One of my favourite point and click adventures of all time has to be the completely brilliant The Day of the Tentacle from Lucas Arts. I cannot count the number of times I have played through this fantastic game.

As most people know, Day of the Tentacle was a sequal to the very first SCUMM adventure worked on by none other than the famous Ron Gilbert, first and foremost known for the Monkey Island games. Tim Schafer was also involved in both projects, and I am talking of course about none other than Maniac Mansion.

Some illuminated heads over at the AGS community has made it their task to remake Maniac Mansion in the style of the fabilous Day of the Tentacle. Maniac Mansion has been remade before, but not in the hilarious graphical style of its sequal.

From what has been released of the material, it looks like a crispy, yet classic looking version of the beloved masterpiece. The developers are wished the best of luck.

This ought to be good new for any nostalgic fan of the old school adventures. The developers are German, but they promise to create an English version once the production is finished. I, for one, can’t wait to play Maniac Mansion DOTT-style.

The Secret of Monkey Island

 Developer: Lucas Arts

Genre: Point n’ Click Adventure

  Release date: 1990

My name is Guybrush Threepwood, prepare to die! The immortal words of Guybrush Drinkwater, um, Thrinkwood, eh, never mind. Squinky, just call him Squinky. 

The Secret of Monkey Island can be seen as one of the greatest point and click adventures of its time, and possibly of all time! It remains in the hearts and minds of all dedicated adventurers since the beginning of the classic pirate series from Lucas Arts, and more specifically Ron Gilbert, master of dialogue behind The Secret of Monkey Island. Guybrush’s adventures continue to this day, with some of the original team returning, in the Tales of Monkey Island from Telltale Games.

Guybrush is the wannabe pirate hero of the adventure, our pony tailed protagonist doesn’t realise that his arrival on Melee Island couldn’t have come at a worse time as its inhabitants are being terrorised by the fearsome Ghost Pirate Le Chuck.

To begin his dream of adventure on the high seas, drinking grog, and getting “a-head in navigation”, Guybrush must seek the three grog swilling, foul-mouthed pirate Captains who reside in the SCUMM bar, aptly named for the games interface system explained below. Guybrush must complete the three trials given to him by the pirate Captains to succeed in becoming a pirate. Sword mastery, thievery, and eh, treasure huntery. With cracking dialogue, cut scenes and some very funny moments Guybrush’s adventure goes from wannabe pirate to captaining his own ship and crew in order to find his way to Monkey Island and rescue the woman he loves from the evil clutches of the ghost pirate Le Chuck!

 The Secret of Monkey Island is an adventure game that utilizes the command verb-based system SCUMM (Script Creation Utility of Maniac Mansion), the kind of point and click interface first introduced in Maniac Mansion and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The technology was used in all subsequent Lucas Arts adventure games, with the exception of Grim Fandango and Escape from Monkey Island. The branching dialogue system allows you to talk to characters in different ways without fearing a wrong choice, (if this was the not the case Guybrush’s’ further adventures could see him working down at the local fire station) after declaring to the pirate Captains “I wanna be a fireman”. The game play itself revolves around inventory-based puzzles to solve. Items are picked up and saved in the players’ inventory until needed; they can be used with each other or with an object, place or character within the game.

One of the most memorable of the three trials (for its longevity) is to defeat the island’s sword master Carla, an expert in the art of sword play and insults. A notable contributor to this very clever and funny part of the game was author Orson Scott Card. Orson wrote the insults and answers that the player has to collect by fighting stinking and bloodthirsty pirates on the road, and to  use the insults and answers collected to defeat the sword masters own unique brand of verbal abuse.

Along the way Guybrush meets many other great characters; including Captain Smirk who trains Guybrush, used ship salesman Stan, Otis the prisoner, and most significantly, the love of his life, Governor Elaine Marley, who Guybrush meets whilst attempting to steal the Idol of Many Hands (it really does belong in a museum).

 Le Chuck’s ghost crew kidnaps Elaine and takes her to the fabled Monkey Island. Gilberts dialogue throughout is funny and timeless, allowing new gamers who have not had the pleasure of the Monkey Island experience before to appreciate the superior humour and the great characters in a new light rather than focus on the outdated graphics and linear story line. The hilarious repartee between Guybrush and Meathook sticks in my mind to this day. If this situation arose in real life I’d be tempted to use it, although calling someone cannonball head may not result in the correct verbal reply I’m anticipating. Guybrush is busy insulting the people who will eventually crew his boat, (Carla, Meathook, and Otis), who all set out to find the mysterious island and free Elaine.

