The Sam and Max series are detective games. This simplification is kind of like saying that Gandhi was a dude. The resources that the duo call on to solve crimes normally consist of objects that they find in the environment laying around. As far as I can tell this has resulted in them solving every single case they have ever been involved in. Also they are freelance as well as being a mostly clothed dog and rabbit thingie.
Since the series started up a few years back, it has been released in monthly installments until a season is finished. Normally these episodes have had a common thread that will tie them all together by the end, but mainly consisted of individual crimes leading up to that one cohesive episode. This season changed that as all of the chunks started to feel more and more like one large story that was simply broken apart at convenient stopping points.
Stopping with each episode is encouraged since the player can become fatigued if the entire series was played consecutively. This probably has something to do with the unhinged comic world that they live in where it is totally acceptable to give a naked bunny with razor teeth a gun and set him off to solve crimes; crimes which seemed to be solved through using all of the luck and wisdom of MacGyver. You know you are playing a comical game when attaching a rubber chicken to a pulley system seems like the logical thing to do.
This season stands out by reinventing itself with every episode. From odd time travel to noir crime, this season has found ways to make them all work without breaking stride at being one of the best gaming experiences ever; this makes it even more odd when they attempt a zombie plot –something standard gaming wisdom says is easy to do– and seem to fall short of the quality of the other games.
It is almost a shame that this one episode seems to break the stride of the season, if even by doing so to a very minor extent. For a game that keeps reinventing itself, it feels weird that the tone of this entire episode is just slightly off. Everything from the diversity of the puzzles to the way that the game doesn’t even seem to feel the need to pressure the player into moving forward with the story makes the entire experience feel kind of blah and forgettable; it seems like too much time was trying to hard to tie up loose ends.
This entire season is a buy, regardless of the short fallings of this one episode. This small inconsistency is completely fine in the long run and still stands as a solid adventure title.
Not As Good As: The last episode
Also Try: The other seasons
Wait For It: This season to be over
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