By John Walker on June 9th, 2009 at 10:00 am.
Even a week after the announcement, the news that there’s to be more Monkey Island still seems hard to believe. LucasArts, once an adored development house, has become known in recent years for little other than churning out Star Wars themed products of varying quality. Attempts at new licences during president Jim Ward’s realm failed (possibly in no small part because they very were attempts to create new IP, rather than just damned fine solo games), seeing the company once more fall back into the space flick’s safety net. Last year saw Ward step down, and in April he was replaced by Darrell Rodriguez. A man who, if the murmurs I heard at E3 are true, is genuinely trying to see the company rediscover its roots. Then there’s the news that Telltale are to be making brand new episodic Monkey Island games, with original LucasArts developers on the project. Reimagining the original Monkey Island is an important act for a number of reasons.
It’s an experiment. LucasArts have clearly been far too terrified to touch an adventure game in almost a decade, with occasional rumoured projects getting shitcanned before anything concrete can prove itself. Taking the original Secret Of Monkey Island, updating its interface and graphics (while keeping them hand-painted and 2D), and releasing it digitally (this will be the first game LucasArts have released that won’t have any boxed presence) is a cautious toe in the water. Should it prove successful, my sniffing around suggests there are many within the company who are dying to leap into action.
That’s the other reason it’s important. LucasArts is currently employing a generation of developers who grew up playing LucasArts games. Of course these included X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter and Dark Forces, but they were alongside games like Maniac Mansion, Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis, and of course, Monkey Island. Three LucasArts employees I spoke to, including web producer Brooks Brown, cite the adventure as the reason they fell in love with games, let alone why they got jobs at the studio. There’s people with passion wanting this to work.
The new look is obviously going to be a matter of personal taste, and die-hard fans of the original may well be upset at the changes. But there’s little cause for complaint, since one of the more splendid features I was shown was the ability to switch back and forth between the modern and classic version at any point, at the press of a button. The fullscreen presentation of the new design pulls back into the windowed old style, with the verb options appearing at the bottom of the screen.
Being developed for PC and Xbox Live, the controls have received an overhaul such that they’ll work naturally on a 360 controller. This does, horror of horrors, mean the SCUMM verb table isn’t on screen. It can be pulled up, as mentioned, and gamepad buttons default to the more obvious options.
Also new is the recorded dialogue. Obviously getting anyone to deliver Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert’s well known words was going to be a risky business, but once again the was a task given to lifelong fans of the game, who hired as many of the Curse Of Monkey Island’s cast as they could to ensure consistency. This means Dominic Armato will once again be Guybrush. And they all sound damned good to my ears.
The overriding philosophy seems to have been a desire to preserve the original in a way that’s approachable and playable for a new audience, without falling into any of the traps that have hindered modern adventuring – clumsy 3D interfaces, over-simplified controls, and a lack of minute detail. In fact, all the original jokes are in place, including a couple of restored close-ups that were lost from the original version due to a lack of space. While the new hint system is designed to help the wary, those in the know will still be able to delight at jokes like the pirate wearing the LOOM badge that will only mystify the sickeningly young.
Then perhaps even more surprising is the news that Telltale are making the brand new Tales Of Monkey Island games. Following their episodic tradition, five episodes released monthly, the new games are in 3D, but it’s the familiar style they’ve used in all their games so far, sort of a 2.5D. Again, the new look will piss off as many as it pleases, but to my eyes it seemed a reasonable compromise between the classic look and a modern world. Unfortunately it will be using Telltale’s woefully poor cursor system, meaning you’ll have the elaborate choice between clicking on something, or not clicking on it. It’s unfathomable to me why they won’t upgrade to the rotating cursors that proved far more effective, involving, and entertaining during the late ’90s. The potential for jokes, puzzles, and challenge for the player that removing this loses makes my soul sad.
However, the splendid news is that former LucasArts adventure veteran Dave Grossman is overseeing the project (he worked on the original MI in 1990), and the first episode is being written by the best adventure writer in the business, Mike Stemmle. Rather than stand-alone episodes, Tales Of Monkey Island will be one story broken into five parts, potentially allowing for a bit more depth in the narrative.
Following tradition, Guybrush will begin the games as a successful mighty pirate, awash in wealth and power. Which he of course immediately loses, along with Elaine, in a failed attempt to defeat a once more resurrected ghost pirate LeChuck. Along the way his hand becomes infected by a voodoo curse (Evil Dead 2?), and he’s stranded on Flotsam Island, a place which despite a strong pirate population has grown to fear and loathe piracy. Guybrush is trying to bring the noble tradition back to the island, while working out how to once more defeat his arch nemesis.
Not much was shown beyond a short gameplay video, but we saw glimpses of traditional jokes appearing. A building was named “Blowmedown Glassworks”, which sounds like a joke bad enough to have appeared in the earlier games. And despite the crappy cursor, the regular Telltale inventory has been improved, finally offering the ability to combine objects, and thus improving the potential for depth for puzzles. (In a couple more years they may have caught up with 1998 completely!) With Stemmle writing the opening episode’s puzzles, there’s good cause for hope in a risky project.
