Escape from Monkey Island

Monkeying around- Again

“Arrh, me maties, grab yerself a cup o’grog and gather round. I’ve a tale to tell ye. Once there was a young lad named Guybrush Threepwood, a sillier name I’m sure you’ll not find in the whole Caribbean, but the lad had a dream, a dream to be a pirate. The fates were quite indifferent to young Threepwood and for every triumph there was an obstacle, and three times the prissy boy who would be a pirate had to face and defeat the evil LeChuck.
“When Guybrush, last defeated LeChuck he gained the hand of the lovely Pirate Princess Elaine Marley and they sailed off on their pirate honeymoon. As I told ye the gods were indifferent to Guybrush and when they returned to Melee Island, a new nest of snakes awaited them.
“Seems that the newlyweds were gone a wee bit too long and had been declared lost at sea. Elaine has been stripped of her Governorship and a rotten foul smelling pompadoured poseur by the name of Charles L. Charles is a’gunnin’ for the job. Aye, the young lovers found themselves in a pretty kettle of chum.”

And that’s where we start LucasArts fourth installment in their wildly successful Monkey Island series, Escape from Monkey Island. Before we get into the game let’s touch on the one piece of controversy - the use of a 3D graphics engine. The main concern is that the game would lose its cartoon charm and feel. In any other developer/publisher’s hands this would have been a valid worry, but LucasArts does know how to develop a franchise and Escape from Monkey Island (EFMI) is a worthy successor to the series. Even in 3D the game retains its cartoon feel. The colors are bright and the backgrounds are perfect. As a matter of fact the backgrounds, buildings and sky are so good you soon forget that this series was once 2d and your memories of previous MI games start to become 3D as you try to recall them. Otis, Carla, Meathook, Murray and the rest are all now full fleshed in my memory.

The graphic engine is a little ‘clippy’ at times, some doors look very out of place, and the occasional character model has some seams showing, but these are forgivable and to be honest are lost in the plot and humor of the game.

My pirate friend above has laid out the rough backstory for you. The game starts with Elaine and Guybrush arriving back on Melee Island and finding out that someone is trying to knock down their mansion. Elaine is out of a job; someone named Charles L. Charles is trying to take the job, and once again it is up to Guybrush to stay out of the way, er help out.

Game control is pretty standard with movement, inventory, use and pick up keys. The 3D world Guybrush et al inhabit is based on the Grim Fandango engine. If something or someone can be talked to, looked at, used or picked up, Guybrush’s head will swivel to look at it to alert you. This is a great interface feature, as the game feels much more engrossing.

The 3D environment gets a little tricky to navigate around, as some of the locations are quite large and it gets a little hard to see Guybrush when he is really far away. The good thing is that during these times there are no vital actions to accomplish, merely areas to move to.

Only twice in the game did Guybrush end up behind an object where I could not figure out which way he was facing or needed to move. As these areas were rather small, it was relatively simple to just keep walking until I could see and work from there. If you reach a wall or boundary and keep trying to walk the obstacle just turns you, so getting trapped in a corner does not occur.

The inventory screen is easy to use and manipulate. The “I” or “inset” key are the default keys to get into your inventory, and the arrows will rotate your stored objects either left or right (really?); to combine objects just rotate until you get to the first item and press the “U” (use) key. The first item will drop below the other items and you rotate to get the next item - once you get to it press “U” again and they will be combined.

To use an item in inventory in the real world, just select it in inventory then look at the think/person/location you wish to use it on or with. An action selection will appear at the bottom of your screen, which you then highlight and press enter. This whole procedure (which takes more time to type than actually do) will be second nature before you get to the second act.

As with all adventure games there is a lot of TSW (Time Spent Walking). This is a necessary evil of the genre and is kept to a minimum. The “Shift” key will make Guybrush run - remember that, it will come in handy.

Conversation is handled through the ubiquitous dialogue tree. This is where the game really shines as the choices sometimes lead you down some bizarre verbal roads. Usually if you say the wrong thing there are few to no consequences. Now, having said that, there are a couple points that pressing the conversation is somewhat dangerous. Make sure you read all your choices, as some are just too funny to pass up. In one sequence, your choices are rather bold and blustery but when you choose them what comes out of Guybrush’s mouths is rather different.

I’ll get to the voice work in a second.

The plot is standard Monkey Island silly. I will not tell you what is in store as I feel that is cruel, but just be ready for anything. Guybrush is not one to stay out of trouble and the possibilities for trouble are aplenty. Let’s just say that the three act story line will take you to several different places, including the dreaded Monkey Island.

An adventure game is generally judged by it’s puzzles (are they too hard, too easy, too obscure, etc.) and the plot. Using those standards EFMI is one of the best adventure games I have played since, hmm, Planescape: Torment..

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