Tales of Monkey Island: The Siege of Spinner Cay (PC) Review
Posted by Lee Price on 08.21.2009
Does the second installment in the new Tales of Monkey Island series live up to the promise demonstrated by the first? Check out the review inside.
Title: Tales of Monkey Island Chapter Two: The Siege of Spinner Cay
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Telltale Games
Genre: Point n' Click
Players: 1
Rated: E10+
The announcement of the release of a new Monkey Island game, sold in the same episodic format as the recent Sam & Max games, also by Telltale, was enough to get any old school adventure game fan interested. The first episode, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, showed that the series has a large amount of promise; retaining much of the humor that made the older Monkey Island games such fan favorites.
The second episode, The Siege of Spinner Cay, starts similarly to the first with a fight on a ship. Only this time you are being menaced by the mercenary Morgan LeFlay, a pirate hunter who is looking to relieve you of your hand, and possibly your life, for unexplained reasons. The game throws you into the deep end straight away with what is essentially a puzzle rather than a fight, but it gives you a good feeling of what the game is going to play like, as well as getting you used to the point n' click mechanics of the game as well. Unfortunately it seems there is no re-introduction of the classic insult sword fighting of the previous games, which is a bit of a let down, but seeing as this is more of an introduction/puzzle than a sword fight that can slide for now. Still Telltale need to include an insult game of some description else it just isn't Monkey Island.
Once that little introduction is over it’s into the game proper. Like the first chapter, The Siege of Spinner Cay gives you the option of moving around using either the arrow keys, the WASD method of by holding the left mouse button down and dragging to move Guybrush to where he needs to be. The mouse method feels a little cumbersome and will probably be most gamers least preferred option as it is much more useful to use the mouse to scan the surrounding environment while you move using the arrow keys. The arrow system is much more reminiscent of Escape From Monkey Island, the last Monkey Island game released before the Tales series, however the controls have been refined and made a little less cumbersome than Escape's system, which often required you to hold still and rotate Guybrush rather than allowing for the fluid change of direction present in this game.
The game itself doesn't allow you to reach the setting for the first chapter, Flotsam Island, which pretty much leaves you with exploring the surrounding small islands and the main setting for this chapter, Jerkbait Islands. As well as attempting to return an amulet to a man named DeCava, Guybrush also ends up being roped up in a bit of a diplomatic battle between the head of the resident Mer-People and a pirate who has been infected with the pox that Guybrush released in the first chapter. Luckily this all ties in with the search for Elsponge Grande, the magical doo dad that will help cure this affliction, which Guybrush also happens to have caught. It turns out that Guybrush must retrieve three ancient summoning artifacts to help him on his way to the cure and along the way he has to deal with the diseased pirate crew as well as the terrible demon pirate LeChuck...
Only LeChuck isn't demonic anymore. There's something disconcerting about a friendly LeChuck in a Monkey Island game, and my instinct tells me that by the end of the Tales of Monkey Island he will be back to his normally wicked ways. Still despite this potential bait and teases tactic, which would be similar to the one used in Escape From Monkey Island in which LeChuck wasn't revealed to be the main villain until later in the game, its still a little worrisome that Telltale could possibly be changing up the villain of the series. Of course, as long as the story is up to scratch this probably won't matter.
The story feels like it is straight out of the traditional Monkey Island lexicon. All of the witty quips and banter that the characters previously shared is still present and accounted for (even in the absence of insult sword fighting) and the main cast of characters put in appearances too. There are even nods to the previous Monkey Island games, such as a maze like jungle bringing memories of the maze in Secret of Monkey Island or Guybrush asking the skull on a skeleton if he is Murray. In fact Murray may be the only really notable exclusion from the game, after all who doesn't love the most threatening talking skull around. Still with three chapters to go he has plenty of time to put in an appearance.
The newer additions to the cast are also quite solid. While the leader of the Mer-People is relatively forgettable Anemone, whose gender Guybrush isn't sure of as all the Mer-People look the same, is a flirt which leads to some nice awkward moments as Guybrush figures whether he should be turned on or disgusted. The most notable addition thus far though is Winslow, the navigator of the Screaming Narwhal, Guybrush's new ship. His obsession with maps and general uselessness in all other areas leads to some nice back and forth between him and Threepwood and he is lining up to be a possible new favorite in this new breed of Monkey Island games.