Edit: For those explaining how Guybrush “should” look, I’ve put together this handy guide:
09/06/2009 at 10:12 Tricky says:
It’s all good as far as I’m concerned. For all those naysayers to this project, try looking at it this way:
If you don’t get this then that’s going to be a clear indication to Lucasarts that they were right to not touch adventure games for the last decade.
Plus for all the people hating the new graphics (why, I can’t imagine – it looks great) you can still switch back to the original look. So it’s a day one purchase for me, despite the fact that I’ve played this game umpteen times, because I want them to make more!
I’m also waiting for them to rerelease Grim Fandango with it fixed so that it will run on modern OSs – it’s the only Lucasarts adventure I can’t play any more due to crappy OS incompatibility :-(
09/06/2009 at 10:14 Larington says:
I’d love to see Fate of Atlantis getting a re-imaging as well. Heck, they should make a Fate of Atlantis film as well, it’s far more likely to please old time indy fans than the fourth film did.
09/06/2009 at 10:22 Bobsy says:
I physically sighed with pleasure when I read the words X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Oh, but we can hold on hope.
EDIT: and yes, YES for a remade Fate of Atlantis (one which gets rid of the relatively poor randomised door-maze puzzle near the end, for preference). But I would settle for nothing less than high-quality versions of the original voices, and I get the feeling that LA wouldn’t have kept them. Weep.
09/06/2009 at 10:23 jalf says:
Oh, I wasn’t aware Ward stepped down. I guess that explains why they’re rushing at MI all of a sudden. I already preordered the Telltale eps.
@Tricky: By modern you mean…? I played Grim Fandango with no problems on XP. I haven’t tried on Vista or 7 though.
09/06/2009 at 10:26 Helm says:
I never liked the Monkey Island games to begin with so I guess this whole thing isn’t for me, really. As a pixel artist I think I am allowed to say that the remake graphics do not seem to improve on the originals. If all this leads to Lucasarts attempting new adventure games with full-budget determination and vision though, I’ll be interested.
09/06/2009 at 10:27 Mike says:
I like it. It’s just the new visual look seems odd. It’s not that it’s not pretty. But things don’t sit right on the backgrounds.
09/06/2009 at 10:34 Ginger Yellow says:
Grim Fandango doesn’t work naturally on Vista, but there are workarounds. I’ve been playing it this past week.
09/06/2009 at 10:38 jalf says:
@Helm: The new graphics improve on the original in one important way. They’re not as horribly pixelated. Keep in mind that the new graphics are mainly meant to make the game more approachable to newcomers. 320×240 graphics are probably a bit of a turn-off for anyone who don’t have the nostalgia factor to fall back on.
But apart from that, I agree, the new graphics don’t really seem to fit in.
09/06/2009 at 10:42 Richard says:
Unfortunately it will be using Telltale’s woefully poor cursor system, meaning you’ll have the elaborate choice between clicking on something, or not clicking on it. It’s unfathomable to me why they won’t upgrade to the rotating cursors that proved far more effective, involving, and entertaining during the late ’90s. The potential for jokes, puzzles, and challenge for the player that removing this loses makes my soul sad.
I couldn’t agree more, John. The single interaction cursor was Sam and Max’s major flaw in my opinion (worse than the sometimes flat humour). How much effort would it have been to do this properly. It dumbs down the whole experience.
However I am so happy that the 2d point and click adventure game might make a come back if it sells then there might be the potential market for more. Everyone who signed that Sam’n'Max petition a few years ago needs to put their money where their mouth is. I shall be buying at least two copies.
09/06/2009 at 10:43 Wirbelwind says:
I’ve never been an adventure game fan but I will pick this up and try it regardless – anything that can bring LEC back to its roots is worth it. They’re stuck in a vicious cycle of churning out horrible clone wars games.
Jedi Knight and Rogue Squadron please.
09/06/2009 at 10:43 Tom says:
Here’s hoping they do this for a couple more of their back catalogue.
Sam n’ Max or DotT would be awesome.
Maybe update Grim Fandango’s engine to support newer OSs and a spot of anti alaising.
That would be nice.
09/06/2009 at 10:44 Sunjammer says:
Well thank god for the option to switch back. The new hydrocephalous Guybrush makes me want to kick someone in the face. I just can’t stand that washed out smeared out Painter newbie look. Especially the character portraits are utterly vile.
But woo! Monkey Island!
Also, Grim Fandango remake please. I can’t get the bastard to work on my modern PC anymore, and that’s a real cultural gem lost. Oh beloved sanspoof..
09/06/2009 at 10:44 unwise says:
The special edition looks great, and if I personally have to buy enough copies in order for them to follow up with Monkey Island 2, I will certainly consider it!
