Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 5 (PC) Review
A BrutalGamer.com review of Rise of the Pirate God.
When we last left Guybrush things were not looking so great for our hap-hazard hero. Now Telltale unleash the final entry in this season of Tales of Monkey Island and it’s a belter! This time out it is going to be almost impossible to discuss this title without referencing the previous titles and giving some plot points away – sorry guys it’s just the way it is – you have been warned.
So at the climactic finale to the last episode Guybrush is double crossed by his newest chum LeChuck. Run through and left dying in the arms of his wife Elaine it looks like the end for Mighty Pirate ™ Guybrush Threepwood. So starts the beginning of Guybrush’s fiercest battle yet, he must come back from the underworld, reclaim his rotting mortal shell, free his wife Elaine and defeat LeChuck once and for all. You start the episode in your grave in a excellent zombie movie pastiche as you break through the ground and your ghostly hand rises above the surface. You must work out what has happened to you and your Plunder-Bunny (wife Elaine fact-fans) and get back to the business of twatting LeChuck.
Graphically this time out things are much tighter. Although our review copy was a little dark in places (the lighting was yet to be finalised) each scene is well constructed and the whole land of limbo vibe is pitched just right. As is the time spent aboard LeChuck’s ship of the damned later in the game. A lot of characters from the first four episodes appear once more in this one and offer a great sense of continuity. Favourites like Winslow, Bug-eye and LeFlay all crop up from time to time and there is a lot more exposition and back story to the characters this time out. The plastic edge I have bemoaned in the past does not rear it’s ugly head so things stay pleasant and well defined throughout. One complaint would be that there are only a handful of locations this time out, some more variety would of been good.
Sonically the game hits the mark once more with top line voice acting and fantastic musical scores. Little can be faulted audio wise in this game apart from a rather sparse use of spot effects that has been evident in past episodes but just seems to of gathered weight as a criticism since they started. The voice cast do a great job of bringing life to the dialogue which is relatively sharp but devoid of many actual laugh out loud moments. That’s not to say the game is without great wit and charm because it never produces anything less than great whimsy – it just still has not reached the same level of guffaw that the original titles managed.
Longevity seems to of been increased for this final episode. Most previous episodes ran at aroun 3 – 5 hours and mostly added longevity with frustrating puzzles. This episode weighs in at around 5 but this is due to a serious amount of back tracking which at times sees you travelling to one location at one end of the game “map” and then back to the other to do a single tastk, then sending you back whence you came. You will be happily doing this for an hour or two before it really strikes you that Rise of the Pirate God only has about eight locations. The puzzles have been tweaked a little but they mostly amount to walking around collecting half a dozen items and then using them in the crossroads section of the game.
Final Thoughts
This is a great ending to a fantastic first season for Guybrush and the gang. The finale cinematics setup some potential sequels and also manage to round things up in a satisfactory way – all be it all a little convenient. The fine chaps at Telltale have proven that they can make good use of the Monkey Island license I just hope they can take the series beyond it’s origins now. These were all great and a recommended buy singularly or as a set – I just hope that Telltale pull out all the stops to update the series when it (hopefully) returns next year. So for now, if you have yet to pick up these episodes do yourself a favour and make an early Xmas pressie of the series. If you have followed Guybrush’s adventures from the start you won’t be disappointed with this conclusion to a great season.
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20 Dec 2009, 4:26 pm
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