Review Detail

As original seen on Evil Avatar (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98425)

The adventure game genre is a beast that many developers try to tackle. It has spawned many great 2D and 3D games from the side scroller to the sandbox shoot 'em up that many people enjoy on Xbox Live Arcade. Before those type of games took off we had the point and click adventures where you tried to solve puzzles and advance through a linear story. Telltale Games has taken on the task of trying to revitalize this series with the Sam & Max franchise, releasing both seasons as separate downloadable games. Each game comes with at least five episodes telling their own unique story and sticking true to its PC origins. However, originally released in 1993, this formula is one that does not port well from mouse and keyboard to joystick controller.

Sam and Max: Beyond Time in Space is the second of two in the series and if you played the first Sam & Max game then you'll be all too familiar with the characters and controls of the second as you find clues, talk to other characters, and combine everything together to finish the story mode. Controlling Sam is simple; you use the joystick to click on an area of the screen and Sam will walk there. Use the same controls to find an object and watch Sam & Max interrogate a character with quick one liners and crude humor and then combine the objects that you find throughout the world to progress through the story. This is where the game falters the most. The joystick controls are extremely inaccurate and hard to control. Trying to point the cursor at a very tiny object that is buried behind other scenery is almost impossible because the controls never seem to flow. I never felt as if I was Sam or Max, more like I was narrating the story rather than taking a part in it. Had Telltale games added the functionality to move Sam around with my second joystick or even allowing me to open the inventory and scroll through it with the d-pad, I would have felt more like I was playing a game rather than watching a movie.

As I previously mentioned the game is split into episodes, five in total, and each has their own unique story. Without divulging too much of the only good thing the game has going for it, the original creator of Sam & Max took the time to piece each episode together and wrap them up in the end. After the second episode, however, the one liners started to feel forced and reused attempting to illicit snappy humor that is only funny when used sparingly. Conversations are still handled in a dialog tree but no matter what options you pick you will always end up hitting the question that allows you to move on, you cannot fail. The same goes for any of the clues as you are allowed to travel throughout the world without any punishment for missing an important object, this feature is great however if you missed something you may find yourself visiting six or seven different venues to find that off-the-wall item to progress the story further. It may be the way I think but Sam & Max provides a great challenge because you have to try and figure out the clues by thinking WAY outside of the box which can cause serious frustration and force you to be stuck in one area until you realize that you were supposed to click on that random figure behind seven different Christmas presents in the very first room you stepped into.

When I play a video game I need to feel engaged, like I am the main character. What Sam & Max fails to do is make you feel like you are a part of the game and while doing so forces useless and uninspired dialog that usually prompts skipping to be able to progress the story. Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space has its place in gaming history but it has not aged well in an era of joystick controlled characters. Before you purchase this game I would highly recommend trying out the demo to see if you have the patience to sit through a few hours of dialog with little interaction between you and the on-screen character.