I’m sure Telltale’s series will also be very impressive, though it would be nice if they could crank up their usual level of humour from ‘often amusing’, somewhere a little closer to ‘frequently hilarious’.
09/06/2009 at 10:44 Colthor says:
“It couldn’t be much more faithful”?
They’ve RUINED it!
In that screenshot Guybrush is facing COMPLETELY THE WRONG DIRECTION!
WHAT are they THINKING?!
09/06/2009 at 10:49 Chryso says:
Can’t wait! It’s been way too long since the SCUMM games got a reissue of any kind, much less something like this. It’s not the Criterion Collection, but I love that someone at Lucasarts is finally taking a custodial approach to their old properties. Just hope they do something similar with X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter later on; they could dominate two dead genres at once.
09/06/2009 at 10:50 yhancik says:
But the new graphics look so… serious.
Aside from that, yay, I guess.
09/06/2009 at 10:53 Helm says:
The original game didn’t treat the picture element with a lot of respect to begin with. The graphics were what we now call index painted in the pixel art culture, which is to say, used deluxe paint as a low-powered version of photoshop with an indexed, 16 color and then 256 color palette. Messy, lots of gradients, lots of smudge tool, lots of vague volumes.
So yes, being able to see chunky pixels on screen doesn’t benefit Monkey Island as much as it does something that was made intently so that the finite picture element would have its potential maximized. Not all art that is made of pixels is pixel art. I think it’s safe to say that when pixel art is attempted, even modern gamers recognize visual strength there.
The complaint ‘man it’s so pixelated’ is a remnant of the video card wars mentalities where a higher resolution, more points of automated aa, always meant better fidelity because the engine of a game was trying to show always more than the computers we had were capable of. Games specifically designed to be made of big pixels in modern systems however, do not connote a loss of fidelity, they do not bug the viewer by promising better looking graphics, if only they had a stronger video card. Look at http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/29178.htm this for example. Would this look better if you eradicated the picture element aesthetic?
My problem with the new art is that it exacerbates the problems of the original art (messy, lots of gradients, lots of smudge tool, odd volumes) because it tries to be so faithful to it, while just upping the resolution. I would prefer it to be tighter and reconstructed by more capable artists even if the game lost points for nostalgia.
The update doesn’t take the graphics into modern times, it takes them into 1998 times. I don’t think it’s a brave move for Lucasarts and if it doesn’t do well they should consider that perhaps braver moves would have.
09/06/2009 at 10:53 BooleanBob says:
“If you don’t get this then that’s going to be a clear indication to Lucasarts that they were right to not touch adventure games for the last decade.”
Disingenuous nonsense. If people don’t buy either game it isn’t really a clear indication of anything, because they might not appeal to the consumer on an individual level for myriad reasons: the price, the art styles (which are a subjective matter), the quality of the writing, puzzles, or voice acting; good or bad reviews, good or bad luck with the metacritic score, and so on.
Besides which the relative success of these games is never going to shed any light on how well different adventure games released at different times over the last ten years may or may not have done.
Personally I was a little angered when I first saw both announcements. Neither the revamped artwork in the rerelease, or the trailer for the Telltale episodes appealed to me much on a personal level, and I was worried that this was an exploitative move from LA, rather than a new beginning.
The anger was irrational – as John says, Lucasarts are at least experimenting with the genre again, and I’ve love to see a new golden age of adventures as much as anyone else. Plus no one is actively and personally committed to doing a little jig and then a little wee on the memories of my Halcyon adventuring days (of, erm, 2006 – I played it on Dosbox). But my concern – and I suspect it’s one that others share – is surely legitimate? Might it be possible that big financial success for a rerelease of an old property leads, not to new games, but to further retreads of old ones?
Thankfully much that’s in the article goes to suggest these fears are perhaps unfounded. We shall see.
09/06/2009 at 11:07 Tzarkahn says:
What is LOOM?
Also this does look good, the remake, not the new’un I am sceptical after Sam & Max
09/06/2009 at 11:17 GLOWi says:
I don’t like the visuals of neither the remake nor new episodes. I don’t like the looks of Guybrush in particular.
But I may be accustomed to the cartoonish style of the third Monkey Island, which I played with my son many times.
Still, it’s good to have the remake. The 320×240 graphics have discouraged me from the original.
09/06/2009 at 11:30 Sinnerman says:
I really enjoyed the “host master and the conquest of humor” adventure game that Doublefine put on the web for GDC and sort of wish that someone would make a new full game using that retro style. Capcom did Mega Man 9 for the filthy consoles in a retro style and it seemed that fans loved it.
To be honest, the only message I try to send to publishers by buying games is “I want to play this game.” I played my copy of Monkey Island recently with the graphics, verb menus and lack of voice acting that I like. I’ll wait for reviews of the Telltale game before buying to see if they have made the sort of game I want or the sort of game they like to make.
