Tales of Monkey Island: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood (PC) Review
Posted by Lee Price on 11.10.2009
Guybrush Threepwood returns for the penultimate chapter in the new Tales of Monkey Island series. Does it live up to the quality of the previous installments? Find out inside.
Game: Tales of Monkey Island: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
Rating: E10+
The Tales of Monkey Island series has been going from strength to strength, with the last release, Lair of the Leviathan, proving to be the strongest so far in the series. It greatly benefited from a smaller amount of locations and tighter puzzles so the question became will Telltale keep these ideas running over into the next installment?
Gameplay
The controls haven't altered in the slightest from the last three chapters in the series. You can still move Guybrush around using the keyboard or slightly more awkward mouse control method of holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse in the direction you want Threepwood to move. It subscribes to the “If it ain't broke, don't fix it school” and works perfectly well.
Of course the main focus for any adventure game is the puzzles and in this respect The Trial and Execution... is probably amongst the weakest of the batch of so far in the Tales series. The first chunk of the game is taken up by what amount to a few fetch quests to find evidence to use in trial, with only one or two of these involving a real puzzle of any sort. In fact one of the first cases against Guybrush can be dropped simply by talking to the witness over and over.
The game doesn't get a huge amount better in the second half. While the puzzles improve somewhat, and actually require a little bit of brain power and getting into the logic of the game, we also see the return of the jungle backtracking that was so prominent in Chapter 2 of the series. While it isn't game breaking by any means, it still feels a tad lazy when compared to the much tighter third chapter and it is basically a way for the developer's to pad the length out by making you wander around in maze for a while until you find whatever it is you're looking for.
The Trial and Execution... balances this out by offering far more exposition and story than Lair of the Leviathan though. The dialogue is typically snappy and worthy of a few laughs, and this chapter sees the return of the incomparable Stan, who is without doubt the highlight of the game's first half, especially for older fans of the series. Most of the jokes hit home, which is all you can really ask for in a game so heavily reliant on humor, and most of the plot is handled quite well, such as Elaine's submission to the pox and the heavier involvement of De Singe to add an extra layer to his villainy.
I mention that most of the plot was handled well, but there is one particular point which irks me. Without giving too much away, the game basically switches the intentions of one of the series' main characters in the course of a little rant by LeChuck. Now ignoring this particular character's role in the previous games up to this point, this could have been executed much better than it is and it gives the impression that this twist was perhaps added to create a little bit of shock to the story as there is pretty much no build to it whatsoever and yet it changes the landscape of the Monkey Island universe. Its something that Telltale are going to have to work to make more convincing, especially if they intend on continuing the Tales... series past these initial chapters, but it perhaps could have been handled in a better way.
Graphics
This is my main problem with The Trial and Execution... as the graphics are pretty decent, and much more diverse than the earlier chapters. When you can see them. There is no getting around this, this game is dark to the point where you are practically fumbling around for much of the time. If ever there was a case for a game to have an in-built brightness adjusting function, this is it because even with my monitor at maximum brightness I could still barely see where I was going for quite a large amount of the time.
What you can see is generally well done and in keeping with the Monkey Island universe. While the graphics are certainly not spectacular when compared to a top end PC game, they don't need to be. Unfortunately what the graphics do need to be, especially in game so reliant on item usage and collection, is clear and easy to make out. For whatever reason Telltale decided to put as little light as possible into the game so it doesn't achieve this objective. Seriously just try finding your way around the jungle using a monitor that doesn't come with the ability to display games on a screen that is brighter than the sun.
Sound
If there is one thing that the Monkey Island games can be relied upon for, its good sound quality. The voice work in this chapter is amongst the best yet, with plenty of pox ridden pirates, including Elaine who comes into her own with the more vicious side to her personality being put on show prominently throughout the chapter.
Dominic Armato is as good as always as Guybrush Threepwood, lending the character the usual cocksure yet vulnerable air that he usually manages, but the voice acting is top quality from top to bottom. There aren't any repeated characters, like the ambiguous mer-people of previous chapters, so there is a lot more variety to what you hear as well.
Not only that but the sound effects are of solid throughout too, as are the little snippets of music. While they do take a massive back seat to the voice work in the series, every effect sounds as it should. Swords clash with a satisfying crash of metal on metal and the little dramatic flourishes during some of the cutscenes help enhance the game in a neat little way.
Fun Factor
As usual, the Tales... series is a great deal of fun for old school fans of adventure games. If you can get past the graphical issues, this is a pretty solid entry into the series, though it is probably weaker than Lair of the Leviathan. However there is nothing here that is going to convince people who are unsure about the adventure genre. Nothing in the game really grabs hold of you and pulls you in so people who aren't already fans of adventure games aren't going to be swayed by the Tales of Monkey Island series based on this evidence.
There is also simply no getting away from the fact that these games just aren't on the same level as the previous incarnations in the series, especially the first two Monkey Island games. While certainly a funny game, the humor isn't as subversive or self-referential as previous installments, relying quite often on little bits of flashback humor to give the fans a smile. That is a problem though when these same fans realize that most of the new characters in the series don't stand up to the classic supporting cast. This is made all the more obvious by the fact that in this chapter Stan is far and away the funniest thing here, just as Murray was in the last chapter.
Lasting Appeal
There is very little here to keep you coming back for more if truth be told. Granted there may be snippets of dialogue that are missed in the first tun through, and it might be worth tackling all five chapters as a whole game once they are all released, but the nature of an episodic game, especially one as linear as a point n' click game, means that there is little to bring a player back for repeat plays.
The 411
The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood is possibly the weakest entry thus far into the Tales... series, taking a backwards step from the excellent Lair of the Leviathan and relying just a little too much on legwork to stretch out the game. While there is enough here to keep fans of the game interested, if not necessarily happy, you get the feeling that Telltale are perhaps running out of ideas, especially in regards to the big plot twist in the Tales series so far. Plus everything is so dark. Its like swimming in a sea of black at times. Having said that, there's still fun to be had here, especially on a monitor that actually allows you to see things, it just isn't on par with the old school Monkey Island games.
Graphics
6.5
While they are decent, and certainly on a par with the rest of the Tales... games, the game is simply too dark, especially for an adventure game.
Gameplay
7.5
Its pretty much classic Monkey Island gameplay. The puzzles aren't the best in the series but they also aren't the worst, just perhaps a little uninspired.
Sound
9.0
Top quality voice work throughout makes the sound the highlight of an otherwise fairly average game.
Lasting Appeal
5.0
There isn't exactly a lot to do once you beat the chapter unless you really want to exhaust the dialogue options or something appeals to you so much that you have to play it again.
Fun Factor
7.0
There's enough here keep the interest of fans and the dialogue is sure to raise a few smiles but there's nothing new here.
