Sam & Max are back in their second collection of episodes appropriately titled, Sam & Max: Season Two. For those who don’t know, Sam & Max are a detective duo, calling themselves “the freelance police”, based off of the comic series created by Steve Purcell. Sam, a 6-foot dog in stereotypical detective attire, and Max, a rabbit with a pension for violence, solve crimes without any regard for the law and rarely without conflict. The series consists of references various aspects of pop culture, offbeat humorous dialogue, and quick wit.
In Ice Station Santa, Sam & Max journey to the North Pole after being attacked at their office by a large robot, which was tagged as being sent by Santa. Upon arriving they quickly find out Santa is no longer his jolly self, but instead violent and demanding. Santa has outsourced the production of his toys, now with a more dangerous edge to them, and its up to Sam & Max to figure out who is behind this.
Moai Better Blues, brings Sam & Max to Easter Island after entering a Vortex. The Maoi (Giant Stone Heads) feel that the appearance of two means their imminent demise. Later in the episode, the spirit of their dead goldfish, Mr. Spatula, attempts to extract revenge up the duo and they now find themselves working to halt the eruption of a volcano.
With Night of The Raving Dead, the duo now finds themselves in Europe, trapped by a German Vampire named Jurgen. Sam & Max then think back to how they arrived in this predicament and flashback to when a zombie invaded their office. After tracking down the source, it leads them to a rave, The Zombie Factory, and while attempting to thwart Jurgen’s plans, become zombies themselves.
Chariots of the Dogs, finds Sam & Max trying to locate the missing Bosco, after Flint Paper informs the duo he has vanished from Earth. After locating Boscow (a cross between Bosco and a cow), they are now thrust back in time to try and ensure Bosco’s mother gives birth as was intended.
In the fifth and final episode, What’s New, Beelzebub?, Sam & Max must travel to hell and recover Bosco’s soul from Satan. Hell turns out to be in the setting of an office building, and all the previous enemies return as employees of the company. They discover many dioramas of other characters’ personal hells, and help to free them each one. While attempting to release their souls, Sam, through his own ignorance, manages to trade his own in return.
When it comes down to gameplay, Sam & Max: Season 2 is a very straight forward point & click adventure game. You will spend most of the game talking to various NPCs and examining the various environments. One thing about Sam & Max was the fact I never found it to become tedious or boring. And as with many adventure titles, you aren’t aimlessly wandering around collecting items to make use of later. With more mini-games added to spicen up the gameplay and multiple dialogue choices, it never becomes bland. Also interacting with various objects and NPCs throughout, produces constant humor whether it helps to solve the mystery or not. The only real downside during gameplay is the backtracking between the various locales.
Graphically, Season Two utilizes an updated engine and features more realistic animation. The characters and environments are very well rendered and always help in delivering the off-kilter humor Sam & Max games are known for. The entire game plays out like a 3-D cartoon, and is very smooth and fluid, whether walking around exploring the environments or during the numerous cut scenes. When it comes to obvious references to pop culture references in characters or environments, the slight modifications or exaggerations ensure they are still easily recognizable. The camera angle throughout much of the game is the only predominant issue, as it is not adjustable. Because of this, the camera tends to be zoomed in too far on the scenes.
Sam & Max features some excellent voice acting, delivering brilliant dialogue and truly bringing life to the characters. Sam and Max themselves are dead on portrayals of their personalities, and never falter at any point of the stories. Every character throughout the game you come in contact with is also portrayed with the same solid voice acting. The audio effects through out the game suit every scene and situation perfectly.
While Sam & Max: Season Two has a cartoon feel, this is a game truly meant for an older audience. Some may see a downside in the short length of each episode, in which each can be completed in a few short hours, but the value of the collection as a whole will make this a non-issue for many. In a genre filled with generic titles, Sam & Max mixes things up with wonderful characters, well delivered, over the top humor, and well crafted stories. This five episode collection is a must own for Sam & Max fans, and won’t disappoint anyone else looking for an enjoyable experience.