I used to think that adventure games were not involved enough -there was just never enough depth in most of the ones I'd played. But this one is great on so many different levels -story, humour, puzzles, dialog, voice acting, graphics (okay, the graphics aren't exactly cutting edge, but the setting really drew me in). I have developed an affinity with the main character.
According to my friend, most of the LucasArts adventure games are as fun as this one, and the reason the adventure genre is supposedly dead, is because at one point the market was saturated with FMV garbage (probably the stuff I had played).
If EMI is any indication of how fun LucasArts adventure games are, I'm going to have to buy a bunch more -let my wife knock on the computer room door all she wants, but I'm not coming out for at least a year! :-)
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Let's be honest. Monkey Island 2 (MI2) was not much of a technological improvement from The Secret of Monkey Island (MI1). The Curse of Monkey Island (MI3) brought with it many things... much higher resolution, more colors, really good stylized animation... talented voice actors... the list goes on and on. There is still much debate over whether or not it was any better then the first two. (According to Lucasarts all three are liked more or less equally.) In any case, it was very different. Now Escape From Monkey Island (MI4) is coming out and it's taking a whole new direction. The graphics didn't particularly impress me at first... why 3D? Wasn't the series doing okay as it was? Why does Guybrush look like a character from Final Fantasy? Rather concerned, I checked out one of the short movies on the lucasarts web site. After watching that, I feel I can safely say that MI4 will (knowing Lucasarts) be very enjoyable. The 3D graphics don't really look right unless they are moving, and therefore no screenshot can really do this game justice.For anyone who has played any of the earlier MI games, expect a lot of in-jokes, old jokes and good jokes. It seems that many of the characters and locations are going to be familiar.
If you haven't played any of the Monkey Island games before, then I'm sure you will be brought up to speed quickly, but I still recomend playing the other ones first.
Anyway, it looks as if lucasarts is about to finish yet another great game. I would recomend this highly just based on their consistantly great adventure games.
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I have read a lot of bad reviews for this game. Lots and lots. I have absolutely no idea where they come from! I have never experienced any glitches with this game, nor had any problem with the dumb jokes or difficult puzzles. I rather ENJOY the dumb jokes and difficult puzzles. I find it difficult to trash the apex of Lucas Arts' Monkey Island series.For those who are familiar with the series (i.e. have spent long, long nights sword fighting or talking to Murray): THIS GAME IS FOR YOU! You will be pleasantly reminded of all the fun in these games.
For those who are not yet familiar with the series (i.e. have not spent any nights sword fighting, and are probably wondering who Murray is): THIS GAME IS FOR YOU! Yes, even novices, newbies, and greenhorns will enjoy this game.
So what are you waiting for?
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Being a huge and loving fan of the Monkey Island games since the birth of point and click, I would have to say that this is not one of LucasArt's best additions. I think the guys there need some direction and stronger sense of humor and inventiveness.What I didnt like: the fact that there are so many bugs in the programming (it crashed or froze twice during monkey combat and a few around hitting ole H.T. on the head as well as a few minor places), poor transition of 3D graphics and animation (Grim Fandango was muuuuch better), the game just didnt last very long, it was too easy to beat too quickly, the backgrounds were lacking the detail that Curse of Monkey Island held, controls were HORRIBLE and CONFUSING (i stuck to the keyboard), puzzles were wimpy and lacking, and not enough gags and jokes/references.
What I DID like: the 3D cutscenes, Monkey Kombat, X-wing in the swamp, the paradox sequence, the storyline, music, monkey's, lechuck's different forms, the final battle, and about half of the puzzles. Just not enough to keep me happy like the last three did.
Overall, it just doesnt seem like there is a big enough challenge to this game compared to some of the others. It seemed LucasArts was in too big of a hurry to bring this game out and show off their not-so-impressive 3D graphics/animation. The Curse of Monkey Island has to be my favorite. It was just...well, just really well done, it even had more life to it. I think LucasArts is barely holding on. The Star Wars games are getting a bit dry and they just dont have any other creative ideas to keep people's interest. This company has a lot of imagination and potential....if they would just focus on a fewer number of games instead of spreading it thin. Lots of trouble within the ranks is keeping their potential down and lack of personal professionalism. Most of the good people no longer work there. I know.
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I'm sure I was like every other fan of the Monkey Island series ..., ready to immerse myself in its latest chapter. What I got ...was a fantastic letdown.First of all, I have to say I'm a little jaded; Curse (number 3 in the series) is a beautiful, funny, well-written game and arguably the best of the bunch. And in my opinion, the translation to the third dimension fails in every respect. Where is the sense of romance and atmosphere that was so wonderfully conjured in the previous game? The rich, lucious (if computer-dealt) painstrokes, the deep colors, and the caricatrued backgraounds and cast-members? It's all been replaced with low-poly, poorly animated, poorly designed 3D blandness that shapes up to be a major disapointment.
In fact, it's completely devoid of anything that would make it feel like a Monkey Island game. Here again, I think the translation to 3D is entirely to blame. ....With the implementation of the movement arrows, the challenge is no longer in the logic or puzzles area, it's now getting from points A to B. Remember clicking on a guy across the screen to go talk to him? A thing of the past! Make way for a pointless, ugly 3D engine which requires the player to navigate obstacles (most of which actually turn Guybrush in the opposite direction upon contact), make sure the character is looking in the right direction, and then talk to the guy, only to hear five minutes of uninspired dialogue.
Perhaps this would not have been such a monumental disappointment if the maps were laid out well. The whole game seems like it is restricted by the engine: rooms are no longer filled with interesting articles; now simple tables and chairs line the walls in completely monotonous fashion because that's the way it's done in a 3D space. Characters are no longer cartoons; they're horribly disfigured lumps of spheres and cylinders. The entire style of the series is altogether absent, save a few swirly clouds and skewed walls, poor atempts at recreation of once beautiful design. It is the epitome of 3D for the sake of 3D.
The voice acting is all similarly disapointing, but I believe this stems from another huge weekness: the screenplay. Not once did I find myself caring about a character or wondering what was next in store for him or her, not once did I feel like sitting through dialogue (which is your only option, as it is impossible to skip it), and most offensive of all, not once did I find myself laughing. This is the most serious blow to the game; it's not funny.
Throw in some ... logicless puzzles and a few far-reatching references to the previous games (which are the only jokes that are remotely humorous, perhaps sheerly for nostalgia) and you have yourself Escape from Monkey Island, whose only redeeming value is a guy named Guybrush Threepwood that I vaguely remember once being funny. Would that there were a 1.5 star ranking.
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