A brilliant game and still one of my all time favorites, it all culminates into a timeless game with humour and characters that stick in the mind to this day, playable and simply one of Lucas Arts, (or more accurately Ron Gilberts) greatest point and click adventures, nothing yet in my opinion has beaten sword fight insults and the pirate ghost ship shuffle. For similar experiences in humour and game play see other classics like Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle and the Last Crusade. Monkey Island sequels Curse and Escape (the 3^rd and 4^th in the series) have tried to sustain the template set out by Ron Gilbert but are missing the subtle humour and charm of the first two. Guybrush’s newest adventure from Telltale Games however raises the bar, and with a few familiar names on the production team recaptures some of the magic which made the first game such a classic.

Nel profondo dei caraibi…

C’era una volta LucasFilm Games Ltd (divenuta poi LucasArts), il gruppo di sviluppo giochi della più grande industria di sogni del mondo moderno. Alla fine degli anni ottanta, inizio degli anni novanta un gruppetto di geni prende il concetto di avdventure game, ci infila un braccio dentro sino al gomito e lo ribalta come un calzino. La storia di come questa gente abbia prodotto capolavori del calibro di Monkey Island™, Indiana Jones and The Last Grusade™, Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis™, The Day of The Tentacle™ la trovate sul blog di Ron Gilbert, il vero papà di MI. Io con quella roba ci sono cresciuto, e se qualcuno di voi non l’avesse ancora fatto dovrebbe farlo ora. “Ma è un gioco di vent’anni fa!” Sì, e no. La LucasArts ha ri-rilasciato Monkey Island quest’estate con grafica nuova. È bellllllissimo, lo trovate per ogni piattaforma, dalla Wii all’iPhone passando ovviamente per pc ed altre console. Lo comprate online, qui.

Alternativamente potete giocare le vecchie versioni in vostro possesso per qualche motivo grazie alla ScummVM, una virtual machine che approfitta del fatto che i programmatori originali fossero dei geni ed avessero scritto i giochi pensando già alla portabilità su diverse piattaforme per farvi giocare a Monkey Island e soci su quello che volete, dal vostro Nokia al lettore dvd da salotto. figo, eh?

Monkey Island è entrato così tanto nell'immaginario collettivo che sue manifestazioni eclotlasmatiche appaiono anche su oggetti di uso comune, come queste ignare Chuck Taylors. Dovesse capitare non chiamate un esorcista: basta annaffiare tutto di birra di radice.

Ringrazio calorosamente Gareth per avermi passato il video che è una vera mera viglia. Oggi qui diluvia e sono mezzo tentato di stare a casa a rigiocare ad una delle pietre miliari della mia infanzia in versione riveduta e corretta.

anche le copertine erano più belle, una volta. come per i film d'epoca, quando c'era un lavoro artistico e dalla locandina ti arrivavano ispirazioni fortissime ed immagini di come il film avrebbe potuto essere ed iniziavi a fantasticare. Ecco, a bassa tecnologia c'è più lavoro di fantasia. Odio l'iper-realismo che si è insediato nel mondo videoludico, rivoglio i pizzel (pixel grossi come pizze) ed immaginarmi le cose

Forse Non Tutti Sanno Che™ il personaggio di Giuliano Ferrara è liberamente ispirato al malvagio pirata Le Chuck.

Ah, abbiamo passato gli 8.000, il blog cresce e cresce. Speriamo non esploda : \

Alle spalle! Una scimmia a tre teste!

Ron Gilbert за DeathSpank:

Holy shit, I wrote a load of craz-ee stuff in the last few weeks and then I saw a dragon. Well, no, not really – but I did do a load of writing on the site, some of which could possibly even be described as good. Links at the bottom.

More importantly that any of that though was the fact that I finally finished watching all of Battlestar Galactica, the re-imagined series. Late, I know, but I like to sit down and watch TV shows only after they’ve already finished so that I can watch them at my own pace. I loved watching Buffy and Angel every week back in the day, but it was such a drawn out and painfully delayed process that I’d prefer to not do it again. Thus, I watched Battlestar Galactica only recently. And I can’t get ‘All Along the Watchtower’ out of my head. Alas.

I suppose I could squeeze some detailed analysis out if I wanted, but the emphasis would be on squeeze – so I’d rather not. It was good, I liked it, now I’ll move on to something else. Probably getting some serious Baldur’s Gate on; life as a Lv. 3 Half-Elf Conjurer requires dedication.

I have little else to say, so here are the links.

• Interview with Rebellion about Alien vs. Predator, finally written up after GamesCom 2009
• Is PC Gaming Dying?, which Alec Meer reckons is shameless traffic-hunting, but actually wasn’t
• Death to Spies: Moment of Truth, possibly the worst game I’ve played this year
• Ron Gilbert’s DeathSpank is unveiled, the trailer looks cool
• Gaming Podcast #3, in which I argue with Alex Watson about The Beatles

I also did a blog post on my bit-tech blog about Games to Play with Your Children, which was something I’d long been planning as a feature. Other games to add to that list include Tales of Monkey Island, Worms, Facade and House of the Dead: Overkill.