Graphically the game is quite solid. While not at the cutting edge of PC gaming, it really has no need to be either. The cartoonish graphics suit the tone of the Monkey Island universe and are also a vast improvement on the block 3D graphics in Escape From Monkey Island. While not quite having the charm of the 2D graphics of Curse of Monkey Island, they are plenty serviceable, with every required item being easily distinguishable and the 3D models having a charm of their own. Even if the face on Guybrush perhaps looks a little to sharp and stern for my liking. Human LeChuck is utterly convincing as a big cuddly softy though thanks to the massive beard, which makes him look like half teddy bear, and its graphical touches like this which help the game sparkle in its own way.
The sound in the game is as solid as it has always been. The voice acting in particular is superb, which is no big surprise as much of the stellar voice cast from the previous games put in a return, with Dominic Armato as the voice of Guybrush being front and center as usual. His work with Guybrush is extremely well done as it feels almost impossible to lend another voice to Guybrush once Armato stamps his mark on the character. The voice actor for LeChuck must also be commended for taking away the previous hard edged voice that the demon LeChuck had and giving it a more heroic, and dare I say noble, tone for the new human LeChuck. Music wise the game does nothing wrong but also doesn't wow the player either. The music is simply well-suited to the game, with pirate themed jingles playing in the background for most of the time. Unfortunately that is where they usually say as nothing in the score really stands out as well as the voice acting.
Of course all, or at least a sizable chunk, of this would be for naught without the bread and butter of a point n' click game, the puzzles. Fortunately Tales of Monkey Island falls neatly in between the relative ease of the Sam & Max Season One puzzles and the generally harder puzzles of the previous games. While each puzzle has a definite logic to it, there are some that will stump the player for a little while. Of course the difference between a good and bad adventure game is that you don't feel like you're pulling the solution out of your arse. Even when you have, once you've found the solution you realize where it fits into the logic of the game so none of the puzzles are unsolvable as long as you put your mind to it. Having said that there is also a nifty little hint system wherein Guybrush spouts off little clues as to what his next move should be and which can also be adjusted to suit the player so the game obviously doesn't want to leave the player in the lurch for too long if they are stuck.
The only niggles are minor. There is no option to adjust the mouse sensitivity and with the cursor moving relatively slowly this may be a small annoyance but it certainly isn't game breaking. The amount of backtracking is also a little tedious at times but this being an adventure game, especially one that is so short and set within such a small area, this is probably unavoidable. Apart from that though there is nothing to really complain about. The episode only lasts for a couple of hours though, but this is to be expected and when the chapters are bundled The Tale of Monkey Island will likely make for a pretty solid length game.
The 411
The Siege of Spinner Cay continues on the promise of Launch of the Screaming Narwhal by offering a good story in the same vein as previous Monkey Island adventures. Everything here is what you would expect from Telltale, solid though not spectacular. While not quite hitting the heights of the previous Monkey Island games, The Siege of Spinner Cay is well worth a playthrough for any fan of the series.
Graphics
8.0
While not the best the PC has to offer by any means, the graphics are sufficient for their purpose and provide the same cartoon quality and charm of the previous Monkey Island games.
Gameplay
7.5
Its pretty much classic adventure fare. While the mouse control system is clunky, the arrow button system is well implemented. Puzzles are solid too, though not on the same level as the previous games.
Sound
8.0
The voice acting is top quality as you would expect and more than makes up for the fairly forgettable, though suitable, pirate jingles that make up the soundtrack.
Lasting Appeal
5.0
It might be worth a replay to check out all the dialogue, but a 3 hour episode of a game is never going to have much replay value.
Fun Factor
8.5
For fans of adventure games, and Monkey Island in particular, this is a dose of old school goodness. Though not on par with the originals, the game still has humor coming out the wazoo and any adventure fan will love it.