09/06/2009 at 11:33 Risingson says:
I don’t like the new look very much, but this is a personal opinion. What I don’t agree is the approach of “bringing the game to new generations”: if someone doesn’t enjoy Monkey Island for its old graphics, its his/her fault. I don’t have any problems enjoying old sci/fi movies despite the lack of special effects, or playing text adventure games despite the lack of graphics. And yes, both things are comparable.
09/06/2009 at 11:39 Legandir says:
My initial reaction was “No! Don’t change it at all!”. Now, the idea is growing on me. I still think the characters look awful. The backgrounds look great, the voice acting sounds great (from what i saw in the trailer), even the new interface could be good. But i can’t stand the look of the characters.
I’ll probably get Tales either on preorder or after the season finishes when they discount it. If its anywhere near as good as their strong bad games i’m in
09/06/2009 at 11:54 Solar says:
Tzarkan: LOOM is an early Lucasarts adventure, fusing music into the control interface. Quite unique in terms of adventure games and memorable story too.
It was Day of the Tentacle that first got me into point and clicks. Joyous. I also got swept into the magic of The Secret of Monkey Island and had to play the sequels, of which 2 is the longest but Curse felt the most dynamic. As far as remakes and the telltale games go I’m not itching to play them again, but would be interested to see what they do. The artwork looks crisp, and it was quirky in the original, but it was never the real reason I played it, it was the humor and voice acting. (oh and the puzzles)
Also Fate of Atlantis was stupendously good. Still never finished the fighting arc. Why they didn’t make that the next film I really don’t know. Twas awsome.
09/06/2009 at 12:00 animal says:
My attacks have left entire islands depopulated!
09/06/2009 at 12:03 Rei Onryou says:
It should practically be law for all PC gamers to buy the remake. I don’t care if you already own it (I do) or if you don’t like the new art look (I think its a darned good attempt at attracting those console “graphics > gameplay” players while remaining faithful to the original), just buy it and enjoy it.
Voices!
09/06/2009 at 12:03 Clovis says:
Ya, Telltale need a more robust cursor system. I really want to be able to “taste” everything in the game.
I don’t think this will usher in a new era of 2D (or even 2.5D) adventure gaming. I’m still hoping the Penumbra style of adventure game will catch on since it should be a little appealing to Half-life players, so it seems like maybe it could invigorate the genre. Probably not though.
The main problem with the cursor system is that you are using a cursor. I’ve played tons of AGs, but I still think pixel hunting is just lame. I liked rummaging through drawers and knocking stuff around to do my “exploring”. I found this to offer a similar level of difficulty, but it actually feels like you are searching (and destroying!) a room.
09/06/2009 at 12:15 Golden says:
Yeah.
I’m all for nostalgia but nostalgia isnt just the game its the life you inhabit at the time.
A low-res game in a life where you know have to pay council tax and can only play after 11pm when family and wife time are done just wont cut it.I’m looking forward to this reinvigorated franchise.
Grim next please and then Indy
09/06/2009 at 12:22 Ginger Yellow says:
Ihave to say I’m not sure I’m too bothered by the existing Telltale cursor system. While it’s clearly more simplistic than most adventure games and doesn’t allow for some kinds of inventive puzzles, a) the glorious Grim Fandango had next to no object combinations, and b) games which require you to try every item combination in your inventory to solve an impossibly obscure puzzle aren’t sophisticated, they’re just frustrating. I don’t think Monkey Island was ever that unfair, but some LucasArts games were.
09/06/2009 at 12:25 Voidman says:
I probably won’t try the Telltale episodes (like so many here the style just doesn’t sit well with my taste). The remake though, that’s a different story. As long as it is the same game but with updated gfx and sound I’ll be entertained. Heck, even if it wasn’t the same game but still a SCUMM adventure with 2D gfx I would be pleased.
This is really very simple:
A) a contemporary version of a beloved classic in the making – if you’re a fan you’ll get it and play and have fun. GFX style is a matter of taste but it could have been worse.
B) if you’re not a fan or you’re offended by the travesty of stylistic gfx update – don’t play it – no one will take away your own private nostalgia trips using SCUMMV.
C) if this catches on there is a chance of more remakes like that. Lucasarts has got a really good portfolio but there is also Sierra.
I don’t have a problem with “bringing the game to new generations” simply because that does also mean “… and everyone else” (and this includes me among others). I think that the industry should endorse remakes as a rule (and a way to capitalize on their old products). Coz let’s be honest it wouldn’t be just cosmetic upgrades but to some extent technical ones as well. Think of the possibilities if this became a trend. Updated hits of yesteryear: System Shock, Tie Fighter, Freespace, (and I dread to mention even)… Fallout – to mention just a few. Sure not all games would fit the bill but there are plenty of them which would shine a new light.
09/06/2009 at 12:48 The Sombrero Kid says:
i don’t think they’ve went far enough with the monkey island upgrade the graphics look like early 90′s prerendered videos.
