Secret of Monkey Island Review
Written by DarkArmada Wednesday, 19 August 2009 12:42
I've had my time. I've guided Guybrush through his epic journey across the Carribbean. I've been to Monkey Island. I have. And now I can tell you my thoughts on this classic adventure and confirm for you what you've all been wondering. Did LucasArts nail this remake? For me, this remake has been taken behind the toilets and nailed well enough for anyone's liking...
It wouldn't be fair to review only the remake. This cult re-release is only built on the solid gold foundation's that is LucasFilm's original release of Secret of Monkey Island. So here is my review of the Secret of Monkey Island, now only 19 years in the making.
Back in the day of early PC gaming, adventure games were an easy medium. They allowed almost complete interactivity but without the massive size requirements for an action game. They offered an experience that, if executed with great care, would not only be memorable but completely enjoyable as well. I'm not going to beat around the bush here. The Secret of Monkey Island is that game and it's success both at launch 19 years ago and today on XboxLIVE Arcade only reinforces that fact.
What makes this game s spectacular isn't just one part. It's not some awesome feature that we hadn't seen in games before or an innovative piece of software that blew our socks off. It's every corner of gameplay that makes me go WOW. It's the quirky humour shown throughout. It's the witty one liners pouring out of every character. It's the straight forward control mechanics offering a deep gameplay experience and finally, it's the hand drawn artwork that seemed to just ooze piratey style.
That's pretty much it. Those pieces above join to make the whole what it is. There really isn't anything about that game that I don't like. And what results from these connected parts is the game's timelessness. Videogames in general are plagued with the ease in which they vanish from the headlines. A game that people are talking about today could be forgotten tomorrow. The Secret of Monkey Island wasn't and if anything, it only got more popular as time went on.
And this leads me to The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. No there are no extra levels, no new areas to explore heck, it's like they didn't do anything to the game. And that's all I could ever ask for.
LucasArts took the genuine, no hidden agends, no commercialisation approach to this release. They didn't add a scene and call it "Director's Cut". They took exactly what works and over the top laid a sheet of pure awesome. Ever so delicately they redrew each and every part of the game and placed it over the old. For me this offers two different worlds of goodness. On one hand although re-rendered in High Definition the way that those scenes and pieces move within the game is exactly like the original.
And on the other is the obvious feature the "Back" button offers - the ability to switch on the fly between the old and new layout. I found myself constantly switching back and forth and giggling like a giddy school girl at the subtleties between the two. Places where new parts were added and in others where they were taken away to fill the void left by archaic size limits and demanding memory requirements.
The controls in the Special Edition have been implemented with the controller in mind and although any game replacing a mouse with a controller is borderline heresy - LucasArts did it. They did it so well that I was never battling with the controls. It just works.
And finally is the voice acting. The voice actor from Curse of Monkey Island is back. He sounds genuine and in many cases, sounds exactly like I imagined the lines would be delivered in my head. Yeah some of the insults can get annoying to hear ad nauseum, but otherwise the words were like candy to my ears.
Looking back I realise I've probably waffled on more than I wanted to, but I won't apologise. My biggest hurdle with this review was my inability to find the words I wanted to describe this swashbuckling adventure and it's glassy remake. And for all of you who haven't yet played the game, I kept this review spoiler free, wanting to tell you more how it feels. To say that The Secret of Monkey Island and it's Special Edition remake feels like silk spun from a velvet eating spider probably doesn't do it justice. The only way is for you to find out for yourself...
99/100 (It can't be 100 - I need a score to give Monkey Island 2!!)
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