Fail.

Лол, лол, лол…. Знаете ли какво е станало на PAX ‘09? Ron “алмайти” Gilbert е говорил за DeathSpank! И не само е говорил, ами и е показвал! BTW ако за пръв път чувате за DeathSpank сигурно ще искате да погледнете това (клик). Така, след като всички сме на една и съща страница започвам с геймплей видеото:

И продължавам с хай-рез скрийншоти!

В момента по пода около мен има огромно количество… лиги!
Ако темата ви е интересна, със сигурност ще искате да хвърлите едно очо върху целият материал на joystiq – PAX 2009: Ron Gilbert gives us a tour of DeathSpank

HOLY MOLY!! What is it with PAX ? I mean c’mon guys…give me a break…so many cool games there, a poor game-enthusiast like me goes easily nut trying to chose which game to write about. Jokes aside here is the next gem that is shining at PAX right now.

Hothead is developing and publishing Ron Gilbert’s long-awaited RPG/Adventure game, DeathSpank. This game  will transport you into a world where “Monkey Island meets Diablo”.  Gilbert’s unique style of humour and storytelling are charming. STORY STORY STORY…yes because as we writers know, stories are the heart of every game. Here we have  a truly involving tale….A real story…not a crappy video game story! Death Spank is one game that cough my eyes.

This RPG-adventure will be  series of episodic titles featuring DeathSpank, a character coined in Gilbert’s animated comic series. Ok, question:  how are we poor gamers supposed to decide which game to play first when you guys keep making so many good ones?

PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) has just started and along side this loads of new trailers have been released. This is my top-ten of trailers that are part of this trailer overload we are having at the moment. Note these are not all trailers shown at PAX but also some that have just been released in the same week.

1: A Secret World

From the creators of Age of Conan and Anarchy Online comes this new MMO called “A Secret World”. They say it is going to be an MMO without class system, but it deffinitly looks classy to me. To bad you’ll probably need a NASA PC to be able to play this game.
Release date: TBA
Official site: www.darkdaysarecoming.com

2: Shank

Not one but two trailers for the new game “Shank” have been released(but i’ll count them as one beacuse the first is very short). The game is currently in development at Klei Entertainment and it is blowing everyone away at the PAX at the moment.

Release date: TBA
Official site: www.shankgame.com

3: DeathSpank

Dispenser of Justice, Vanquisher of evil, Hero to the downtrodden, say hello to Ron Gilbert’s “DeathSpank”. Not really inventive looking gameplay but the atmosphere the trailer creates somehow makes up for this. The name alone gets a 10+ from me…
Release date: TBA
Official site: www.deathspank.com

4. HALO 3 ODST

This trailer almost made it to number 1 of the list where it not that i don’t like HALO and there are 3 other trailers i like better. Not sure if this is a trailer for a movie or a videogame to be honoust but it sure looks incredible! I would deffinitly go see the movie, i’m only not so sure about buying the game.
Release date: September 22, 2009
Official site: www.bungie.net

5. Contra Rebirth

Just because i’m an old-school-2d-side-scrolling kind of guy this trailer makes it to my top 5. Contra kicks ass on any platform anytime, anywhere!
Release date: Today!
Official site: www.konami.jp

6. No More Heroes 2

Any game that uses a guy on a toilet talking about how great it is while being narrated buy a deep sounding american movie voice gets my attention. Be sure to stick around to the end where they show the 2d mini-games in action and to see the toilet break.
Release date: Available now!
Official site: www.nomoreheroesgame.com

7. MAG: Massive Action Game


I like the way this trailer features the voiceovers from the PlayStation community, given the chance by the PlayStation.Blog to appear in the trailer. Or was it just a cheap way to get voiceovers so they didn’t have to pay for real actors?
Release date: January 26, 2010
Official site: www.mag.com

8. Dirt 2

Just like featuring a guy on a toilet(see nr. 6) having cars jumping over each other just gets me excited. The trailer doesnt do anything special it’s just the jumping cars that caused this trailer to make it on the list at the last moment.
Release date: September 11, 2009
Official site: www.dirt2game.com

9. Splinter Cell: Conviction

If internet meme’s and Splinter Cell are your kind of thing then you should deffinitly check out this trailer. If any of those things isn’t then don’t bother because it isn’t worth watching for anything else. Sam Fisher’s tip of the day: “What happens next, is up to you…”. He’s a wise man that Sam.
Release date: Q1, 2010
Official site: www.splintercell.com/conviction

10. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Can someone explain me where the dragon fits in to all of this??? And just throwing random words and numbers at me doesn’t work at all.
Release date: October 9, 2009
Official site: www.flashpointgame.com

