The new Sam and Max thread

[rodekill]

I liked it a lot. Took me a couple of hours to finish it.
I'll pre-order the whole season based on this one.

[LimpingFish]

Do you usually buy stuff wearing a blindfold? 

[rodekill]

You never buy games based on a demo? What do you base your game-buying decisions on? Do you wait for reviewers tell you what games to buy?

[LimpingFish]

I buy a single game, based on a demo. If the Sam and Max demo had sparked such a desire in me, then I would have purchased it. The first episode. Singular.

Do you have a crystal ball that confirms the quality of future products?

[rodekill]

Who told you about my crystal ball?

Anyways, what happened to "I will purchase Sam and Max, purely because it is Sam and Max"?

How dare I support a company that has not created the game your heart so desperately desired!

If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go pay for future chunks of delicious Sam n Max goodness. Oh how he loves the juicy chunks... they are bitesized... and oh so spicey.

[LimpingFish]

I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass!

btw, why in God's name should I feel, or anyone for that matter, the need to support any company based on what they may produce in the future? When they make something I actually want, maybe...

I'm glad you enjoyed the game, and based on that you'll probably even enjoy future episodes.

Or you might have just bought into five more episodes of sub-standard twaddle. And, of course, you are entitled to do so.

Currently, they can swing for my money.

[rodekill]

Hmm, I was expecting an insult of some type. Damn you for not being the typical e-peen wagging internet dweller!

I guess I should actually explain my position in this case.

Alright, so here's how I see it... the episodes are roughly 10$ each. I can get all six for 35$, which actually saves me 20$ over buying them individually. Now, I really did enjoy the first episode, so basically I'm taking a gamble that the rest of them will be similar in quality. They may not be, of course. If all the remaining episodes are complete trash, then I've thrown away about 29$, which sucks. However! Imagine not pre-ordering them and then they turn out to be the greatest adventure games of all time? Now I have to spend 20$ more to have them all! Meanwhile everyone who has pre-ordered them is basking in the glow of the blood on Max's face, and now has 20$ to spend on fine cigars and hookers.

What can I say? You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.

[LimpingFish]

I respect your decision, as every man is entitled to budget for fine smokeables and hookers.

Kudos, sir.

[Helm]

I say we give the sam and max business a miss and go straight for the cigars and hookers.

[Kweepa]

The writing is appalling. The voices sound tired, and uninterested. The graphics are decent, but seem to suffer from the same rough edges as the Bone games.

I disagree. I think the writing is at least as good as that in, say, Psychonauts.

The voices are pretty good too. Sam is laconic, not tired. Max is suitably upbeat. The rat in the demo was a bit cliched but I liked the voice just fine.

As for the graphics, I didn't see anything weak. There are lots of nice little details in the backgrounds and the graphical style is perfectly suited to the characters. There is the occasional animation pop, and the loading times are disappointing (a couple of seconds to load a new room can really spoil the timing of a scene) but those are more technical issues.

I can't comment on the rest of the puzzles, but those in the demo were fairly average.

The puzzles are not the strongest point of the game. However, in context with the game they work pretty well.

After two Bone episodes, Telltale can no longer rely on any "first night jitters"-based sympathy from me.

I didn't think much of Bone episode 1, to the extent that I didn't bother with The Great Cow Race. This game redeems Telltale in my eyes.

Where, in all this mess, is Steve Purcell's hand?

Perhaps you've put SP on a pedestal? The dialog in this game had me laughing out loud just as much as any Sam and Max comic (certainly more than the current serialized strip on the telltale website).

Grossman, Purcell, et al, have seemingly pissed away their collective game designing talent.
Or maybe Tim Schafer took it with him when they all left LucasArts.

I got somewhat bored playing Psychonauts, and gave up after a couple of hours. I played this Sam and Max game in one sitting.

All in all, it exceeded my expectations.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Prog, did you like the first game? How about Sam and Max in general? I'm just curious.

Yes, I enjoyed the first game, and I actually found some of the cartoon series episodes to be quite funny.  This game, however, has a different feel to it like they had no confidence in the material and none of the humor (aside from Sam knocking Max up into the air) really worked for me.  Bear in mind that I don't cut developers slack because they're trying to make a commercial adventure game, nor do I hug them for bringing back old favorites to make a buck.  If I like the game I like it, and I can't say I liked or greatly disliked this game.  It's in the lukewarm zone of forgettable.  On a side note, while I didn't like their voices in the trailer, I found that they were fine in the actual game and didn't make me want to compare them to the previous game.

