Sam & Max Save the World - Season One
Preview
Episode 101: Culture Shock
by Sergio Brinkhuis
previewed on PC
High time for a sequel
Back in the high days of the adventure genre, it seemed as if all the good adventures came from only two companies. The first, Sierra Entertainment, produced series like Gabriel Knight, Kings Quest, Police Quest and of course Leisure Suit Larry. While these games were fantastic in their own right, they did not seem to have the same magical quality to them as the games created by the second company. Of course I am talking about Lucas Arts, responsible for great games such as The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango.
The key to their success was, without any doubt, their sense of humor. Few other game developers have managed to stir as many laughs as Lucas Arts did and because of it, most of their adventure games have achieved a near-legendary status.
Sam & Max hit the Road, released in 1993, is commonly regarded as one of the most successful games of the adventure era. Granted, with the two main characters being a dog and a rabbit, the opportunities for a good gag are bound to be plentiful. Oddly enough, a sequel was never produced. Until now.
Episodes are all the rage
If you are currently gasping for breath while reading this because you made a run to your local shop to pre-order the game, I totally understand. Disappointing news eh? For those of you who aren't gasping for breath: The individual Episodes will not be available from offline shops. Telltale only expects to ship CD versions of the full 'season' and obviously it will take a while before it becomes available. Yep, developer Telltale games is going the 'Episode' way that seems to be so hot these days. Personally I don't care much for it. First they took away those cool game boxes and replaced them with DVD boxes, and now they want us to hand over physical ownership too? As a result, the game will at first only be available via download. The first episode will be named Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock, has recently gone gold and should be available on October 17th.
Oldschool in 3D
What should you expect from the first episode? Well, lots of laughter of course and the background story seems to come right out of an episode of Animaniacs. It involves a group of former child stars that have fallen from their pedestals. Misunderstood as they obviously are, they feel the world needs to be punished for their lack of taste. Backed (or perhaps controlled?) by an unnamed third party, they put together a dastardly evil plan. Our popular duo are all that stands in their way and it is up to you to help them figure out what exactly is going on.
