Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Looking Back: Sam and Max Season 2 Review

Before I gave birth to The Bosconator, I was humbly posting all my ramblings on GameSpot under the username shawnyboy12, under which I have multiple reviews. So, since I am posting the review for Season 3 soon, I figured I might as well show you my thoughts on Season 2. This is most likely helpful to those who are not yet fans of Sam and Max and are thinking about jumping on the bandwagon. Although I don't refer to the first season often, feel confident that Telltale is extremely consistent the the quality of their titles.


After the outstanding first season of Sam and Max, I was left wanting more. I just loved the game. I loved the out of the ordinary story and adventures, I loved the vividly hilarious characters, and was stunned by its creatively detailed graphics. There was so much to look for in the next installment. With expectations held high, I purchased the game from the telltale site. Unsurprisingly, the game delivered. It provided a hilarious story, with all the characters I grew to adore, and contained some of the most carefully crafted environments I've seen in an adventure game.


I believe that the story is, by far, one of the most important elements in an adventure game ( besides the puzzles of course). You'll be happy to hear that this season steps up with intensity of anticipation, each episode ending in a satisfying cliff-hanger. The first episode in this season starts you off in massive robot attack at your office, where you'll have to stop the monster, find who sent them, and foil their plans. As the story progresses, you'll find yourself completing each episode in less sittings than the last, wanting to see what  happens  next. I found myself remembering the beginning to episode "203: Night of the Raving Dead" most vividly; it had me smiling before the theme song sequence. The story and creative writing in this installment will have you cracking up.


The puzzles in the season also retained cleverness. I found myself completing them faster than the previous, but maybe I've just gotten smarter since then? Anyways, the puzzles were very good. I seem to recall the first puzzle in episode "201: Ice Station Santa", where you had to defeat the giant robot attacking the office. With some clever thinking, the solutions were very satisfying. Some parts of the game were a little hard and required I used the game's hint system where your little buddy, Max, recommends doing certain actions or going to certain places to help get you back on the train of thought. 


The graphics in this season were on par with last season's, which means they were great. With all the graphical settings up, I found myself amazed about how great it looked for an adventure game. Along with the exquisite environments, they made a great duo. One of them that I found really creative was in episode "205: What's New, Beezlebub?", I can't go into detail for the sake of spoiling the game, but I can assure that you'll find it particularly remarkable.



I found nothing wrong with this season other than its mini-games. I just wish it had been a little bit longer because I enjoyed it so much. Overall, the excellent main features of the game worked together to create a colorful masterpiece of adventure gaming. I can only expect even more for season 3.

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