|
Sam & Max (PC DVD) | 
 enlarge
| From: JOWOOD
Category: Video Games
List Price: £34.99
Buy New: £10.99
You Save: £24.00 (69%)
New (8) Used (2) from £6.00
Rating:  6 reviews
Platform: Windows Xp
Genre: adventure-games
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Media: Video Game
Operating System: Windows XP
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 9006113148807
ASIN: B000QRI4KU
Release Date: August 31, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
| |
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews:
A successful revival of a classic genre. August 7, 2007
Mr. C. A. Pettitt (Surrey, England)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
Sam and Max's long-awaited return to the adventure game format is a refreshing and throughly enjoyable affair. The change to 3D graphics is remarkably successful, as is the implementation of a simplified point-and-click system that shaves off all the superfluous options and puts an end to the tedious keyboard/joypad control of the 3D Lucasarts games. Add to this a catchy score of jazzy musical numbers to add atmosphere to the locations and you've got a game that looks, feels and sounds utterly fantastic.
Each episode has perhaps 2-3 hours' worth of playing time in it, and feels like a quick gaming fix rather than something more substantial (much like comparing TV episodes to a film, in fact). Extended play, however, in the form of secret or optional jokes and things to do, can prolong each episode's lifetime significantly. The format allows the introduction of several very funny and well-designed secondary characters who achieve a good involvement in the plot, but each of the new locations (which are, nevertheless, equally entertaining and original) is available for one episode only, so puzzles cannot cross over between them as they would in a larger, full-length game. This unfortunately makes the puzzles feel less intricate and less challenging than veterans will have come to expect, although they are just as zany and still require some lateral thinking.
The humour is almost spot-on. Sam's deadpan and Max's craziness bounce off each other brilliantly, although it's a pity that Max seems to get the majority of the punchlines, some of which feel eccentric purely for the sake of eccentricity. Still, these exchanges, mixed with some highly original characters, places and scenarios, make for a truly hilarious game.
Overall, this is a great piece of work by Sam and Max's new owners, and I would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in a laugh and a bit of a challenge. Get it quickly, before Season Two comes out!
 One of the best puzzle adventure games in years October 6, 2007
Stephen Bray (huddersfield, uk)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Sam and Max are two of the most iconic characters in the history of pc gaming, and they're back in a brand new set of adventures which have snappy writing, smart puzzles, a wonderful visual style and some great voice acting. In short, if you like the genre, you want this game.
There are a few references to the original Sam and Max game, but you don't need any prior experience with the crime fighting duo to get into the game at all. All you need to know is that Sam is a giant dog and Max is a hideously shaped rabbity-thing. And that they're freelance police. If you know that, you can jump right into the game.
The game has a very minimalist UI, all you've got is a little cog at the top and a cardboard box at the bottom. Clicking the cog brings up a dropdown menu where you can load and save your game, or change visual settings, and the cardboard box opens up your inventory. The game interaction is very simple, too. It's all one-button-based - if you can pick it up, a left click will pick it up, if you can't, a left click will give you a little inspection dialogue. Left clicking the floor will walk you there, left clicking a person will let you talk to them. In your inventory, left mouse button is select item while right mouse button will give you a description of your selected item. And that's it - simple, contextual and intuitive.
Because the game was originally released in episodes (this `season' is a compilation of 6 games lasting two to three hours each), you'll find many characters and locations repeated. Almost every episode starts at the duo's office, and out on the street you'll find a shop, affectionately titled Bosco's Inconvenience Store, and the boutique of a woman named Sybil who can't seem to keep her job for more than an episode. Although there's a great deal of repetition in here in terms of locations, we do get to visit many other places, and both Bosco and Sybil have interesting changes to their characters every episode to keep things fresh.
The puzzles are mostly pretty simple - veterans won't find themselves terribly challenged, but there are often multiple puzzles you have to overcome at the same time, so you're presented with many obstacles and given a small degree of choice on the order in which you approach them, and it's a great feeling as you see all the elements of a multifaceted puzzle come together, as you realise what your endgame solution is. The puzzles also all make sense - there's never anything obscure or obtuse, so even when you do become stuck on occasion, you probably won't feel a tinge of frustration as you try to figure out what you're doing wrong.
Where the challenge is sometimes lacking, the humour more than compensates - Sam is the straight man, but his comments can usually get you smiling and are on occasion utterly hilarious. Max, on the other hand, is utterly inane and insane and his one-liners and irreverence will have you laughing constantly. There are many references to computer games, a few self-references that are utterly brilliant, and a few references to popular film. Some other characters - or just the absurdity of the situation - are often funny as well. All round, this is one of the funniest games I've ever experienced.
Although it is episodic, and each episode could be played individually and exclusively as each episode works as a standalone story, there is an arcing storyline that connects every episode together, it's hardly deep or overly engaging, but it works well, and considering that the game isn't supposed to be taken seriously at all, it fits well.
The visual style is great, you won't see any normal mapping or HDR lighting, but the game is smooth running on just about any system you can image, and it's a pretty great looking game at higher resolutions. The artistic style also means items stand out fairly distinctly, without resorting to effects like glowing items, which may spoil the feeling - and you'll never find yourself pixel hunting for some obscure or hard to find item.
It's smart, it's funny, it's fun, it's got a great cast of characters - it looks great, it's intuitive and easy to play, it's challenging without being frustrating - and all round it's just about the best puzzle adventure game I've played this side of grim fandango. Roll on season 2.
who would have thought an episodic adventure game would work July 25, 2007
P. J. Carter (uk)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
when lucas arts announced that sam and max 2 was not to be released people began to believe that adventure gaming was dead or on its way out, and when telltale released information that they would be making and releasing more sam and max games in episodic form people were shocked; how could this story based genre be told in episodes. however what we did not realise was that telltale would release these games when they said they would unlike half life episodes and the games were fantastic the jokes are funny and the graphics are pretty good for 6 games costing $9 pre tax for download recommended to anyone who has any sense of humour.
The best 3D adventure since Grim Fandango! January 21, 2008
C. Lewis (Bath, UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I loved the original sam and max game and had mixed feelings about whether it would translate well to 3D. However, I need not have worried! The interface is slimmed down and easier to use than ever, the episode system is cleverly implemented, and the dialogue is (that rare thing in video games) really, really funny. One or two puzzles have slightly obscure solutions but on the whole the difficulty curve is perfectly pitched. In summary: This is brilliantly entertaining, rib shakingly funny and the best game I've played in a long time.
 Very poor game not a patch on the original October 4, 2007
Bob
1 out of 27 found this review helpful
I bought this with high expectations and was very disapointed. Apart from the graphics being an improvement on the original everthing else was worse. Initially it would not display, contacted the help desk and received an acknowledgement and nothing else. Eventually opened in a window and reset the resolution and restarted the game. This worked but I had to do this on each chapter, well actually the first 3 after this I was so fed up with the game I abandoned it. The humour is poor the game play repetitious and there are virtually no puzzles all progress seems to be made by selecting the right dialogue. Oh yes and there is the mandatory car chase each time which seem to consist of clicking the mouse until the right action is performed. Chapter 2 involves causing the car you are following to swerve into a manhole but random clicking the mouse after selecting the gun seems to achieve this. At least the original game had a story this one does not. DO NOT BUY
|
|
|
|
www.ebay.co.uk
Copyright Thalasar Ventures
| |
