The Curse of Monkey Island

Another fantastic offering from the Monkey Island team and though it was a long time coming and had to survive the departure of Ron Gilbert it's another worthy installment. My only gripe is that it was a little short seeming in comparison to the previous two, though that might be because of a glorious lack of disk-swapping. Roll on MI4.

COMI is the third in Lucasart's series of Monkey Island games and benefits from the advanced technology available for the first time in a Monkey Island game. The action is depicted through wonderful, cartoon-style graphics and for the first time we get to hear Guybrush et all speak. In my opinion, Dominic Armato does a great job in voicing Guybrush.

The plot is faithful to its predecessors: Guybrush has to save Elaine from the evil Zombie pirate LeChuck. The trouble begins when Guybrush proposes to Elaine, and involuntarily inflicts a curse on her.

Throughout his adventure, Guybrush again travels the Caribbean and comes across several excellent characters. Personal favourites are Murray and Mr Fossey. The dialogue rarely fails to be witty and entertaining and the puzzles are pitched at a suitable level for most gamers.

It is generally perceived that the ending is somewhat disappointing, a criticism which is not unfair. But this is one minor negative in a game with more than enough features to recommend it. If there has ever been a better point-and-click adventure, I would love to play it.

What can I say? Curse of Monkey Island is fantastic. The story is good and solid, but appropriately silly, the jokes are hillarious, the puzzles are puzzling... you couldn't ask for more in an adventure game. The "You don't need to see my identification" bit is in itself well worth buying the game for, not to mention Murray, who has become the hot topic among many of my friends (only some of whom have played the game). You will love this game. And if you don't, too bad!

Great game! I love the Romance involved too, I don't care if I sound soppy, but this game would be good in a movie! Definitely my favorite in the entire Monkey Island series! In some places, you are close to tears...

10/10

"Curse of Monkey Island" is a treasure; in my opinion the series as a whole was the holy grail of adventure gaming, not to mention LucasArts.

But to return to "Curse," whats beautiful about CMI is that its not afraid to be itself. It does deviate from the first two but still remains faithful to the Ron Gilbert productions (if only the same could be said about the 4th installment of the series!). The voice work is impeccable, with Dominic Armato playing our favorite protagonist Guybrush Threepwood. The animation, while quite different than the classic pixelated characters, is done beautifully. It really is just absolutely gorgeous. And the music is fantastic! Its never annoying and you never have the urge to turn it off.

Although I'm not too big a fan of romance, the romantic scenes and themes are not at all overpowering. They also have the rare ability to come off as sweet instead of cheesy. That says a lot from a girl who routinely falls asleep during chick flicks.

Then, of course, is the classic MI element of humor. CMI is quite adept at delivering deadpan lines, altogether absurdist humor, and simply good fun. Gary Coleman makes a cameo as a budding young entrepreneur, and world events are discreetly jabbed at without stepping out of the bounds of the game.

Its not entirely fair to compare CMI to MI and MI2 because it truly is in a realm of its own. Personally I can never find a favorite between the 3 as they all are quite different from each other. However, if you want a swashbuckling good time with the flair of the classic series, I insist you give this game a shot. You will NOT be disappointed.

10/10 stars, hands down.