09/06/2009 at 12:58 Ashurbanipal says:
As someone who really only knows about Monkey Island by reputation, to the point of having absorbed some of the jokes by osmosis (I lie, as I believe I originally played demos), I definitely want to give it a go. If it’s reasonably priced, that is. Although I was playing games at the time they were released, I appear to have missed out, and clunkiness has been a big obstacle to enjoying any of those old games in their original form.
Man, I’m with you. Some were entirely batshit. I recall a funny Old Man Murray article that kind of highlighted everything that went wrong in the increasingly opaque puzzles of certain adventure games.
09/06/2009 at 13:05 Nick says:
That failed at making Guybrush look like Guybrush, which is a pretty big failure. Other than that, glad to see them doing something that isn’t shit for a change.
09/06/2009 at 13:08 The Sombrero Kid says:
as far as i can tell no adventure games have copied blade runner with the multiple ways to solve a puzzle thing and i’m totally baffled why, the major failing of the adventure game genre is that if you can’t figure out the one sequence of events you can’t progress, the truth is the only reason adventure games were any good back in the day is because we didn’t know any better and they were funny.
09/06/2009 at 13:08 Ginger Yellow says:
Asurbanipal: funnily enough, that was one of the puzzles I had in mind.
09/06/2009 at 13:12 Ginger Yellow says:
Somberero Kid makes a great point. A remake of Blade Runner would be awesome. Or, even better, a game of Ubik based around Blade Runner’s mechanics. That game totally blew me away.
09/06/2009 at 13:13 Ashurbanipal says:
Ginger,
Not surprised. I think I gave up on that bloody game halfway through. Almost attributed it to Roberta Willams when it was in fact Jane Jensen. Actually, I think Roberta Williams’s stuff was not nearly as bad, though Gabriel Knight might have had the better stories.
Postcript: By the by, there was actually a pretty average game that was inspired by Ubik published by Cryosoft. It was actually quite serviceable. Shoddy controls, though.
09/06/2009 at 13:36 JonFitt says:
It’s just a Squee! from me. All good news.
09/06/2009 at 13:51 jackflash says:
@Larington – agreed. Fate of Atlantis is probably my favorite adventure game of all time, except for various of the Space Quest games. And, yes, it was about 10x better than Indy 4.
I will totally buy the new Monkey Island, btw. Never played it as a kid, and it was always a real regret of mine.
09/06/2009 at 13:53 Optimaximal says:
@animal
With your breath I’m sure they all suffocated!!!
Also, I am still failing to understand what is up with Guybrush’s hair in this Special Edition – Did the visual artist take his entire inspiration of hairstyles from that scene in There’s Something About Mary or what?
09/06/2009 at 14:16 TauQuebb says:
I wish people would stop winging about niggling details like hair, there are things called scissors and hair gel. The choises you get are either no new games, or new games that look different here and there.
09/06/2009 at 14:29 Nick says:
Yeah, only its not a new game its a redrawing of an old game where the guy doesn’t even look similar but everything else does. The actual *new* Monkey Island episodes *have* made him look like Guybrush.
09/06/2009 at 14:30 JKjoker says:
i wish they would use handpainted art instead of cg, it kind of looks like crap, not really that much better than what it was originally, in fact in the case of the lava, it looked better before
09/06/2009 at 14:40 TheBard says:
Concerning the resolution … when I played Monkey Island 4 again a few years ago, I took a hex editor and played around in the game executable. In runs in OpenGL, so the resolution should be changeable, but it was hardwired in the exe. I tried to find entires for 320 and 480 near each other and finally managed to hack the executable to run the game in 1280×1024, my monitors native resolution at the time.
It looked great.
The same should be doable in Grim Fandango, if anybody wants to give it a try.
09/06/2009 at 14:49 Rich says:
Oh man. I’ve been waiting for LucasArts to return to their ‘roots’ for a decade. Grim Fandango was their last great game (though MI4 had its moments).
Please PLEASE bring Full Throttle back. I will die happy.
09/06/2009 at 14:51 Matt says:
I imagine that if you are an adventure game veteran, telltale’s system is maybe a little simple. But as someone who’s just coming into the genre after picking up just about all of telltale on Steam, I find that the interface is easy to use and all of the puzzles make sense.
I had heard horror stories of adventure game puzzles, things like the Gabriel Knight thing mentioned above, that had always kept me away from the genre. But one drunken purchase on Steam is opening up this world to me, and I imagine that had I ever run into a multiple cursor obscure-as-hell puzzle in Sam and Max season one, I wouldn’t be here talking about how I’m starting to get into adventure games.
I’m very excited about both of these Monkey Island games, the first because I’ve never played it but would very much like to, and the second because I really like the Telltale games I’ve played. Dumbed down or simply streamlined, I like that I can come home from work and play an episode of a game in a night without having to spend hours clicking on things in order to find the obscure item that triggers the next stage of a puzzle.
