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| Review of The secret of Monkey island |
The Secret of Monkey Island LucasArts Reviewed by Amir I must admit, I never did expect to be writing a review of either this game or its sequel, Monkey Island II, prompted by the imminent release of a new Monkey Island title. It's been so long now since we've seen a new episode in this series, like many other players I thought we'd seen the last of Guybrush Threepwood. Seemingly we haven't. So it was with great pleasure that I brushed off the dust and opened the Secret of Monkey Island box once more. A classic experience If you are new to computer games and you haven't played either this game or Monkey Island II it is almost certain that you have at least heard of someone 'monkeying around' at sometime or other. This is one of the much loved early graphic adventures that seems to have an enduring appeal. Although The Secret of Monkey Island is 'yellowing' a bit with age, particularly the graphics, it is still a delightful game and the puzzles still tripped me up a couple of times even though I have played it before. In this game you play the character of Guybrush Threepwood who wants to be a pirate. The first part of the game has you running around fulfilling three trials before you can collect your swashbuckling T-shirt. To be honest, you never do get to add a swashbuckling T-shirt to your collection of T-shirt trophies because there's no time ... there's a damsel in distress to rescue. Delightfully, this damsel is no simpering victim, she even possesses a mind of her own, and she has a surprise in store for you at the end of the game. Nevertheless, you'll need to find your way to the mysterious Monkey Island, make friends with a monkey, placate the vegetarian cannibals (well they don't eat red meat), and confront the evil LeChuck and his 'cadaverous' band of pirates who are ruling the seas. Sharpen your wits It's great fun. There can't be anyone who has played The Secret of Monkey Island who can't remember how they defeated the swordmaster and earned their prized T-shirt for this amazing feat. This is a problem where you, literally, have to sharpen your wits and, generally speaking, you'll have to stay pretty much 'in touch' for the entire adventure. It's not a terribly difficult game, but it certainly has enough complexity to keep everyone entertained. Even if you don't find it too difficult, the humour is wonderfully engaging and it will keep you coming back for more. It's a game where there are lots of characters who will help you out, and many, many weird and wonderful items to collect. On occasion you will need some ingenuity and imagination to pick up the clues and work out the logic and, sometimes, a bit of deceit and subterfuge won't go astray. The Secret of Monkey Island is one of the early graphical adventures so there are no voices, only text captions for dialogue. Although it has a point and click interface it pre-dates the age of icons and uses words to build up commands instead, so that you just select 'use' to use something, or 'talk' to talk, etc. Simple. Also there are keyboard equivalents for all functions. In a nutshell, it is extremely easy to control with keyboard or mouse and has all the usual options for saving, restoring, adjusting music level and adjusting the amount of time text is displayed. If you haven't played it, don't miss it. It's funny and totally captivating even after a good few years. Now is the perfect time to test it out to prepare yourself for the new game in the series. It really is a great game for all the family and the CD version, at least, is published in 5 languages ... English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Copyright � Amir 1998. All rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||
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The Secret of Monkey Island II LeChuck's Revenge You get this smile when Guybrush does something generally silly and incredibly funny. Luckily, he does it a lot in Monkey Island II, but his goofy smile isn't the only reason that the game is one of the top 4 of all time. The Secret of Monkey Island II surpasses the wealth of great graphical adventure games through its dynamic puzzles, peerless storytelling in a graphic computer game, and it's ability to blend gut-busting humor with the darker side of love and self-realization. The darker side of love and self-realization in a computer game? Ron Gilbert (the heart and mind behind the series) crafted a wonderful love triangle between Guybrush the wanna-be pirate protagonist, LeChuck the all-around Evil Ghost Pirate Guy, and Elaine Marley the fiercely independant governor. LeChuck wants to marry Elaine and deal with Guybrush. Guybrush wants to | Review of Monkey island 2 Lechuck's Revenge. | ||||||||||||||||
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| Review of The curse of monkey island. |
The Curse of Monkey Island July 30, 1997 by Amir We don't see many adventure demos online these days, and one look at the size of this week's selection will tell you why. But LucasArts' Curse of Monkey Island is worth the overnight download. This latest game in the Monkey Island series gets a full cinematic treatment, yet retains the qualities of play and tone that made its predecessors among the few truly great computerized adventures. Set in a world drawn from swashbuckler and historical-romance films, the series follows the conflict between an over-the-top pirate captain named Le Chuck and hapless semihero Guybrush Threepwood, a squeaky-voiced landlubber consumed by dreams of glory (Bill Gates comes to mind). This time out, Guybrush finally goes to sea; a truly epic and picturesque journey seems to be in store. The clever repartee that characterizes the series is on full display here: Pursue all the dialogue options with the grumbling kid pirate in the demo scene and you'll get a hint of the game's charm. According to Curse of Monkey Island's designers, the 8,000-line script is based partly on a session in which a roomful of game staffers tried to crack each other up. This could be a good or a bad thing, depending on your opinion of computer nerd humor -- expect a lot of deliberate groaners. The demo also shows off unprecedented production values. Characters are fully animated, and state-of-the-art anti-aliasing techniques let them blend naturally with the scenery and cut scenes. The voice tracks are equally impressive: The actor who plays Guybrush turned out to be a longtime fan of the series who brought to the project a keen sense of how voices work within an interactive context. Gameplay is based on a flexible point-and-click interface. You click on an object or person to call up options for talking, taking, looking, and so on, and a pop-up treasure chest lets you collect, combine, and use the myriad items you come across. Plentiful and challenging puzzles, as well as a number of difficulty levels, are promised for the game's final version, which is expected to provide more than 40 hours of play. Imagine -- a game offering stunning cinematic quality, real acting and writing, genuine wit, and more than a weekend of play. Is this the beginning of a mature era in game design? Will the film and software industries begin to marry their talents to create a new form worthy of the name art? Could computer gaming be evolving into something more than a collection of genre-bound diversions for hard-core propeller heads? Naaaah. | ||||||||||||||||
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