“Wildcard” Okamiden

Not really much of a trailer this one that’s why it didn’t make it to the final 10, but the original Okami was really a great game. And now there is a follow-up! Okamiden is going to be exlusive for the NintendoDS and it sure is a looking like a cute little version of it’s older brother or father or mother or whatever it is.
Release date: TBA, 2010
Official site: TBA

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition – Gameover.gr

Ο Ron Gilbert, ο Tim Schafer και ο Dave Grossman, παρέδωσαν για λογαριασμό της ιστορικής LucasArts, το The Secret of Monkey Island, ένα τίτλο-σταθμό για το gaming, που κυκλοφόρησε για τους ηλεκτρονικούς υπολογιστές το 1990.

Το “Αριστούργημα του Γέλιου”, όπως χαρακτηρίστηκε από πολλούς, κατάφερε να αλλάξει για πάντα τον τρόπο που αντιλαμβανόμαστε το χιούμορ. Οι έξυπνοι διάλογοι, που παράγουν ατελείωτο γέλιο και ο πανέμορφος σχεδιασμός, είναι τα κύρια, αλλά τόσο απλά συστατικά που συνθέτουν τον απίθανο αυτό σύνολο.[next]

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So, a month and a bit ago there was all this news about a new episodic Money Island game and a remake of the original. I was sceptical at the time, but now they’re both on Steam and I’ve played them both all the way through. Verdict?

Let’s tackle the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island first. This is a full 3D game which keeps all of the classic adventure game traits (inventory, awkward controls, only one right solution etc) and feels a lot like the 4th game in the series, Escape from Monkey Island. The graphics manage to be moderately attractive and the character design is ok, but the lip syncing and other animations are stiff, lifeless and distracting. This is perhaps a result of a limited budget and episodic problems, but it just doesn’t have as much life as older MI games despite the improvements in technology.

The story sees Guybrush once more battling the Ghost Pirate LeChuck™ who subsequently steals his ship and his wife, Elaine Marley. It’s a familiar start to a MI game which is a pity considering the imagination put into the first two all those years ago. Anyway, Guybrush ends up on yet another Island, unable to leave and find Elaine until he’s solved a couple of puzzles and picked up everything that he can. This is pretty much how you spend the first installment, subtitled ‘Launch of the Screaming Narwhal’ after the ship which Guybrush procures early on. So plotwise things aren’t amazing, but for fans of the series there’s a warming sense of familiarity that comes across in the writing and the characters, and since it’s been so many years since the last MI game it’s easy to forgive. Most of the voice acting behind the script is strong, some is unremarkable, but there was at least one occasion when I giggled out loud, and the gags hit a lot more than they miss.

Now, the control. It is, in my mind, a bit broken. There was nothing particularly wrong with pointing and clicking 20 years ago, and since TOMI keeps every other adventure gaming tradition in tact it’s a mystery why they messed up the movement controls and the inventory screen so badly. You hold and click the left mouse button to make Guybrush move, and if you want him to run rather than walk (and why wouldn’t you) you have to hold the right mouse button. Simultaneously. It’s very, very irritating and makes navigating the various screens a pain. The inventory screen is only accessible if you move the pointer to the right hand side of the screen and there are no context sensitive actions to make using and combing items easy. Instead you have to drag and drop the two items you want to combine into two boxes and then click a further button to combine them. It’s more clunky than the inventory screens from Resident Evil and I was longing for the old SCUMM interface at times.

The question is, do the puzzles and the atmosphere make up for its faults? Well, for me, TOMI was good while it lasted, and certainly made me anxious for the release of the next part in a couple of months. The writing was solid and at times had echoes of classic MI and the puzzles were relatively painless, logical and funny, though that’s coming from someone who’s grown accustomed to the warped conventions of adventure gaming over many years. However, it’s really hard to recommend TOMI to anyone who hasn’t sampled MI action in the past.

Now, to the ’special edition’ of The Secret of Money Island. This is still an excellent game and for anyone who’s never played it before I can’t recommend it more, especially since it’s only £7 on Steam and offers at least 7 hours of play. For anyone who has played the original there’s less to like. The new art and higher resolution is good, and on the surface it’s nice that they’ve completely overlaid and integrated all of the animation and voice acting to sync up with the original game, which you can hot-swap between at any point by hitting F10. However, because everything has to be linked into the old game there’s been no scope for improving the animation. New screens look pretty, but the characters jerk about, spoiling the whole effect and wasting the opportunity to make something special. Though they wouldn’t fiddle with the animation, the control has been altered to allow the new artwork more screen space. However, it’s been replaced with another control scheme that is no where near as good as the original game. Though I tried to mostly play the game with the new graphics and voice acting there are certain puzzles which are virtually impossible to complete using the new control scheme (like getting the credit note from the store keeper or juggling the corrosive grog).

