Tales of Monkey Island – Launch of the Screaming Narwhal (WiiWare) Review
Avast! It’s been nearly nine years since Guybrush Threepwood Mighty PirateTM and the Monkey Island series has been seen- the video game arena has changed since 2000’s Escape from Monkey Island was released and the world needs more adventure games. Thankfully, Telltale games have been there to fill the void, with the rebirth of Sam and Max – another Lucasarts property – and now Monkey Island gets the episodic treatment, with five new games planned. The first episode to drop is Launch of the Screaming Narwhal.
The main cast consists of series regulars Guybrush Threepwood, his wife Elaine Marley and the evil undead pirate LeChuck. Just like before, LeChuck has abducted Elaine and plans to make her his wife – again. Dominic Armato returns to voice Guybrush alongside Alexandra Boyd who voiced Elaine in ‘The Curse of Monkey Island’ (but not ‘Escape’) returning to the role. LeChuck is voiced by a new actor but be assured he remains as pirate-y and evil as ever.
The game begins with Guybrush in pursuit of Elaine who is tied up on LeChuck’s ship. With the help of Voodoo Lady, Guybrush has planned to rescue Elaine and defeat LeChuck once and for all. Guybrush has been seeking out the ingredients to make the Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu. After boarding his arch-enemies ship and substituting the final ingredient after a mishap (it was meant to be Fizzy Root Beer which was found in a Monkey Coffin), Guybrush takes on LeChuck face to face. Unfortunately, because Guybrush cut corners when making the cutlass, it makes LeChuck human – which is a first for the series – but it also unleashes the Pox of LeChuck on all of the Tri Islands and infects Guybrush’s hand. The Pox causes his hand to act upon its own accord and occasionally causes Guybrush to lash out with a LeChuck-esque pirate rage. Not long after this happens, LeChuck’s ship explodes throwing the trio into the ocean as Guybrush floats onto Flotsam Island, and it is from here where the game’s story begins. All of the above happens within the opening minutes, so we haven’t spoiled any of the games main adventure for you.
All is not well on Flotsam Island- the winds surrounding the island always push in toward the island causing anyone who comes nears it to become stranded and unable to leave. The chapter is called Launch of the Screaming Narwhal as that is the means of Guybrush’s escape off the wind stricken Flotsam if he can get past the winds. Because of the winds, it means the island’s inhabitants consist of a varied bunch of wayward travelers stuck on the island. All the characters have their own charm- the glass blower pirate who makes unicorn figures; the local French doctor/mad scientist Marquis de Singe; and the newspaper reporter who is sick of reporting that the WIND SUCKS. The game’s secondary characters, whilst all different, are largely forgettable apart from the notable exception of the explorer in the Jungle. The jokes Guybrush makes about him are thoroughly entertaining. On the subject of jokes, the humour is a mixed bag in ‘Tales’- whilst some of the material genuinely made us laugh out loud, other jokes had us rolling our eyes – but fortunately the game never takes itself seriously.
Without spoiling too much, as the story progresses and Guybrush attempts to make it off the island, more of the island will become accessible, most of it jungle. The overworld is maze-like in nature, in that it can dump you in random places unless you know where to go. The jungle is used twice in the game for a puzzle- when doing the puzzle a second time I had a great sense of déjà vu. That specific puzzle was nothing new, and, I could be wrong, but it may have been in another Monkey Island game previously. The game has done away with the Pull, Use, Talk, type of commands, instead using a universal Inventory action with a single button press. Items are put into use by dragging them from the Inventory Scroll onto an item on the screen. Whilst most puzzles in the game may appear simple on the surface, there are still a fair number of challenging ones. However, since the game isn’t too long, and your inventory is limited to a quota of 10 items, most puzzles can be solved if you just take a moment to think it through. If you get stuck, the game has a hint system which is user-adjustable across four levels. The higher the level, the more hints Threepwood will spout, from the cryptic to the downright obvious. As the game is episodic, the ending is rewarding but also open-ended. The main plot device- the Pox of LeChuck- isn’t completely resolved, but then again, you shouldn’t expect it to.
