode makes itself accessible to new players by not relying on old storylines from last season, a number of supporting characters do return. Sam & Max’s neighborhood is still populated by the likes of Jimmy the Rat, Bosco, the C.O.P.S., and Sybil, and other characters including Abe Lincoln’s head and the Soda Poppers also return. I’m not a fan of the Soda Poppers here at all (they really feel shoehorned into this episode), but there are definitely more hits than misses in the dialog overall.
The other major addition to this season is that the game now supports widescreen graphics, and this results in some very nice environments. The North Pole in particular is gorgeously drawn, and provides a surreal setting when combined with the dark version of Carol of the Bells that plays in the background. While Telltale does recycle the duo’s neighborhood and office from Season One, they also gave them both graphic revamps as they now feature more detail and other interesting changes. The presentation itself is slicker too, with a snazzier opening credits sequence and better menus in general.
Bottom Line:
Sam & Max Season Two starts out with a bang (from Santa’s gun) in Ice Station Santa. Not only is this episode one of the best yet on its own, but the changes to the engine are smart and show that Telltale isn’t simply resting on its laurels. All signs point toward another great season for the freelance police.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 9.0 |
Posted: 2008-03-13 13:06:56 PST