Sam and Max are keepin' it real -- and keepin' the quality consistent -- in the penultimate episode of their six-part season.
Reborn as a six-part series of bite-size graphic adventures, the crime-busting anthropomorphic duo Sam & Max continue to impress, amuse, and entertain. Developed by Telltale Games, the series has earned a reputation for high standards, but has kept its feet in the plausible realm... giant robot Abraham Lincolns notwithstanding. Episode Five turns all that on its head, and delivers an unconventional, self-referentially witty experience that -- again! -- ranks with the best the series has had to offer.
"Reality 2.0" refers to an Internet-like virtual reality world that bears a remarkable resemblance to Sam & Max's conventional surroundings. You enter it via binocular-like glasses, and as players of the other Sam & Max episodes will already have guessed, the goggles hypnotize you into never wanting to leave their world, for some nefarious purpose or other. Enter our twin heroes.
This premise serves as a marvelous opportunity to lampoon everything gaming nerds hold dear. Internet memes, geek traditions and gaming cliches, obscure and everyday, all come in for mockery. No genre is safe, from RPGs like Dragon Quest to LucasArts graphic adventures to Mario Bros., and videogame aficionados will get a real geeky thrill at pointing out reference after reference. Smart move, Telltale.
Few surprises await players of the earlier games - the presentation is still top-notch, and friendly to older computers. The voice work continues to be excellent, bringing the game's familiar characters to life with panache and comic timing that'd match the best TV has to offer. If nothing else, it's astonishing how Telltale Games can continue to turn out such polished releases on a monthly basis. Whatever they're filling their staff with, it's obviously good stuff. Somehow, we think Max would approve.
The twin-world theme allows Telltale far more latitude in puzzle mechanics, too. Like the others, it's not a hard game, and none of the puzzles will cause any seasoned adventure gamer more than a few moments of head scratching. But because some objects and places work differently in Reality 2.0 than in the regular world, there are a number of lateral-thinking challenges that are satisfyingly original -- unless you played the obscure (and superb) 1994 cyberpunk adventure, Beneath a Steel Sky. You don't strictly leave the familiar confines of Max's street at all, but you'll definitely have a different view of them after you try Reality 2.0.
Which you should. It's witty, smoothly produced, and absorbing. It's not longer, more difficult, or a significant break from the series' established norm, but then, that's not what episodic games are about. Roll on the season finale; it's already clear that the consistent quality and swift release timetable of the Sam & Max episodes make the entire series a must play.