Monkey Island

[Gonzo]

When I played Monkey Island 4 I thought it was great, but I came to realise, when I replayed the originals (as I often do) that it was, as many have already pointed out, a great adventure game, but lacking in the Monkey Island feel.

I think CMI had it, most of the way through, whatever quibbles there were with how it continued on from MI2's ending. Blood/Skull Island oozed atmosphere. Plunder was a pretty good idea for island, and although the map/ship/crew structure might be quite obvious, it definitely felt fresh to me at the time. Also the host of great new characters like Murray, Kenny Falmouth, Edward Van Helgan, Slappy Cromwell, and Goodsoup, to me seemed totally inkeeping with the spirit of MI. It's just a shame that the last few parts of the story seemed a bit lazily (quickly?) thrown together, and the theme park idea was taken to excess - it didn't feel like MI anymore.

But EMI was where they really lost it in terms of feel. The music, as ever, was superb (though MI2's memorable iMuse MIDI score is still tops for me, if just for nostalgia kicks). But in most other aspects of the MI atmosphere, it felt strange. The 'mock consumerism' had been present in the first three games, but not often overbearing - there was a Grog machine here and there, but the surroundings were generally piratey (in the 'swashbuckler' sense of course, not historically piratey). But the EMI creators went ahead with things like the Lua Bar replacing the Scumm Bar, and Jambalaya Island, which has 'Starbuccaneer's' and 'Planet Threepwood'. It was all too much. The Church Of LeChuck and a logflume ride on Monkey Island was a really bad move too.

Even when all that wasn't detracting from the Monkey Island feel, Melée and Monkey Island just didn't look much like the places from the first game. I don't want to blame 3D for that but having seen Bill Tiller's painting of the SCUMM Bar I think a CMI look would have done just fine. I don't know about commercial viability, but the atmosphere of MI would have been far more intact.

From a puzzle perspective, EMI is sometimes top-notch stuff. The game sort of takes off with the visit to Lucre Island, proving your innocence and catching Pete is IMO packed with clever and interesting puzzles. And then great stuff on Jambalaya like the diving contest puzzle, which has many parts to it. Unfortunately, the puzzling does take a turn for the worse when you get to Monkey Island, from then on in the game isn't really satisfying. I didn't feel compelled to see how the story ended like I did with SoMI and MI2.

In conclusion, EMI is a pretty decent game but ultimately it misses the style of MI. CMI I find leaves a bitter taste with the bad ending they gave us, but I like to think it redeems itself with the rest of the game being spot-on with the MI feel and still offering some originality. EMI couldn't do that without going crazy, sadly.