Gamertell

Title: Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal
Price: $34.95 (series) PC, 1000 Wii Points
System(s): *Wii, PC
Release Date: July 2009
Publisher (Developer): Telltale Games (Lucasarts)
ESRB Rating: "Everyone" for comic mischief and mild language.
Pros: Very funny. If you liked the original games, you would love this game. It's also part one of a four-part game.
Cons: lacks insult sword fighting, and confusing treasure hunting.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 98/100; A; * * * * 1/2

Ahoy me pirate mateys! It’s time for Monkey Island. That’s right, Telltale games has released a new series of adventure games based on the Monkey Island series from Lucasarts with Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal as the first part.

This series is a bit different from the way you are use to playing the Telltale games. Each of the four games makes up part of one whole game. Each game will end in a cliffhanger and a “to be continued” screen, so you need to play the next one in order to find out how it turns out.

Argh, A Pirate's Life Ain’t Easy

Screaming Narwhal begins with you as Guybrush Threepwood, a mighty pirate. Or at least he wishes he were one. Your beautiful pirate wife Elaine’s ship has been taken over by the evil ghost pirate LeChuck, who also happens to be performing an evil voodoo curse involving a monkey. After Guybrush thwarts the voodoo curse and accidentally turns LeChuck into a human, he is flung from the ship and sent to Flotsam Island, a distant island of lost pirates. Guybrush needs to escape this island and save the women he loves and stop LeChuck once and for all.

The main problem is that you are stuck on an Flotsam Island with no means of escape because the strange winds surrounding the island all lead back to it rather than away from it. You spend most of this game trying to convince this reporter to give you the location of a person who will help you off the island but in exchange he wants some pirate dirt for his newspaper (that no one probably reads). This involves all sorts of fun tasks including faking a buried treasure and knocking a sea captain off his ship to claim it for your own which, of course, you will need later.

I like the that they chose to make this one a four-part episode rather than four stand alone games. It reminds me of the original point-and-click adventure Monkey Island games. Also, with a title like this, it would be too hard to fit everything into one game without taking out a lot of important fun elements (like convincing other pirates that you are more than a screw up).

The game also features a “treasure hunt” mini game, available at the start menu at any time. As the name suggests, you hunt for buried treasure using a special treasure map. You use a similar one in the game (it might help to play through that section of the game first so you understand how to read the map, before trying to play the mini game). You find different “inside joke” items related to the game. It’s a fun little diversion from the game and each round gets more challenging.



They also brought back a lot of the old jokes from the series including the three headed monkey gag, the fact that Guybrush is not really a good pirate and even a mention of the annoying used boat salesman. They also came up with new interesting characters that will keep you giggling, and it looks like Telltale added a little “different” spin to LeChuck in this series.

Beware of Stray Cannon Balls

I was hoping for some sword fighting action, perhaps even insult sword fighting like in the original games. That's where you sling an insult at your opponent and hem, in turn, must come up with the correct punch line. For instance, “You fight like a dairy farmer,” would be retorted with, “How appropriate, you fight like a cow!” It’s very fun and Monkey Island is just not complete without it. This is only the first part, so I really hope to see it in the next few games

I found the treasure hunting (in the game, not the mini quest) a bit confusing. It wasn’t until the second time I had to search for something that I figured it out. The first time I just guessed which direction to go, which means having to start all over again when you pick the wrong path. The game should have explained it or at least given a better hint.

Also, at one point in the game you have to spin pedestals to match the face that is on a wind dial. The wind dial face is very hard to see and doesn’t quite match the pedestal carvings, so a bit of trial-and-error was necessary. Adding an option where you could look at it up close would have been useful.

A Three-Headed Monkey - Ah!

I really enjoyed this title. It was reminiscent of the old games I use to play with the same feel, same humor and same ridiculous stunts. Also, the four continuing episode factor adds a nice change to the Telltale experience and makes the game fell like it much longer than it is.



Anyone who is a fan of the original Monkey Island games - or Telltale's games - should check this one out. The second game is coming out soon so you don’t even have to wait to see what happens next. Happy pirating!

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