As we last left off in the Tales of Monkey Island; lots of pirating went down on Flotsam Island and Guybrush now has a new ship called the Screaming Narwahl. He’s a man with a mission, as not only does he have to rescue his wife Elaine from the clutches of the evil pirate LeChuck, but he has to find a legendary sponge to cleanse him of an evil voodoo pox. As This pox was released during a misfortune substitution of voodoo ingredients during the last heated battle with his nemesis.
As you would expect with any episodic game you start off exactly where you left off at the end of the Launch of the Screaming Narwahl. With a sword to Treepwood’s throat and questions to why it is there.
Episode two pretty much follows the same template as episode one. As it delves deeper into the pox of LeChuck and the cleansing sponge ‘La Esponja Grande’. It also introduces you to the group of people responsible for a majority of the ancient buildings on Flotsam Island.
However, now that you have a ship you are no longer set to adventuring one island. As you spend most of your quest trying to solve the problem of the Jerk Bait Islands, and the surrounding tiny ones. While shoveling around the islands is cool since a majority of them are tiny, it can get frustrating and time consuming while searching for the next item to get. Which can cause some problems if you are stuck on a puzzle and didn’t grab an item from a previous island. So it can be a bit of a back and forth looking around.
Yet that is not really a flaw of a point and click adventure game, as that is what really makes them fun, finding items and solving puzzles. Episode two gives you all the ‘Monkey Island’ goodness that you could want, and even more. As you really start to confront some issues that Guybrush has as a character. You also get to see where the series is going as a episodic game. With many new supporting characters to come, and with charming voice overs with a unique art style. It becomes really hard to pass up this series.
So if you haven’t gotten the first one, give it a chance.
[You can download a PC demo at Telltales Monkey Island Website]
