Sam and Max Episode One Culture Shock Review

First Impression

1993 was the time when Lucas Arts was busy entertaining the world with awesome titles like Day of the Tentacle, the Monkey Island adventures of Guybrush Threepwood, Full Throttle, and an odd pair featuring a dog and a sadistic rabbit in Sam and Max Hit the Road. Those were the days when humorous adventure games were expected. The graphics were worthless by today’s standards, the audio was only MIDI, but the gameplay was never so much fun.

Eventually the humor-adventure genre died down. It is futile to try and guess whether gamers got tired or developers ran out of inspiration but this genre was mostly neglected and in the few cases where it was tried, the results could never capture the magic of the olden days.

Along the way Lucas Arts announced it was making a sequel to Sam and Max Hit the Road and then there was wailing and gnashing among gamers as Lucas Arts canned the sequel.

Fortunately for everyone TellTale games not only decided to bring this odd duo back in action. Sam and Max: Episode One - Culture Shock (why am I getting a flashback of Half Life 2: Episode 1?) lives up to everything that the original game represented and goes an extra mile just to make up for lost time. After 13 years Sam and Max are back in the 1st out of 6 promised episodes.

In case you were still in diapers when the Sam and Max Hit the Road in 1993 here is a brief intro. Sam is a dog wearing a suit and a hat. He is, well, the more rational member in this partnership. Max is allegedly a rabbit, or at least he is drawn as one, but he is anything but cute and fluffy. He has a mean and sadistic streak and he will gladly resort to violence as the most optimal course to achieve his ends (or Sam’s ends for that matter). Their first game was loved for its over the top humor that Culture Shock presents with hardly any alternation, making it seem like the characters and their life just got a technology upgrade but they themselves remained their lovable selves.

Single Player

Since we are talking about an adventure game I will not go into any plot details. Even the best adventure games are only playable once because once you know what to do, the appeal falls like a rock. Hence, without divulging the various stages through which you will maneuver Sam and Max I will say that you are going to have the best fun you have had in a long time of playing PC games.

The “fun” of an adventure game lies in its script, whether it is Syberia, The Longest Journey, or any other adventure game. With a humorous adventure game the script becomes even crucial. The jokes need to be fresh, the clichés need to be avoided, slapstick comedy has to be done just right and the dose of humor needs to be delivered when least expected and in the most subtle manner possible. Culture Shock does everything right in the humor department and you will be laughing away every time you encounter one of this game’s odd mechanics.

Like adventure games in general, Culture Shock also includes some puzzles but fortunately for all gamers you will not have to record conversations and note down symbols or work out cryptic logics from long-lost civilizations. What you will need is to think a little like a whacko because the game’s twisted sense of humor will often require you to be creative and also a bit crazy. In case you do get stuck I would suggest you go through your inventory and think of anything that you could do with each item in the crazy world of Sam and Max. Trust me, you will not take long to get into the mental groove where you will be asking yourself how did you ever manage to hide so much wackiness inside for so long.

This brings us to a problem. Even the slowest of players will typically finish Culture shock in a matter of 4-5 hours. Considering that this is a 1st in a 6-episode series that can be justified but for experienced adventure gamers a 2-hour experience after a 13-year wait is just too much. However, even this may be explained in the sense that you will be having so much fun that when it ends you will be hurrying off to check whether the next episode is available for download or not.

The next crucial item in an adventure game is the interface. Of course, most adventure games go for the point and click and context-sensitive mouse cursor change routine but where they mess up is inventory management. Once you have a given number of items the inventory can become a huge mess and gamers are often left feeling that they could hire someone just to handle the inventory while they can enjoy the game. TellTale has done a good job of creating an interface that is easy, the usual point-and-click, but also producing an inventory system that is very convenient.

The first Sam and Max was a 2d cartoonish thing. Actually, everything in those days was a 2d pixelated nightmare. You should see Doom III’s Imp in Doom 1 at 320×240 resolution and in 8 colors, eww. Anyway, converting 2d to 3d is always a bit risky. The graphics in Culture Shock are simply wonderful and do full justice to their cartoon legacy. The entire gameworld is one long joke. If you are the type that pays attention to detail then you are going to be amused because there is hardly a scene in the game that will not contain some bizarre element prompting you to chuckle. The characters themselves will voice their opinions on the places they visit and that is another cause for laughter.

The voice acting will have its critics among those that have played the first game. Sam and Max just do not sound as crazy enough as they did before. This may not be noticeable to the current generation of gamers living in a politically correct world but for us old guys this change is a bit of a letdown. Nevertheless, the voice acting, per voice acting, is as good as anything that ever came out of Lucas Arts. TellTale has done a remarkable job of choosing the voice talent and they along with the artists are to be lauded for it. The music might sound jarring to some because the jazz tones will collide barbarically with the film-noir atmosphere of the game. Just start playing and you will see that the developers have added another twist to the humor as the jazz actually complements the general craziness of Culture Shock.

Multiplayer

There is no multiplayer mode in Culture Shock.

Conclusion

TellTale is a lonely voice screaming into the void of the adventure gaming genre. Hopefully, we shall soon have a regular chorus. For now, Culture Shock is a great game with a lot of hope. Whether TellTale can maintain this high level of game content remains to be seen but that should not spoil our fun today.

It must also be mentioned that Culture Shock is one of those rare games that are seemingly without any bugs or other major problems. The game performs brilliantly in every aspect.

Get this game today and get your fix of gaming humor.