Escape from Monkey Island

There are several factors I like in adventure games. I like it when you can't die too easily, and I like it when you can't ruin the game by forgetting something or doing something wrong the first time. LucasArts' "Monkey Island" series has these, and more. They're funny, they're challenging, and, for the most part, they're CLEAN. They are suitable for most ages, though I wouldn't advise letting kids who are too young play them, and you can get a good laugh without too many inappropriate or suggestive comments. I was really looking forward to playing the fourth installment of the "Monkey Island" series. I'd played all three before and thought they were all great. They were easily the most fun and interesting games I'd ever played, especially since I was used to the whole "Sierra" theme and didn't really know what to expect. There are a lot of great things about these games, namely, you can't die all too easily (although there may be some spots you might be able to) and you can't ruin the whole entire game by forgetting one thing or not following explicit directions. There's always a second chance in Monkey Island (and in most LucasArts games!) Unfortunately, I really didn't like EMI as much as I did the others. The main difference was the absence of the "point-and-click" interface. I didn't mind it too much for using inventory, but simple commands became a bit difficult since you couldn't directly click on something - you might have to turn several times to get it right - and the walking style took a lot of getting used to! Also absent was the choice of "light" and "mega" that was present in other games, because playing on lite first for a little while might have been helpful for "getting used" to the game before really going for it. Don't get me wrong - EMI is a great game and should be enjoyed by everyone. I was disappointed to hear that the creators of the game didn't include little Wally because they didn't like his character, because I (and many others, I'm sure) thought he added a nice touch to the whole game, along with helping move the plot along. (Play the second and third one to see who he is!) And it was too bad that Murray, the talking skull, was only present for a little while and didn't have as big a part as in the third one. Either way, the game was really great, and I would certainly advise it to anyone looking for a fresh new type of adventure game.

Ahhh the Monkey Island series, easily definable from other adventure series in the genre by it's witty sardonic humour, flavourful Caribbean back drop and... well... the monkeys.

Escape follows the same tried and true Monkey Island design that we've all come to know and love, albeit utilising 3d graphics and a new inventory and command system.

Gone are the days of point and click mouskateering, command and inventory panels. Escape uses the Grim Fandango GRIME graphics engine which is an improvement over the high res SVGA "pencil drawing" graphics of Curse, and continues the trend of past Monkey Island teams to utilise the latest technological advances in each new instalment of the series.

So how does it compare to past Monkey Island titles? Well, the humour is still there, Dominic Armato returns to lend his voice talents to the main role of Guybrush, and he lends the perfect bumbling and slightly naive touch to the well written script. Similarly, the scores of other characters are well represented and Lucasarts should be commended on the high level of authentic acting talent recruited.

The game play is typical wacky fair. The difficulty level is kept down due to the somewhat linear fashion that the game unfolds in. None the less, one is presented with suitably complex challenges and plenty of in-depth exploring will be required in order to complete the game. Lucasarts have also expanded upon the action sub-games within Escape. In MI 1 we were introduced to insult sword fighting and Curse continued this and added a kind of pirate ship shoot em up for good measure. Escape goes further and you'll find yourself engaging in monkey martial arts and cliff top diving.

The graphics are well rendered and I'm pleased to report that the blockiness and jagged edges some of us associate with low res 3d animations are not present in Escape from Monkey Island. The characters are cartoony cute, but not so ridiculous that you would mistake Escape for a Nintendo 64 game.

All in all Escape is a well made game, perhaps a bit short, but never the less a lot of fun, it will be interesting to see where they go after this, it's hard to imagine that the designers of the next sequel will be able to change much when it comes to the graphics or inventory systems, but if history is anything to go by, major changes are install. I for one can't wait!

I love all the monkey island games, they are all excellent. The first Monkey Island Game (the secret of monkey island) was very funny. The second game was my least favourite, but brilliant. The Curse of Monkey Island was one of the best because it was one of the funniest and better graphics than the first two. But this one was possibly my favourite. It is in CGI, it is very funny and it is also one of the hardest (maybe the hardest). It took me forever to defeat Jojo Jr. at Monkey Kombat, but it was fun. I think Guybrush is funnier than in the first three games. The hardest part of the game is Monkey Kombat. I had to use a walk-through as well as it was difficult.

Overall I would give this game: 10/10. Curse: 10/10 Secret: 10/10 Revenge: 8/10

Yes, I played the first game and this one. I missed out on part two and three which is a bit sad as I apparently miss LeChuck as a zombie and demon. I also missed the amusement park and I am sure there were quite a few funny moments and puzzles to be had there. This one is rather funny too, and a rather straight forward kind of game. I really only had difficulty in one section and that is only because I was pushing the wrong button like an idiot. Speaking of idiots, Guybrush Threepwood is back and after a brief skirmish out on the high seas he and his wife return home to find out someone has taken over as governor of the island. There is an Australian making fools of the pirates when they do the insult sword duel and he seems to have an evil scheme. The local bar has become a nice little restaurant where you get your meal served to you on a conveyor belt, you get to go to a cool place and try to out cliff dive some dude, and you of course end up once again at Monkey Island! So lots of comedy bits, the game progresses rather smoothly to be sure with very little thinking needing to be done to get by most of the puzzles. A little more challenge could have helped a bit, and maybe some various endings or something but all in all an amusing game.

Normally, sequels are worse than their predecessors. This is generally more true for movies than computer games, but mostly holds true for computer-games too. Escape from Monkey Island is an exception to this. It is in my opinion the best of the four games, and then I think the three predecessors to this one were great too.

You will like this game the most if you have played the previous three, since there are a lot of flashbacks, and characters from the old games in this one, so you will miss out on a lot of the jokes and story if you haven't played them.

But if you did play the three other Monkey Island games, and loved them as I did, you MUST play this one. It is truly great, and everything is perfect. It's true they moved to 3D this time, but it wasn't at all disturbing as I thought it would be. The graphics is great, the story is even better, and the humor is fantastic! It's a must-play!

The monkeys are listening...