The Weird Pixel

Review: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

By Tom - July 24, 2009 - 13:01 UTC

Guybrush Threepwood looks brilliant in this re-imagining of a classic.

Game Length – Depending on how quick you are to figure out the puzzles, I’d say that you’re looking at around 5 to 10 hours of game play here.

Replayability – Being a linear, story-driven point and click game, there’s not much in the way of replayability here, but the game’s a classic, so it’s worth the price.

Technical Aspects (Looks,Sounds,Controls) – As a point and click game on a console, it does take a little bit longer to get things done, but it’s not frustrating or anything.  Also, the new art style is pretty awesome and the voices really suite the characters.

Online Capabilities – None at all, but what are you expecting, it’s a point and click ad-fucking-venture game!

Value For Money – The game comes at the cost of £10 pounds, which is standard for arcade games at this point in time.  SO if you’re happy, as I am, at paying 10 quid for a 7 hour game of good quality then you should totally go for it!

I definitely feel bad in saying that I was never interested in point and click adventure games as a child, and therefore it pains me to tell you that I never played The Secret of Monkey Island when it was first released in all its glory.  Therefore when I got hold of the information that Lucas Arts were totally remastering the original game of the series and shipping in onto XBLA, I was straight away on board.

After a quick download, I began playing pretty much immediately and it took me 3 sessions of a few hours each to finish the game, which I think is quite substantial for an Arcade release.  What’s more, I laughed more that I ever have with a game and was totally overwhelmed by the game’s unique style and presentation; and mainly: its sense of humor.

The secret of Monkey Island is all about this guy called Guybrush Threepwood who lands on Melee Island looking to become a bad-ass pirate.  From there on out, your adventure takes on a few twists and turns and you end up having to rescue the Island’s Governor from the hands of a crazy bearded ghost pirate named LeChuck, who’s set down anchor on the mysterious Monkey Island.

As a point and click game, I was quite unsure about how TSOMI would handle on a console.  Fortunately, it’s all been done quite well, well, as well as it could be done on a console, if you see what I mean!  To move onto the right side of the screen you have to use analogue controls, which, granted is a little bit laggier than a mouse in these circumstances, but it never becomes frustrating or annoying.

It’s probably crucial to recognize this game as a re-imagining of an old game; at any point throughout you can simply press the “back” button on the 360 pad and see the game shift to how it used to be. In other words, you can enjoy the game’s uniquely drawn art style which has been crafted for this version of the game and the voice acting, which is of a great quality, and then press “back” where the game will flip back- in real time- to how it used to be on its initial release, with text and bad-ass pixelated characters and environments.  So really, the game allows for fans of the first game looking for a nostalgia trip to do so, whilst simultaneously drawing in a whole new group of players, such as myself.

The most important, and final thing to remember and take note of about The Secret of Monkey Island, is its sense of humor.  From character names to sword fighting jargon and crazy punning, the sense of humor and “laugh factor” of this little adventure game is second to none! Therefore,  if you’re looking for a game with a decent sense of style and a good sense of humor, you’ll be extremely happy with it!

                      

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