[Kweepa]

Ok, thanks.

none of the humor (aside from Sam knocking Max up into the air) really worked for me.

They clearly did it so that they didn't have to deal with the pathfinding issues of the two characters avoiding each other, so I laughed for the wrong reasons there.

Bear in mind that I don't cut developers slack because they're trying to make a commercial adventure game, nor do I hug them for bringing back old favorites to make a buck.

The implication being that anyone who claims to like the game is only saying so for those reasons? Wow. You old cynic, you.

[LimpingFish]

The puzzles are not the strongest point of the game. However, in context with the game they work pretty well.

There's that apologetic quality again. Surely if the puzzles in a point-and-click adventure game are weak, then the game has failed. If the "point" of a Sam and Max game is the humour, then why bother with the game at all. The cartoons will give you the same experience, without the repetitive strain injury of clicking through the dialog.

Perhaps you've put SP on a pedestal? The dialog in this game had me laughing out loud just as much as any Sam and Max comic (certainly more than the current serialized strip on the telltale website).

Not based on his solo work, but of what he accomplished during the heyday of the LucasArts adventure games. Which is where my Tim Schafer comment comes in...

All in all, it exceeded my expectations.

I don't have a problem with that. Just that you seem to have been a little forgiving.

EDIT: Actually, regarding that pedestal, should I expect less from Purcell because he's gone independent? Does it also allow him to produce inferior product, simply because he's not getting a steady paycheck? Anybody who charges for a game, regardless of being amatuer, independent, or studio based, is subject to the same criteria in my eyes.

And any independent creator who bemoans harsh reviews on the grounds that they deserve to be given some slack, isn't living in the real world.

[Snarky]

There's that apologetic quality again. Surely if the puzzles in a point-and-click adventure game are weak, then the game has failed. If the "point" of a Sam and Max game is the humour, then why bother with the game at all. The cartoons will give you the same experience, without the repetitive strain injury of clicking through the dialog.

Surely you don't actually believe this? You're just pretending to in order to knock S&M, right?

Given that in plenty (I would say most) of even good adventure games, the puzzles aren't the strongest point, I don't see this as an apologetic comment at all. And in fact, as far as I have played the puzzles haven't been bad at all. Just very easy. And I'm fine with that. It's nice to have some challenging games, but they don't all have to be fiendishly difficult. Also, Sam & Max has a wider appeal than just about any other adventure game license (when was the last time you saw an adventure game reviewed on Slashdot?), and a lot of the audience aren't as experienced puzzle solvers as the people around here.

[LimpingFish]

Also, Sam & Max has a wider appeal than just about any other adventure game license (when was the last time you saw an adventure game reviewed on Slashdot?), and a lot of the audience aren't as experienced puzzle solvers as the people around here.

You just apologized for it...AGAIN.

If the audience isn't as experienced, do a Monkey Island 2 and give them the option of easier puzzles.

EDIT:

Given that in plenty (I would say most) of even good adventure games, the puzzles aren't the strongest point, I don't see this as an apologetic comment at all.

You're joking, right?

EDIT: "But they don't have the resources or time."...Anybody about to throw that into the ring?

[MrColossal]

quick question LF, I found the Sponge Bob platform game for the GBA to be really easy and of no challenge. Am I apologizing for it by saying that the game was not ment for my demographic?

[LimpingFish]

I'm sorry, was Sam and Max not meant for me? Oh, how silly I must look.

Btw, for far too long companies have been getting away with peddling crap based on "oh, it's just for kids." But of course, you would already know this.

[MrColossal]

um... What?

[ManicMatt]

*Limping Fish misses Mr Colossal's point*

[MashPotato]

EDIT: Actually, regarding that pedestal, should I expect less from Purcell because he's gone independent? Does it also allow him to produce inferior product, simply because he's not getting a steady paycheck?

Purcell's name has been brought up here, but I don't see his name in the credits (at least, the truncated credits shown at the beginning, since I only have the demo) besides as being the creator of Sam & Max.  I was wondering, what exactly did he do for the new game?