It's funny that shortly after picking up Tales of Monkey Island I came across this game online. This is a much more true descendant of the classic monkey island games. And, I'll say this much, if there was a game made specifically for me, in that I would find it entertaining and enjoyable from beginning to end and laugh out loud every few minutes, well that would be this game. Let's break the game up into it's component parts for some deeper analysis.
Writing - This is some of the greatest writing I've ever seen in a game. For a short game it also manages some self referential humor. (Your companion in the game only performs a single action for which he is constantly ridiculed.) The dialog is entirely fresh and free of cliche and it constantly ridicules adventure gaming with a real palpable affection. The writing here is perfect. I can't fault it. I feel a real connection between the protagonists, the banter is funny and feels natural and every character you meet feels fleshed out and real.
Graphics - Now, I am actually going to compare the graphics of this game with that of Tales of Monkey Island and I know what you are thinking, how is it fair to compare the graphics of game that like, three people worked on, to that of a full budget game? Well, you're right, it's not fair but I still think that the graphics in this game are better than those in tales of monkey island. They're imaginative, fun to look at, set a great mood and are varied. There was always something fun to look at in this game whether it was super heroes with rubbish powers or dinosaurs with computers. The style is great and again I can't fault it because I never found myself not enjoying the visuals.
Additionally it had something that modern adventure games miss, custom animations! Nothing like a bit of physical humor in a game like this and good news, it's in there.
Puzzles - Man, I hate to gush so much about a game but the puzzles in this were great. I never found myself stuck but I'd like to think this is due to the lack of cheesy puzzles, the clear definition of all items and characters in the game and of course, my own lateral thinking mind. The puzzles were great.
Sound - It's a while since I have played an adventure game without voice acting so I found that a bit jarring at first but it wasn't game breaking. In general I prefer reading the subtitles anyway but some people mightn't like the effort. There was also no music to speak of and little in the way of sound effects. What music there was is well used but the game did seem bit quiet at times. Not so much a mark against it but it is something that could have been better.
Well, that's the major points covered. This game was funny, interesting and a real throw back to the days of the original monkey island games. I would consider it more monkey island than, for example, sam and max and for me that's a good thing. Tell tale, take notes from these guys. This is what people want when they ask for an adventure game.
The game can be downloaded free from their website: http://www.zombie-cow.com/ and I think every adventure gamer should give it a go.
90/100
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