So, for me much of the special edition was a waste of time. For first timers it’s still a must buy, and it has a pretty decent hint system built in, but veterans might be turned off by the irritating changes.

Bueno, primeramente debo decir que estas son mis opiniones personales acerca de la posibilidad (más que tangible) de que el segundo “Monkey” también sea remasterizado, al igual que el primer título que analicé recientemente.

Pero hay claros indicios que muchos hemos visto, y motivos de sobra por parte de Lucasarts para rehacer también la segunda parte.

Para empezar, y sin que ésto implique ningún spoiler, tras finalizar la antigua versión de Monkey Island podíamos ver un cartel que decía: “Ahora apaga el ordenador y vete a dormir!”. Curiosamente, el mismo rótulo ha sido sustituido en la nueva revisión por un más que significativo “Guybrush will return”. Guybrush, tal como suena, volverá.

Esa es evidentemente la más evidente y esclarecedora de las indicaciones que nos ha dejado la compañía de Lucas, pero se contrasta con las declaraciones de Brooks Brown de la propia compañía, quien afirma que tan sólo aparecerán nuevos remakes de sus aventuras gráficas si Monkey Island funciona.

Pero… si es así, ¿qué sentido tendría incluír semejante pelotazo al final de la edición especial? Parece más que evidente que el desarrollo de la segunda parte está ya empezado, y que Lucasarts se guarda éste y otros ases en el bolsillo. Saben que tienen a toda una generación babeando por sus decisiones, y que saben lo que queremos exactamente. Queremos Day of the Tentacle. Queremos Indiana Jones y muchas más cositas wenas. Queremos más de lo que nos dieron hace dos décadas!

Cabría pensar de forma lejana que el “cartelito” de marras es un guiño a la nueva serie por capítulos Tales of Monkey Island, recién estrenada por los reconocidos Telltale, que se podrían considerar parcialmente como los herederos de Lucasarts al tratarse, en parte, del mismo equipo. No obstante, la política de Lucas nunca ha sido muy amistosa con los juegos de otras compañías, y no creo que sea una excepción. Además, la serie “Tales of” se ha estrenado días antes del remake, por lo que no tendría sentido.

Aún cobra más sentido pensar, en definitiva, que un remake de la segunda parte sería todavía mejor que la primera. La música del primer título ya fue en su momento remasterizada a CD, cosa que nunca sucedió con la segunda parte, que goza evidentemente con una BSO muy superior, sistema IMuse de Michael Land incluído. La historia es más larga, variada y oscura, e independientemente de las ventas del primer Monkey, sería absurdo no probar suerte con el segundo. No creo que sean juegos muy caros de desarrollar (como remake), teniendo en cuenta lo bien que se les da arriesgar con cagadas como ese irregular tirando a penoso “El Poder de la Fuerza” que truncó nuestras esperanzas estelares y las enterró hasta que Bioware se ha dignado a resurgir la licencia. Si se han gastado esa pasta, se pueden gastar ésta.

Monkey 2 parece más que cantado. Sólo espero que lean las críticas en internet y terminen de pulir lo que en el primer remake les ha fallado. Son pocas cosas, muy pocas, pero pueden hacer la mejor puesta al día jamás habida, y espero que así sea, puesto que el segundo Monkey es, al menos para un servidor, la mejor de Lucasarts.

Sólo queda esperar.

Hubo un tiempo allá por los 90 en que dos grandes entidades se disputaban el trono de la aventura gráfica, género nacido con el objetivo de transmitir una sensación similar a la que le cine produce en el espectador, a golpe de ratón. Una aventura basada por encima de todo en el guión de la misma y en la investigación mediante los diálogos, la lógica (a veces un tanto abstracta) y la manipulación de objetos. Grandes mentes se pusieron manos a la obra aprovechando el sobreforramiento de las compañías, las cuales por aquel entonces arriesgaban bastante más que ahora en profundizar en las posibilidades de la videoaventura.

Ya existían por aquel entonces las llamadas “Aventuras conversaciones”, aquellas en las que tenías que escribir las acciones con el teclado y esperar con ansia que fuera lo que el juego esperaba que tecleásemos en pantalla. Eran juegos complicados, enormemente difíciles, sobre todo si no se conocían los métodos abreviados y éramos impacientes como para tirarnos horas intentando saber dónde ir (y cómo). Aquel complejo sistema de aventura requerían una dedicación que impedían que el género evolucionara en aquella misma dirección, dando la oportunidad a otras mentes de coger todo aquello y volver a crearlo, casi desde cero.

