Escape From Monkey Island (PS2 Review)

My first thoughts when I saw that Escape From Monkey Island was coming to the PlayStation 2 that it had no business being released on the system. The cards seemed to be stacked against it having any real success. To begin with, it is the fourth game in a series that never has been available on the Sony family of consoles. Secondly, it’s a point-and-click adventure. For the majority of new age gamers who were not around in the 80′s when the genre was popular, it is best described as the grandfather to the action-adventure game.

 

I can already see in my mental mind your eyes rolling up to heaven asking the Almighty, “Why I would spend my precious time playing such an antique-styled game when there are so many fantastic titles available on the market?” I thought the same thing until I noticed that the game had somehow made the Top 50 Game list for the PS2 in one of my magazines. With my curiosity peaked, I began looking for this hard-to-find title to find out why it was given such a high rating. Since I now have experienced it myself I can understand why the game received such a grade. Perhaps this review can do the same for you.

You play the game as the character of Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. The game picks up where the previous installment left off and you are returning from your three-month honeymoon with your newlywed wife Elaine Marley-Threepwood. She is the Governor of the Melee Island and has been proclaimed dead at sea since she has been gone for such a long time. This has caused much confusion on Melee Island and the populous has begun looking for a new leader. You also find out that a new person has entered the tri-island area and is attempting to transform the Caribbean into a pirate-free tourist trap. He has succeeded in buying up most of the properties scattered across the islands and has almost destroyed the pirate’s way of life.

It is up to Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate (once you play the game you will understand this continual reference), to right the wrongs and save the day for the entire tri-island area. I don’t wish to go into great detail about what is done throughout the story as to not spoil it for you, but you can be sure that the adventure is greatly diverse. The zaniness of the game can best be compared to Monty Python’s Flying Circus or to titles like Blazing Dragons and the Discworld series, all of which are previous PSOne games.

The style of the game is pretty basic. You control your character in the third-person perspective and go from place to place attempting to put all of the pieces of the puzzle that you are currently working on together. Solutions usually take a lot of work and are not easily figured out. What should be a simple task of acquiring a ship to allow you the freedom of exploring the other islands in the area takes over seven separate steps scattered throughout Melee Island.

Only with all of these completed, are you finally able to take the Dainty Lady (but…it’s pink) out into the sea and further your quest. I would recommend stocking up on brain food as some of these solutions really require you to think outside the box.

Insult fighting is the standard way for island citizens to settle their differences. There are many different versions of these battles, including the exceptionally funny arm-wrestling insult-fighting and sword insult-fighting. This basically boils down to a very witty way to have action scenes in a non-action title. Opponents trade insults back and forth while performing whatever version of the fighting that has currently been chosen. Only by picking the correct phrases from the available selection tilts the battle in your favor. Although Guybrush is a renown insult fighter, your only hope of saving the day is to journey through the tri-island area searching for the “Ultimate Insult” to be used to vanquish the bad guy and send him packing.

While there are a lot of inside jokes that fly over your head unless you have played the previous games, I do not recommend trying to drink anything while conversations are going on. The laughs come fast and furious, usually when you least expect them. The character interaction is all menu driven, which breaks down to a simple trial and error method to get the information necessary from each person. You can usually pick out which direction you should take the conversations, but it’s more fun to explore the entire available selection and enjoy the witty repartee. 

Guybrush has the best tailor in town as his pants are roomy enough to store every item that he finds along his travels. Furthermore, some items need to be assembled from putting multiple things together which can be done in the item inventory screen. The nice thing about the game is that it doesn’t let you inadvertently waste items by putting just anything together. Henceforth, even if you don’t have the brainpower you can still work your way through most of the puzzles with minimal effort.

Graphically the game is average at best. There are no breathtaking cut-scenes or dynamic full motion videos that will make you stare at the screen slack-jawed. The environments and the NPC’s in the game are well drawn and very interactive, but they in no way compete with the likes of Final Fantasy. If you are a player who is overly-concerned with eye-candy, you might as well look elsewhere as this title has nothing but the basics. Load times between scenes are minimal and rarely take more than 15 seconds to bring up the next locale.

The voice-overs, usually a weakness in most games, are superbly done and match up well with each person. Voice inflection flows excellently during the conversations and really brings you into the game unlike many others where players usually speed-flip through the dialogue to get back to the action. The background music is appropriately theme-based and never sounds manufactured or out of place.

Rating this game is rather difficult. It has almost none of the ingredients that a great game needs to make it a success. Replay value is nonexistent as there are no special endings or any another reason to play the game again. There are no real mini-games or side quests to keep the action going. Moreover, there really isn’t much action in the game at all. Take away the voice acting and the comedy and there really isn’t much to consider except for the inventive puzzles. Nevertheless, I can honestly say that I enjoyed playing Escape From Monkey Island and felt that it was time well spent. Unless you are a game collector or an avid fan of the series, there is no real reason to purchase the game. The entire quest can be completed during a weekend rental if you can find a copy of the game available. However, if you do decide to add this cerebral comedy to your library, you won’t be disappointed.

Difficulty: 6

Control: 7

Audio: 10

Visuals: 6

Replayability: 4

Overall: 8.5