The game can be controlled with one of two control schemes. The first has you moving Guybrush directly like the last Monkey Island title, but you can also point on items to get him to move there. That new approach means players cannot just point and click to move Guybrush, but must click on something that can be interacted with. The second control scheme allows the player to move Guybrush directly- this works well and there is a walk and run speed, but sometimes the game will get confused and not take you where you think you should be going- usually up against a railing or invisible edge of the ‘set’. The latter happened to me a couple of times and I had to stop moving, turn Guybrush around, and set him on his way. Gone are the days of the SCUMM engine (or the more controversial LUA), with the game rendered in full 3D. The game’s art style has a simpler polygon count but it’s backed up with good rendering effects such as lighting and depth of field. Environments are colorful and full of life from the beach to jungle – each one looks the part and it’s good to see a modern game that isn’t just a collection of every different shade of grey. If you were expecting a richly drawn and detailed art style for the game, you may be disappointed as the game looks more like ‘Escape from Monkey Island’ in style. Whilst that may upset some purists the game doesn’t look terrible by any stretch but may upset some.
The game’s score brings back that Caribbean pirate flavour from the intro theme to the overtones in the island, it’s very familiar but it’s all fresh thanks to Michael Land who returns to do the score. As previously mentioned the lip syncing works a treat but the characters are really believable because of the combination of their voices and animation.
Each character is voiced in their own way. Whilst we know all about Guybrush’s voice, Elaine returns to the British accent she had in the third game is a welcome addition, however, because she’s only in the game for the prologue we don’t hear much from her. I hope Elaine shows up in other episodes, she’s great fodder for Guybrush and they play off each other well. The game’s dialog is given through the usual onscreen text, the text however differs from what Guybrush actually ends up saying but it’s that way so you don’t hear and read the line twice but it’s more of a mood of how you respond rather than the exact dialog.
The game should take about 4 or 5 hours to get through, all of which is dependent on how much you explore and are adept you are at solving the puzzles. There isn’t much in the game though that’s not essential to the story. Everything is mainly there for a reason. The game is linear (as it should be) so you probably won’t want to play through it again straight away as the there isn’t anything added in the game to unlock or is different on a second time through.
As a fan on the Monkey Island games, it’s been a real treat to see Guybrush and friends back in action. Telltale has brought back Monkey Island and given it a new look for a new generation of players, but left enough of established norms intact that long-time players can enjoy it too. Even though these kinds of adventure games are story driven, if you haven’t played any Monkey Island title before, you shouldn’t be discouraged as there is no better time to give it a play. Some Monkey Island purists might abhor the new art style and stump chin hair of Guybrush, but most people shouldn’t have a problem with it and just enjoy the game.
Update: It’s come to light that the Wii version of Tales of Monkey Island has issues with not only the frame rate, but also the sound quality. The game we reviewed was the PC version, which naturally displays fine; while it is annoying it isn’t particularly damaging to the gameplay itself and you can still enjoy the game. The sound quality also needed to be compressed, due to the 40 meg limit imposed by Nintendo for WiiWare games.
We’ll be sure to mention in the next episodes review if this is still the case and let you know.
Graphics 8.0
Great looks, if a bit simple. The effects work well. Locations and Characters are animated brilliantly and are full of life.
Gameplay 7.0
Varied puzzles keep things fresh; brain twisters reasonably varied- some are hard but never impossible. Its Monkey Island- the different speech paths moves thing along. Story is fantastic; some minor control issues.
Sound 9.5
Great voice-work from all involved and the score is magnificent and catchy but did you expect anything less?
Tilt 7.0
A good five hour adventure in it, maybe shorter if you skip through it all. No included bonuses are negated by cheaper price though it could add up in the long run. This score may be adjusted depending on how much the WiiWare version costs in the end.
Value 9.0
Monkey Island is back! Fans have been waiting for a while and it looked like it would never come. The game is funny and enjoyable like every good adventure game should be.