But … maybe it’s not ‘for’ me. I grew up on platformers and JRPGs. A console kid. So the world of cursors and clicking is new and strange.
That said, I like the effort to turn an otherwise completely niche, inaccessible genre into something I enjoy playing. But maybe I’m in the minority.
09/06/2009 at 14:57 much2much says:
I look forward to the Telltale games but you make a good point about the cursor simplicity.
I think thats probably necessary for the go ahead. Put a free demo out and have a high conversion rate. Whereas a more complicated game would only interest those who were already keen….
09/06/2009 at 15:04 Wilson says:
I agree with all those citing Fate of Atlantis and Full Throttle as awesome. I also liked The Dig, though I’m not sure anyone else really did.
Personally, I don’t mind the old fashioned graphics. I’d buy a new game with the same old style graphics but improved gameplay (basically a good hint system so you never have to get a walkthrough if you’re momentarily stuck, and possibly a branching plot kinda like Fate of Atlantis but with more depth). I should mention that I think the new graphics look quite nice too though.
09/06/2009 at 15:29 Demikaze says:
This is really good news and though I haven’t been entirely convinced by the Sam and Max episodes, this is Monkey Island and the series is part of childhood.
My primary concern is that I don’t feasbily see how it can possibly match the genius that is Limbo of the Lost.
09/06/2009 at 15:35 jalf says:
No, it is simply that the original’s graphics look awful on today’s monitors. If you want a game to be accessible by people who don’t have the nostalgia factor, the very first thing you *need* to do is up the resolution so it doesn’t look like everyone are built from Lego blocks. (which is exacerbated by today’s monitors being *huge* compared to what it was originally designed and played on). Back in the early 90′s, it wasn’t much of a problem. People typically played on 14″ or 15″ monitors, and everything else was equally blocky anyway so it didn’t stand out. Rendering the same 320×240 image on today’s 20+” monitors, when everything else is rendered at 6 times the DPI just doesn’t work.
I don’t think it has anything to do with pixel art as such. I’m not saying anything about what art style they should go for or how they should produce it. Just that taking 320×240 images and upscaling them for todays monitors is a good way to turn away newcomers. The picture you linked to is not 320×240 for the same reason.
09/06/2009 at 16:06 Jayteh says:
I really hope they make a new one, and I hope it fun. Is that too much to ask?
09/06/2009 at 16:19 Sinnerman says:
Why don’t they put two difficulty options in Adventure games? One for mentally exhausted people who are too beaten by society to solve puzzles and another for weird losers who don’t mind thinking for a few minutes in their free time. I think that Monkey Island 2 actually had this option.
09/06/2009 at 16:22 Kieron Gillen says:
It did.
KG
09/06/2009 at 16:29 Gotem says:
will they add achievements?
‘I found the treasure of Mêlée Island and all I got was this stupid achievement’
09/06/2009 at 16:30 Markoff Chaney says:
I’m grateful these are coming out. Having loved adventure games since King’s Quest on my 8088 in glorious 4 color CGA with sound emanating from a singular speaker mounted in the case of my beloved and moving on to the rest of Sierra and LucasArt’s catalog from there, this is welcome. I am grateful that the smaller devs have been working to continue adventure games, but it always saddened me that the progenitors of the genre decided to leave them by the side of the superhighway.
I think a lot of it was the pixel hunting and insane non-sequitur merging of items in “puzzles” that the games turned into that killed it. This began, you have to remember, back in the days of no ubiquitous internet. If you wanted to solve that puzzle that was stumping you on Space Quest 2, you had to call a Sierra Hint line, and pay per minute, or have a friend on a BBS that had beaten it who could share some hints with you. This was ok, but I was, back then, ok with taking months to finish a game and let my brain percolate on it. Such glee can rarely be found by guessing the name of annoying NPC by spelling Rumplestiltskin backwards and thinking of it all by yourself.
However, that’s not really viable in much of today’s instant gratification, get stumped for 10 seconds and run to GameFAQs mindset that seems to have inhabited most gamers these days. Having hints and having the game automagically point out the path of least resistance is actually considered a PRO in many reviews these days. While I may lament the loss of complexity, I can be grateful for the accessibility that is offered. I never would have thought my god sons, aged 9 and 11, would ever play adventure games, but they frothed at the mouth for SBCGFAP and loved every episode. I found the game too easy, but they loved it.
Personally, I wish we could have some kind of difficulty slider in the Telltale games whereupon I could play with a cursor pointer with verb modifiers (SCUMM or KQ4 and beyond Sierra style, both work, but I always liked SCUMM more since there were more options and greater jokes) and have more puzzles built in but someone else could play with a single function cursor and a more simplistic puzzle set. This way, those of us who have been enjoying adventure games for 20 years can continue to get the fiendishly difficult puzzles and not have the lowest common denominator be all I have to choose from.
