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Cockroach: "I'm entitled to my one phonecall!" Sam: "Okay, better make it count buddy."

Ah, Sam & Max. One of the classic point and click adventures from Lucasarts. While I eagerly await the release of Monkey Island Special Edition and Tales of Monkey Island, I thought I would have a look at what Telltale Games have done with Sam & Max. After Sam & Max: Freelance Police got canned back in 2004 (the sequel to the original Sam & Max Hit the Road), many disappointed LucasArts employees left the company to continue their graphical adventures with Telltale Games, hence the adventure game lives on.

Sam & Max Save the World is set over six episodes each with their own scenarios but with an overall story throughout. Its a bit of a mish mash of ideas, but S&M was always very random and “out there”. As the Freelance Police you take control of Sam (the dog and the more responsible of the two) with his side kick Max (the angry and very psychotic rabbit) on their various assignments. It was great to see they used the same police office from the original. From here, you set off to save the world. This involves knocking out hypnotised “child” stars, becoming president of america by defeating a giant Abe Lincoln in an emergency election, infiltrating a corrupt Mafia-run casino who disguise themselves as toy bears, destroying a virtual reality program that threatens to control the earth, then finally travel to the moon to finish the fight once and for all! Phew. It’s alot to take in, but not meant to be taken seriously.

I found the episodic nature of the game to be vastly different than the adventures of the past. Every time I started to enjoy the storyline, it would abruptly end, and I would have to sit through the end credits before continuing to the next episode. I can see they were heading towards that feeling of a television series, however I found this to be disruptive and distracting to the overall story. The episodes are quite short (although there are six in total!) so there weren't that many locations in each, unlike the huge maps in a full size adventure game. Heck, I only ever had about five items in my inventory throughout the whole game! This makes the puzzles much easier to solve with out much effort or thought.

"Stupid Mardi gras, everything's closed. Where can a dog-man buy some toilet paper?"

I will admit this was a major concern for me before even downloading the game. I have never been convinced that 3D does any justice for the old adventure games. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! The intro begins in complete style, S&M are cruising in their “police vehicle” with a two-colour pop art visual. S&M closely resembles the previous classic and the 3D look doesn’t take anything away from the game at all. Telltale have kept in tune with the cartoonish over the top images of the past although the artwork is also incredibly detailed. A lot of care has gone into this title and you can tell. I have yet to see something of this calibre on Xbox Live Arcade so far, taking into consideration the size of the game as well. You also have the choice to turn on subtitles and go old school but it isn't really necessary (though great if background noise is distracting).

"Now, this place is going for $300 a week, only problem is it gets a bit cold in winter."

A game would be nothing without quality sound and although the soundtrack is important (and done to perfection here) it's all about the voice acting in an adventure game. I can gladly say this has been done with as much care and enthusiasm as the visuals. Top notch and hilarious, none of the acting is out of place but so much of it is offensive. Brilliant. There is one particular scene where S&M are speaking with Sybil the tattoo artist (who has many other talents) who speaks of one incident where she misheard the request of a customer and tattooed a s**t on his chest instead of a ship. Nice. The humour is defiantly still there with this franchise and the adult audience will enjoy it too.

(Should I push the red button, should I, should I..ummm..do it, do it!)

Gameplay is simple here but it works. Instead of your traditional drop down menu from the top of the screen your inventory is located inside a small worn box in the bottom left corner. As you play through the game and discover all sorts of knick knacks, Sam will stash them away in this box which itself is stored in his jacket. It doesn't need to make sense and the simplicity works well with an Xbox controller. After clicking on the box your items spring out ready to be selected. It was great that they decided to keep the whole point and click gameplay instead of the “rotate and walk” style adapted in Lucasarts later 3D attempts (namely Escape from Monkey Island and Grim Fandango). In conversation you generally have a few response options similar to more recent titles like Mass Effect. This will lead you down some funny paths though there is normally one road to success.

As I mentioned earlier a map to navigate through all the different locations would of been nice but isn’t necessary in this episodic formula. Just hopping into your car and selecting one of the few locations is enough but makes the world feel very small in comparison to S&M Hit the Road.

"Ok, where am I going to put the TV. There's no corners!"

Not much. Though unfortunately this is the genre and not the game. There are so many hidden lines of hilarious dialogue here, you aren’t really giving the game justice unless you click on every inch of the screen. If you do, well then there’s the achievements but not much more to offer. At only 1600 Microsoft Points or $20 it will keep you entertained for around 6 hours, depending on your skill level, and is definitely worth your money for that one play through.

"Can't you wait until we get home, you just went back at the diner?"

I once was caught saying "3D and point ‘n click adventure games don’t belong in the same sentence". Sam & Max Save the World has proven me wrong. If your a fan of the franchise then you’ll feel comfortable with where Telltale Games has taken the Freelance Police. Jump straight in and enjoy the ride with the same classic humour from the Lucas classics of the past. The team has an obvious soft spot for this title and the care and affection for every scene shows. The visuals hold that same over the top cartoonish feel while the voice acting is top notch. Telltale haven’t messed with the point and click gameplay and simplified alot of the mechanics to suit a console.

If your a point ‘n click adventurer from way back, you may be put off by its episodic nature and find this disruptive and distracting to the overall story. Its still highly worth the look at $20, but the limited amount of locations and in game items may be too simple for the seasoned Indiana.

For those of you that aren’t into adventure games, this may well change your mind. There is a lengthy demo on Xbox Live Marketplace. Give it a whirl and if you like what you see, there may just be a whole lot more around the corner.