Game: Tales of Monkey Island, Episode 5: The Rise of the Pirate God
Developer: TellTale Games
Genre: Adventure Game
Verdict: Get this game now, but preferably after you’ve gotten the others
Pros: All the laughs of the previous games
Cons: Definitely a sequel – much of the fun needs the earlier stories
Acquired: Developer Provided
When you first think of LucasArts’ landmark Monkey Island franchise, most of you will remember precious hours of your childhood lost to the ever-present call of an EGA monitor. Sure, most of us have developed eye problems due to pixel hunting on a screen that probably exposed us to more radiation than a 1980s microwave, but it was worth every second of the blindness it will eventually cause. So now, nineteen years later, Telltale has picked up the mantle that was once raised by the comedic triumvirate of Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman, while collectively giving retro gamers something to show their kids to prove that yes, they too used to be a “hardcore gamer.”
Episode 5 in the Tales of Monkey Island saga, entitled “Rise of the Pirate God,” marks the final installment of a season’s worth of fun with everyone’s favorite swashbuckler, Guybrush Threepwood. Picking up where the events of the previous chapter left off, Guybrush is now a proud member of the Dead Poets Society, minus the whole being a poet thing. So how can the main character actually be dead, while still providing something to play other than a “pushing up daises” mini-game, you ask? The answer to that question is provided by taking a look at the inventory at the start of the game, which contains a strand of string, labeled as a “shred of life.” Maybe he isn’t quite so dead after all…
Starting off in some remote part of the afterlife, armed only with his last “shred of life” and a pile of dirt from his grave, Threepwood sets off to do what any not-quite-dead soul in limbo would do: find a way back to the land of the living and cause as much trouble as inhumanly (catch that?) possible in the process. While the goal of regaining your life is the ultimate endgame, there are several references back to Guybrush’s wife, who is apparently both still alive and in dire need of his help. One could assume that when they coined the adage “love conquers all,” death was viewed as a notable exception to the rule. With the help of a keen mind and a solid sense of humor, however, players set out to do just that.
Early on, the puzzles are rudimentary at best, obviously catering to the new audience that has finally decided to tune into the series just in time for the finale. If you are one of those bass akwards folks that think this is the right time to START playing a series, ask yourself the following question: Would you ever consider skipping over the fun “adult activities” of a marriage’s honeymoon period in favor of jumping directly to the geriatric segment of your life, just to see which spouse kicks the bucket first? If you answered yes to that question, do yourself a favor and try to kick that nasty breathing habit that you have. To all the rest of the sane population, use this as an opportunity to start at the very beginning of the season, and play through the game like a normal human being. This will lead to a more satisfying experience in the long run and will also help make sense of the story’s constantly self-referential nature.
Thankfully, as the game progresses, the puzzles do become more challenging, but some of the material early on could be solved by anything with a pulse and more brainwaves than a box of fishing tackle. For the rest of the population that believe in the strange voodoo magic referred to by some as “common sense,” the beginning will probably bore you to tears. At least those with prior knowledge of the Monkey Island universe will be treated to several rather amusing examples of fan service while they repeatedly ask themselves if they are having fun yet. Once the puzzles start becoming more difficult, the proverbial wheels fall off of the proverbial wagon. At several different points, the path of progression and clues just seems to dry up. This is not “drying up” in the sense of being genuinely stumped, but rather the distinct impression that a necessary clue was not explained clearly or even neglected altogether. Fortunately for veterans of early Monkey Island games, when this sort of scenario is encountered, your skills of pixel hunting from decades past will once again come to your aid.
If there is one thing that has remained constant over Telltale’s tenure in the land of Monkey Island, it is the consistently solid writing. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean that every joke is hilarious and everything makes perfect sense, but the genuine chuckle to cringe ratio is much higher here than in any sitcom on television currently. The longer the game progresses, the more players will realize that loose ends from the first four chapters are never going to be completely resolved. There is one specifically large plot path that is left unexplored, leaving me to assume that this could be a jumping off point for the next season, which is certainly deserved given the success of these first five installments.
Though Rise of the Pirate God is probably not the best of the first five Monkey Island outings in the current gaming generation, it still provides all of the laughs and languish of its predecessors. Everyone from retro enthusiasts to the jaded hardcore will find something to latch onto. Who wouldn’t want to help a guy who is down to his last shred of life, even if it is an absurdly outlandish way to bring a character back from the grave?
Popularity: unranked [?]