IMPORTANTE: ES RECOMENDABLE HABER ACABADO EL JUEGO ANTES DE LEER ESTA REVIEW. NO CONTIENE SPOILERS GIGANTES, PERO LAS IMÁGENES HABLAN POR SÍ SOLAS.

Así nacieron maravillas provenientes, principalmente, de Lucasfilm Games (ahora Lucasarts), que contaba con el apoyo del propio George Lucas para la subvención necesaria de los títulos, y Sierra Entertainment, gran y longeva compañía donde las haya. Fueron momentos dulces, venidos a llamarse “La edad de oro de las aventuras gráficas”, donde gigantes como Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, King Quest o el bueno de Larry nos obligaban a rompernos la cabeza con las mil y una dificultades que sus juegos atesoraban. Eso sí, casi siempre con el humor como principal protagonista.

Puede que no fuera la primera (no lo fue), pero sin duda se trata de aquella que marcó un antes y un después en el concepto del videojuego de aventura. Un terceto de genios se juntaron bajo una misma idea y desarrollaron la que es, para muchos, la mejor saga de aventuras gráficas de la historia. Evidentemente, y debo hacer siempre hincapié en ésto, nunca me referiré a la patética cuarta parte, y dejando parcialmente a un lado la tercera parte, puesto que el equipo detrás del título no era exactamenteel mismo (faltaban las cabezas pensantes, pero quedaban los demás a cargo de otras nuevas), y ésto se notaba cantidad.

Sin embargo, los dos primeros títulos, diseñados y creados por los grandiosos Ron Gilbert, Tim Schaffer y Dave Grossman (con un fantástico Steve Purcell como apoyo artístico) fueron el auténtico comienzo de todo lo que vendría después. Monkey Island se convirtió, por méritos propios, en un motivo más que suficiente para crear escuela, y hoy Lucasarts ha tenido un detalle con nosotros, los que vivimos el momento en toda su plenitud, y nos ofrece una revisión de aquel primer “The Secret of Monkey Island”.

Este remake no es tal. No se puede considerar un remake 100% porque, realmente, el juego es exactamente el mismo. Sin embargo, es imposible obviar las mejoras que presenta esta “Special Edition”, ya que saltan a la vista. Gráficos rehechos en su totalidad, a una calidad de 1920×1200 (1080p), animaciones suavizadas, voces (en inglés, eos sí) y la fantástica banda sonora de Michael Land remasterizada y ligeramente retocada. Las ilustraciones que sustituyen a las pixeladas (aunque memorables) creaciones de la versión original gozan de estilo propio, si bien respetan tanto la composición como la ambientación global en todos y cada uno de los planos del juego. Los añadidos en los escenarios, si bien son únicamente visuales, son muy de agradecer, aunque quizá han puesto mucho más empeño en reproducir el puerto de la Isla Melee, y mucho menos en el resto de escenarios. Hay determinados paisajes, como las playas de Monkey Island, que son calcadas de las originales, sólo que claro, respetando el potencial aumento de resolución y color. Pero no resultan tan impactantes como contemplar el Scumm Bar con un montón de barcos (antes sencillamente inexistentes) amarrados al puerto de la isla.

He de decir que no todo brilla en el apartado gráfico, y es que la propia imagen del protagonista, Guybrush, ha sufrido una transformación poco agraciada. Guybrush ahora es más estilizado, pero es algo de lo que el personaje no se aprovecha para bien. El peinado que le han colocado es tan surrealista como antiestético. Demasiado caricaturesco incluso. Lechuck es un personaje de aspecto totalmente bestial. Parece mucho, mucho más peligroso que antes, lo cual está bien, pero descuadra un poco a los que, como yo, llevamos viendo a Lechuck desde que la saga vio la luz. Elaine es quizá, junto con los personajes secundarios en su mayoría, la más parecida a su versión noventera. Meathook, la maestra de la espada, o el tendero son la viva imagen, en alta resolución, de sus anteriores representaciones. Una de cal y otra de arena en ese sentido.

Con la música, nada que objetar. Espectacular y luce mejor que nunca. Estoy impaciente por ver lo que son capaces de hacer con la aún mejor banda sonora del Monkey 2 (estoy convencido de que van a hacerlo, habida cuenta del final del 1 . La revisión de temas míticos como el principal, el de Lechuck, o el del Scumm Bar cobran un nuevo sentido gracias a la regrabación de todas las pistas, y la inclusión de nuevos arreglos y detalles que enriquecen los tracks originales del Sr. Land. Un placer para los oídos.