I will purchase the remake, even though I’ve bought it at least twice before. This is to tell LucasArts I love their adventure games and want them to go back to making them. I will probably play her old school the first time, but that’s what I remember and fell in love with. Then I’ll check out the remix. I’m planning on holding off on the Telltale ones until I’ve played a demo or two and read some mindthinks of those I trust.
Anyway, I can’t really see a bad part of this, except for the simplicity of the puzzles in this current generation of non indy adventure games. I’ll accept that as market share attempts to build, however. Especially if it means LucasArts starts making adventure games again. Now if only Sierra would come back too, with parsers and everything, I could have the best of both worlds.
09/06/2009 at 16:32 Pags says:
Have to disagree John, I quite like Telltale’s simplified cursor; sure it means that you lose the opportunity to make a lot of “I don’t indiscriminately use people, except Max” jokes but it also means a whole lot less frustration before realising you needed to ‘talk’ to that hose sticking out the fuel tank to suck on it and get the gas flowing (I’ve been playing Full Throttle recently and forgot about this part of the puzzle) and other similar sorts of situations.
09/06/2009 at 16:37 Meat Circus says:
The Stemmle/Grossman names are enough to make me pre-order Tales.
Stemmle’s work with the Brothers Chaps on SBCG4AP was top notch.
09/06/2009 at 16:37 Robin says:
The redrawn sprites look charmless and show up the limited number of animation frames very, very badly, especially as objects now inexplicably glide around like something out of a PowerPoint presentation. Guybrush looks like he’s iceskating.
Still buying it though.
09/06/2009 at 16:50 Bobsy says:
@Sinnerman: MI3 had two modes: Regular and MEGA MONKEY. In practice, it meant that Regular cut out some of the game’s content and made it shorter and less awesome.
09/06/2009 at 16:53 Santiago says:
All is good but new Guybrush’s body slightly leaning forward instead of back totally destroys his implicit “not really taking all this seriously” stance.
The new GT resembles more a young and naive but decidedly involved guy trying to make it right, sort of Orlando Bloom in PotC. I miss Tim.
09/06/2009 at 17:02 RLacey says:
I remember playing the Mega Monkey mode a while after playing the Regular one. I was staggered by all the ‘new’ sections of the game that had appeared!
09/06/2009 at 17:06 Demikaze says:
@Santiago
That’s just become one of those things that I’m going to notice every single time I play the thing now… Good observation!
09/06/2009 at 17:06 Serondal says:
I had a crazy dream I Was playing x-wing VS Tie Fighter last night O.o Hope they remake those next. Would love a up graphic direct update of Tie Fighter leaving everything else the exact same way.
Did anyone else get stuck trying to get out of the space mall in Space Quest : The Timer rippers one ? O.o
09/06/2009 at 17:13 Stahlwerk says:
As far as I’m concerned, this is what Guybrush looks like, so I was kind of excited when I heard Steve Purcell was on board for this (these?) project(s).
Don’t like the new styles. Don’t like them at all. They’re an extrapolation of all that was wrong with CMI & EMI.
Wouldn’t it have been infinitely more bad-ass had they done a high-def redraw of the characters à la street fighter HD remix?
09/06/2009 at 17:17 Sinnerman says:
@Bobsy; Some people want a shorter less awesome game. Less awesome if you count good puzzles as awesome, which I do. They can’t say that then complain that they get a longer and more awesome game free with their less awesome game that they don’t have time to play. Actually, I suppose they could, that’s exactly the sort of thing that people do complain about.
09/06/2009 at 17:22 Pijama says:
We must support this.
Why?
Grim Fandango.
09/06/2009 at 17:38 Jad says:
I find it interesting to see so many people commenting on Guybrush’s changed look, given how that’s something I always took as a standard feature of the series. I mean, Guybrush changes his appearance in every single game. First he was a young, large-headed kid, then he was a short bearded older man, then he was a tall, long-faced young man, then he was a wide-faced 3D crazy-haired teenager. Now in the new one he’s a bearded, long-faced, 3D, crazy-haired young man. That even the remake changes his hair and look seems less of an mistake and more of a continuation of a long-running Monkey Island joke. I will admit that this “joke” is not a particularly funny one, but its certainly in the spirit of the what were very, very silly games.
My bigger problem with the first screenshot comparing old to new is the skeleton first mate. In the original, he’s a scared-looking wimp. In the remake he looks like a standard “scary” skeleton. Not a really important character, but a bit worrying.
09/06/2009 at 17:45 Psychopomp says:
Other than how weird Guybrush looks in both the remake, and the episodic stuff, SQUUUUEEEEEEE
09/06/2009 at 17:47 Smurfy says:
What’s a “rotating cursor”?
09/06/2009 at 17:58 RLacey says:
I had to think about that terminology for a second. I believe they mean a cursor which cycles between various options when you right-click the mouse (eg. walk, look, talk, use). As is seen in later Sierra games, or the original Sam & Max game.
