Sam and Max Season 2, Episode 5: “What’s New Beelzebub” Review
Another season of Sam and Max is in the bag, but did things go out with a bang or a whimper?
For the past five months, we’ve been treated with a full slate of the madcap humor of Sam and Max. And while there have been high and low points throughout the season, the writers were determined to make the grande finale memorable enough to hold us over until Season Three starts. Everything is thrown against the wall here, site gags, hidden gags, one liners, game long jokes, Everything.
The episode follows Sam and Max as they attempt to rescue Bosco’s soul from the depths of Hell, and end up unraveling a plot to destroy the world from a rather unlikely corporate presence. Somehow the game ends up even more insane and ridiculous than even that premise sounds.
For all the craziness that it offers, the ambiance of Hell gets a little old after a while. It’s worth it, though, for the first few times you take in the decor. Other than that, there aren’t really any new places to visit. For what it’s worth, however, they make excellent use of old places for new gags.
Once again, the writing is great, pulling in jokes from previous episodes (dating back to the first season in many cases), solving long unsolved puzzles, and providing several legitimate laugh out loud moments. If you’ve been a fan of the series since the first episode, there are some really neat jokes that aren’t fully spelled out but that will get you going once you spot them.
The biggest issue here is that some of the puzzle solutions aren’t quite logical. Not that they ever are in these games, but there are a few that will get you stuck. There’s one in particular that has you trying to free the “soul” of a certain vehicle that requires some awfully backwards logic, and a few others that present solutions to you that you can’t use until you’ve solved some other puzzles.
No mini-games (as such) in this particular version, though there is one very brief car driving sequence, it ultimately doesn’t actually require any skill. The focus was more, as it should be, on just throwing the rest of the season’s jokes in a pot and seeing what happens.
Extra Features:
No bonus stuff this time around.
Technical:
Really, really good this time around. I’ve complained before about the long load times and herky jerky dialog in the review versions, but there was none of that this time. Some of the animation was a little off this time around, but that’s just nitpicking.
Graphics:
Solid graphical work, as always. They did a really great job of filling the new spaces that they did create with stuff to keep your eyes occupied. As I said, some of the ambience kind of wears off at times, but the first time you lay eyes on some things (like a “Sloth” poster in Hell), you’ll get a real kick out of it.
Sound:
The dialog is back to being spot on here, and the comic timing has really been improved for this episode. There’s a gag involving censorship that is very, very funny, but it’s not consistantly executed around the end of the game. The music is delightful as always, but there’s no showstopping numbers this time. Well…there is a wicked midi-Solo.
I did want to mention something about the ambient music of hell, because it’s actually quite amusing. There’s a fine line between where this would get very annoying and where it would be sort of funny, and the music from Hell walks that line quite nicely.
Replay Value:
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of things to go back and try in this instance. There may be a dialog tree or two you miss on the first time through, but it’s nothing major and the only reason to revisit would be to go back and hit up some of the more amusing jokes.
Final Score: 9/10
It’s not a perfect episode by itself, but it does provide an excellent ending to the season. A lot of the imperfections that plagued earlier episodes still remain, but a large portion are either played off very well or extremely easy to ignore this time around.
What really sells this is the simple preponderance of jokes and gags that you’ll run through by the end of the game. The writing team went all out and threw everything at the wall, and nearly everything sticks. If you were ever a fan of the Monkey Island or earlier Sam and Max games, you owe it to yourself to check out this revitalization of comedic dialog in an adventure game.
As a solo episode, it’s a bit too rapid fire and absorbed in itself, but that’s what makes it a perfect closure to the season. I don’t know what doors they’re going to open in Season Three, but this wrap up of Season Two has me very, very interested.
If you’re interested in taking a look at the game, you can download a copy of the Demo at the TellTale Website.
Also, I’m pleased to announce that Sam and Max are coming to the Wii! A perfect combination, if I do say so myself. The Telltale People can tell you more.