Con las voces tengo una pequeña queja. Las voces sí, son probablemente clavadas a lo que se reproducía en nuestras cabezas en la versión original. Sin embargo, hay ocasiones en las que la interpretación parece algo forzada y exagerada. Demasiado “dibujo animado” para unos chistes que beben del humor inteligente estilo Groucho o Woody Allen. El absurdo de muchos diálogos no es siempre poner tono graciosete. La versión que al menos yo leía tenía una entonación bien distinta y sarcástica. Quien siga a cualquiera de los dos grandes humoristas que he citado antes sabrá a qué me refiero. Diálogos ácidos, rápidos y absurdos. Me parece un buen doblaje, pero me da que los nuevos jugadores pueden malinterpretar bastantes “hachazos” y perder gracia en general, cosa que en este título en concreto, es prohibitivo. Deberían haber tomado ejemplo de la saga por capítulos de Sam & Max, que han clavado absolutamente la interpretación.

Tampoco el interfaz ha salido beneficiado. Es mucho más limpio, pero al respetar el sistema original de verbos, el menú que los contiene así como el inventario se muestran ocultos hasta que los sacamos con la tecla en cuestión. En consolas jugar a una aventura gráfica sin ratón es un impedimento, pero en PC que tenemos la suerte de gozar de un teclado todo lleno de teclas, e incluso un ratón poderoso con unos cuantos botoncetes, NO PODER REDEFINIR LOS CONTROLES es para darles un tirón de orejas a los desarrolladores. A ver, es muy fácil. Hay un sistema, un control que se hizo hace casi 20 años. Si querían cambiarlo podían haber adaptado el control “coin” del tercer Monkey, aquel en el que dejábamos pulsado el primer clic en un objeto y aparecían las diversas opciones, dejando el botón derecho para sacar el inventario.

Pero no, a no ser que asignemos a los botones del ratón las funciones CONTROL y ALT, no tendremos forma (al menos hasta donde yo sé) de jugar a una mano. Es un paso atrás en el control, incomprensible desde luego, y que exige sacar una y mil veces los menús en lugar de contemplarlos directamente en pantalla o facilitarlo en el propio ratón. Y no, no se puede asignar  desde el juego, sino desde el panel de control que, de existir, podremos configurar desde Windows. Teniendo en cuenta que desde la época del Spectrum se pueden redefinir los controles, me parece simplemente que la sección artística ha trabajado el triple que los programadores. El diseño de la inferfaz es confuso, inusual, y aleja al jugador clásico de su forma de jugar que tantas veces hemos usado durante los años. Ni siquiera la rueda del ratón, que supuestamente es un acceso directo a todas las funciones, resulta útil, dado que gozamos de 9 verbos de acción y rotar desde ellos es un petardo encomiable.

Por el otro lado de la balanza tenemos, simple y llanamente, que es el primer Monkey Island, que siempre ha sido mi juego favorito junto con su segunda parte, con una remasterización global mucho más que remarcable, que nos dará el placer de volver a jugar a uno de los juegos más importantes e influyentes de la pasada década. Un antes y un después marcado por un personaje de nombre impronunciable que ahora pueden disfrutar los más jóvenes, rezagados, o simplemente pecadores de no haber jugado a esta obra maestra del videojuego.

Es por este aluvión de ideas positivas y negativas que me vienen a la cabeza, que no tengo más remedio que puntuar por separado el juego en sí, y la puesta al día que supone esta edición especial. Si nunca has jugado al Monkey, es imprescindible que lo hagas. Además, se puede pasar del modo clásico al nuevo con sólo pulsar un boton, por lo que podréis apreciar en toda su pixelada maravillosidad a lo que un servidor, y tantos otros, jugábamos con los ojos brillantes como si fuésemos niños (demonios! ÉRAMOS niños!). Si ya has jugado al Monkey, te lo vas a pasar igual de bien, pero supongo que, como yo, habrá cosas que nuestro corazón más friki y afín a la obra original tendrá que rechazar por ser, simplemente, peores. Por lo demás, una revisión impecable, que de haber resuelto mejor el control y la actuación de los dobladores, habría llegado a la nota máxima sin mayores problemas.

Valoración “Special Edition”: 8.5

1UP: 10
IGN: 8.7
GAMESPOT: 8

Valoración juego original: 10

Well I’m going to break up my music reverie this week in order to discuss a series that has a massive flaw that is known in small cases, unknown to most of the world, and ignored by those who produce this series.

Tales of Monkey Island

Recently I was reading a book discussing Zelda Timeline and I realized in the process that Monkey Island has one of the most flawed worlds and timelines of any series. It’s one of my biggest annoyances to be a big fan of Monkey Island, and a known one to friends, to reach the point where I’ll hear from five different people: “Hey! Did you see the new Monkey Island re-release of Secret or the episodic series?!” I’m of course expected to be excited… which I’m largely not except for the remake, which I think the voice acting really brings life and emotion to the comedy of the game – but, this episodic series is stupid, money making, gratification of a series that can do much better.
For over ten years fans have been waiting for Monkey Island 5, and I’ve watched Fan Site after fan site shutdown as each one of them accepts that the buzz has died down and Lucas Arts is always going to make more Star Wars games – A view I haven’t see a change in yet and I don’t give a damn if they really do anyway.

