Escape from Monkey Island: Adventure game love

[Ruined]

OK, so this has been out for a while, I finally got a chance to play some of it, and I have it both for PC and PS2.

So here is a mini-review to counteract all the negative adventure game news lately.

Escape from Monkey Island, released for PC and PS2, takes the MI series to 3D, with some rather large bumps along the way. While Escape from Monkey Island contains lots of the classic MI humor you are used to, there may be some things getting in the way of you enjoying it, at least at first. The major problem is that LucasArts designed the control scheme for PS2, but designed the game engine for the PC. So both platforms have problems and there is no definitive version to own.

Graphics (PC): B-
Graphics (PS2): C-
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The game looked primitive on the PC when it first came out, on PS2 it's even worse. Much jaggier graphics with a weaker framerate. But that is not what really makes the PS2 version suffer. LucasArts did a fine port job here, and apparently didn't know that the PS2 had any system memory. So, whenever a character speaks or a sound effect is played, it just loads it off the disc. This causes a stutter in the graphics. In some scenes, like the opening one, with a lot of sound effects, you will see your character stuttering about the screen. The PS2 version is sort of like playing a PC CDROM adventure game talkie from the 90s on a really crappy PC. In general, the framerate on the PS2 version also does not seem as smooth as the PC version. Still, both versions have mediocre graphics in terms of models and textures.

Sound (PC): B-
Sound (PS2): C-
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I found the sound in this game weak in general compared to earlier MI games, in music, speech, and sound effects. However, on top of this the PS2 version also has audio glitches, such as speech occasionally dropping out, stuttering, or causing graphical pauses as noted above. In any case, sound isn't too great.

Controls (PC): D
Controls (PS2): B-
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Here is where the PC version takes a flaming nosedive into oblivion. Monkey Island's control scheme is unnecessarily complicated. You really can't play effectively with a keyboard and mouse, which is a strike against the PC version immediately. But, even with the PS2 controller, the game uses the analog stick, 4 face buttons, and the 4 shoulder buttons. That's 8 buttons for an adventure game... WTF? What was Lucasarts thinking with such a crappy interface? So with the PC version, not only do you have to buy a gamepad that mimics a PS2 controller (Thrustmaster makes a nice one), but you have to program it and subsequently remember all the buttons for MI. Even with a PS2-like gamepad, it is still a pain in the PC version having to setup your controller for this game. In any case, if this game has any one major downfall, it is its interface which is far too complex for this type of game. The PS2 version makes things easier, but it still stinks

Gameplay (PC): B+
Gameplay (PS2): B+
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In terms of gameplay they are similar, except the PS2 version has some annoying 3-4sec loadtimes when switching between scenes, which happens pretty often. The PS2 version appears to be streaming everything directly off the CD at the moment it is needed ingame, which makes the game feel a lot less polished and can disrupt gameplay somewhat. So basically, you can either play the version with better graphics/sound and terrible controls (PC), or you can play the version with stuttering graphics/sound, load times, and doable controls (PS2). I think in the end it will come down to whether you want to play the game on your PC or your PS2, and whether you want to shell out the cash for a programmable PC gamepad (that has at least 8 buttons).

Conclusion: B
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Still funny as hell, still a great buy for an MI fan. It's just too bad LucasArts didn't optimize this for the PS2 in terms of graphics/sounds/loadtime, and didn't optimize it for the PC in terms of controls. What you're left with is one of those games that has two versions and you can't really tell which is the port. But it's Monkey Island, so it gets a pass, and deserves some attention if you like adventure games

[silentmatt]

Yeah, I'll go on record as saying this is one of the worst adventure games Lucasarts has ever put out. The former masters of the genre really got tied up in the technical execution of this one instead of concentrating on the gaming goodness that MI has always provided.

Still, though, its got its moments, and is still a decent time. And I guess us old school PC adventurers had better be happy with what we can get these days.