By Ned Jordan
Sam & Max Save the World was released on the PC a couple of years ago as a
collection of episodes that comprised Sam & Max Season One. While PC gamers
could initially only purchase the series one episode at a time and faced a short
wait between the release of each episode, Xbox 360 gamers have the luxury of
getting all six episodes bundled into a single package for a third of the price
of a packaged game. If you've already played the PC version there's nothing new
for you here, but if you've yet to experience Sam & Max it's a great deal. Of
course it's only a great deal if it's your kind of game, so let's see if you're
the Save the World type.
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Save the World is a point-and-click adventure game, but it harkens back to
the genre's glory years more than the steady stream of awful titles the genre
has produced on PCs for the past several years. The key is that Save the World
is character-driven and story-focused far more than it is a forced pixel hunt
filled with obtuse puzzles. The adventure game staples of conversation trees and
puzzles that are solved by using the objects that you've collected into your
inventory are still a big part of the game, but the humor in the game and the
creative puzzles it presents make the game an enjoyable experience even for
those convinced that the adventure game has gone the way of the dodo.
Each episode in Save the World is a standalone adventure and the game will
let you tackle them in any order that you want, but there is a common
overarching story to the episodes that is neatly tied up in the end so you'll
want to play them in order. Each of the episodes - Culture Shock, Situation:
Comedy, The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball, Abe Lincoln Must Die!, Reality 2.0,
and Bright Side of the Moon - skewer their own particular target such as
politics, TV, and the Internet, but the common theme here is American pop
culture seen through the eyes of the game's odd assortment of characters,
primarily its two borderline psycho stars, Sam and Max. Sam is a hound dog
gumshoe detective in the style of a peppier Sam Spade and Max is a rabbit-like
thing with a penchant for violence and non sequiturs. The dialog between the two
is often hilarious, and the game has the general vibe of an interactive
underground comic.
In spite of the quality of writing in the game, its slow place and
dialog-heavy gameplay aren't for everyone, especially those with short attention
spans or a decided preference for twitch-based gameplay. However, if you're
already a Sam & Max fan then buying the game should be a no-brainer. If you're
new to the Freelance Detective duo but enjoy slightly subversive and twisted
storylines delivered with wit and thinly veiled satire, you should seriously
consider introducing yourself to their world.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
86%. Those with a soft spot for witty satire
delivered from the mouths of a walking hound dog and his slightly psychotic
rabbity sidekick are definitely encouraged to do their best to save the world.