The Monkey Island series has not had a new game since Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about since chronologically it goes up to 4, I’ll explain.

Ron Gilbert, great and holy creator of the Monkey Island story, was taken off the project after the second – this mainly being the case as it was about six years since Monkey Island 3 would come out anyway. And as a fan, I was intensely excited to buy Monkey Island 3: the new voice acting, semi 3D gameplay, ship battles, and updated music samples. It was all brilliant, funny, and flashy, and for the first few play throughs it was great… Until I played Monkey Island 2.
Yes I played them chronologically out of order, I went 1,3,2,4. After playing two, I realized that 3 had absolutely NOTHING to add to the story, and at the end when LeChuck traps you on the bomb cart, he tells you the story that you read out of the Library book in Monkey Island 2. Not only this, but there are several inaccuracies that I’m not going to delve into now.

Part 1: Herman

In any event, that misstep might have been OK because it was still a great game; but one insipid, insidious, bastardly, and conniving man had to put his foot into the mix: Horation Torquemada Marley… or Captain Marley A.K.A. Elaine Marley’s father, who by all plotlines should be dead. Suddenly Captain Marley was no longer sailing away from Monkey Island after LeChuck beat him to the fabled Big Whoop – when he was sunk at sea – but instead he was sailing in a race and LeChuck pushed him into a whirlpool! Not to mention Herman, yes that’s right, Horatio is actually Herman Toothrot from Monkey Island 1, who shouldn’t even be on Monkey Island in the first place! He and Bob (one of leChuck’s minions who can’t keep their head on straight [/ha]) sail to Melee Island in order to see the wedding.

Not to mention Herman already had his own plot. Herman supposedly sailed to Monkey Island with one other man, who can be found hanging on a tree in 1. Herman cooks a stew that helps them find the island, and HE (in MK1) Remembers All Of It! Herman will recall whatever you want to know when you’re on Monkey Island and it all adds up. Capt. Marley ends up on Monkey Island when he washes ashore from the wreck and suffers from amnesia from then on.

Now I know that Herman is on Dinky Island in MK2, but he becomes a zen philosopher and does not mention anything of being forced back on the island. Of course he is placed back around Monkey Island for comic relief, though it is a bit sketchy, but Herman is still not Horatio (and never will be).

Part 2: The Ultimate Insult….. to gamers everywhere

One of the biggest slaps in the face actually occurred while I was playing the game my first time through. As you play through Monkey Island 4, you learn of a terrible weapon: the Ultimate Insult. This is the greatest, most primordial weapon in the Caribbean, and this weapon is even more terrible that Lechuck! Watching the end of this game I put my foot down on the plot then and there. As far as the story goes, that’s a wrap!

Lechuck has been obliterated in body and spirit, what is left? This is exactly the slopping writing that games today get in order to tie up plot holes. If you buy into the 4 plot, then how can there even be a Monkey Island 5? Guybrush v. the giant Murderous Clam.

Monkey Island has always been Guybrush seeking Elaine and running from LeChuck, and since Guybrush will never leave Elaine, neither will LeChuck. For him to come back now would take the book-writing tenacity of Steven King. Not to mention! LeChuck is supposed to be the breaks on terrifying, evil forces and suddenly he is outranked by the ultimate insult? That’s a smack in the face to Ron Gilbert who actually thought up this once cohesive universe and to every gamer who felt some fear at LeChuck’s trumpet blowing fanfare.

Oh! I almost forgot! This ultimate insult nonsense, which turns the giant monkey skull from 1: which used to be A PASSAGE TO HELL, into A MEGAZORD FOR THE ULTIMATE INSULT. Let’s look at that again shall we? HELL or a Megazord found in the powerrangers. This is supposed to impress me? “Somehow I always thought there would be mushrooms in hell…”

So fans everywhere, play what you want and enjoy it. To those who care about chronology, I’m stopping at 2. For those who like franchises and funny writing and watching a fantastic story turned into a sitcom then you’ll most likely love this episodic series.

To Lucas Arts and Tell Tale games: You are what’s wrong with every game today. When someone says, “they don’t make games like that anymore” it’s because of you. You money-grubbing, artsy scum have forgotten the value of a good story in place of cheap laughs. If I wanted lame humor set in pirate themes I could watch Pirates of the Caribbean. Thank You for ruining the hopes of every gamer and fansite that waited for Monkey Island 5 and Ron Gilberts return and got this Sam & Max, overproduced, overhyped, episodic piece of crap.

~Dan