We covered the first in the Telltale Sam and Max trilogy a few weeks ago and now the duo is back with their second collection of five episodes. This time our heroes are dealing with everything from Santa Claus demons and vampire rockstars to time traveling Mariachi band aliens. Much like the previous collection, the game isn’t perfect but there is still nothing quite like following around the mad-cap duo with their dry and slightly psychotic brand of humour.
Little has changed in terms of structure from before. The
game is still set in a 3D world which our heroes wandering around looking for things
to interact with. There’s help in the form of the shoulder buttons which will
highlight interactive elements of the scenes and you can also set Max to give
you hints about what to do at varying intervals which we found was a good way
to keep the story moving.
The aim of each chapter is to solve the various puzzles and
mysteries in classic point and click style by collecting objects and using them
in weird and wonderful ways. This being a Sam and Max game though you really
have to get your lateral thinking skills going, and even then we found some
puzzles fell too far into surreal obscurity for most normal humans at times. At
least locations are kept fairly tight so there’s always the option of just
talking to everyone and trying everything everywhere.
It's fair to say that the episodes get better and more
creative as you progress. The opening chapter based around a demon taking over the
north pole dragged a bit and this is followed by a Bermuda Triangle based
chapter which we found quite fiddly. Next though is a great chapter about
zombies, featuring a vein vampire holding a European dance rave, This is then
followed by the alien time travelling Mariachi band which has some of the
funniest dialogue. The final chapter rounds everything off well and doing just enough
to send you back to the eShop to pick up the final game in the trilogy.
Some of the complaints about the previous game are still
relevant of course. Again, these were released originally as standalone
episodes so there is a certain number of repetitive locations and environments.
It’s something the game even references at one point. At least this time you
are mostly whisked away to other locations though which does give much needed
variety. There’s also some silly mini games to help keep things interesting as
well. You are still going to be visiting Bosco’s Shop, Stinky’s Diner and
Sybils Office a lot though.
We found the writing to be a lot sharper than the first game
though. Max in particular seems to be much more on point. Seemingly a case of
the writers and voice actors having got more comfortable with characters again.
It means it’s well worth clicking on everything and seeking out the additional
dialogue options in order to hear all the jokes and quips and the game is consistently
funny throughout all the episodes.
Overall, Sam and Max: Beyond Space and Time is an enjoyable
and welcome continuation for the crime fighting dog and rabbit. There’s nothing
here that’s going to put you off if you have played the previous games and, in
all likelihood, you’ll finish this then head straight back to get the next
episode. The locations are a bit more inventive than the first game as well and
writing is certainly sharper. A very welcome addition to the Switch point and
click library.
Overall 7/10
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