09/06/2009 at 17:59 Pags says:
@Smurfy: a cursor where you can flip between talk/use/pickup/etc.
09/06/2009 at 18:08 Lucas says:
I don’t agree with the simpler-is-stupider argument presented here. The simplicity of the interaction in Telltale games is their greatest strength. It doesn’t detract from the game, but it avoids many of the frustrating side-effects of having a bunch of verbs and items to try out.
Firstly, the Telltale games aren’t one-click. In Strong Bad, clicking on an item/character with which the player can interact in more than one way brings up a little menu with the actions available.
This system fits right in with the LucasArts tradition: it is a lot like Full Throttle, and more complicated than Grim Fandango. So it’s unfair to complain that it has dumbed down the interaction.
Secondly, the Telltale system removes much of the challenge from combining things—that awful slog of pixel hunting and trying all possible combinations of verbs and inventory items that discouraged players from playing on.
Telltale isn’t making adventures from 1998—and that’s a good thing. They’ve learnt from those games, and have been making games that keep the feel, fun, and challenge, while working to reduce the needless frustration and complication from the game.
09/06/2009 at 18:26 Ginger Yellow says:
What Jad and Lucas said, although I do think Telltale sometimes err a bit too much on the easy side. Possibly it only seems that way because the individual episodes are so short – you can easily blow through them in a couple of hours, even clicking on everything and everyone to see what they say. But the simplicity of the interface isn’t the problem.
09/06/2009 at 18:45 John Walker says:
As a helpful guide to all those complaining they’ve gotten Guybrush’s look wrong, I’ve edited in an image at the bottom of the post.
Exactly.
09/06/2009 at 19:19 Lambchops says:
I might be in the minority of Grim Fandango fans here; but personally I’d rather not see anything more from Grim Fandango. It’s one of my favourite ever games but its story has been told, I reckon a sequel is uneccessary. Not that I wouldn’t get excited about it if it was announced!
As for Monkey Island I’m a bit more excited about the remake but I’m sure Telltale are going to do a good job with their new series., The Sam and Max episodes were enjoyable and I see no reason for the MI games to disappoint.
09/06/2009 at 20:22 Sunjammer says:
My simple problem with Guybrush’s look is that he looks like one of those god damn Legend of kyrandia characters now. There is simply nothing lucasartsy about him. MI 1,2,3 and even 4 at least appeared to be by the same people. This is like saying you’re drawing Obama and just put big ears on a black man. If all you’re looking for is a scrawny white kid with a dumb haircut, well, all glory to you.
As far as that collage is indicative of anything, it’s that Telltale know whats going on (that’s readily identifiable as Guybrush, a prat who wants to be a pirate), and whoever is directing the art for the remake has little if any.
Besides any opinion of whatever Guybrush looks like, what it really comes down to is that there’s more to it than just Guybrush. The whole look of that game is part of what made it exciting and fresh, and what they’ve done is, ironically, reduce the fidelity a whole bunch. It’s all vaseline smear now, which coupled with that stilted animation simply doesn’t work.
Enormous floating cartoon thumb pointing exaggeratedly downwards.
09/06/2009 at 20:30 Psychopomp says:
Touche Mr.Walker
Touche
09/06/2009 at 22:32 Nick says:
Nice try John, but he doesn’t look like any form of Guybrush.. and his hair looks like a hat.
09/06/2009 at 22:53 Grey_Ghost says:
Papa needs a update of “The Dig”
09/06/2009 at 22:59 DSX says:
Not too excited for a monkey remake, but damn, I’d drool all over a Xwing vs Tie with modern graphics and stuff.
09/06/2009 at 23:56 CakeAddict says:
I’m certainly going to buy it, I wish this kind of thing would be done more.
10/06/2009 at 00:00 Wulf says:
Sunjammer’s got it right.
Tales of Monkey Island: An evolution based off of previous Monkey Island games, actually more of the first two games than anything, as in Curse of Monkey Island Guybrush seemed to undergo reverse-aging and loss of knowledge, also losing the sense of style he’d picked up by the second game. Thus becoming a twit dressed like a flooring inspector again. The Tales look takes the growth of Guybrush in MI2 and builds on it, and takes some of the better stylistic choices of CMI and EMI and drops them in too, but only where they fit. In other words, a huge step forward and in the right direction.
The remake: “HAY GUYZ, MAKE HAIR OUTTA MCDEES GOLDAN ARCHES AND PUT IT ON GUYBRUSH HEAD LOLOLOLOLOL!!” Seriously. WTF. W… T… F…
Thank goodness for Telltale. <3 Telltale. Those guys don’t have their heads up their arses, unlike some other companies I could mention.
10/06/2009 at 01:58 Richard says:
I might be in the minority of Grim Fandango fans here; but personally I’d rather not see anything more from Grim Fandango. It’s one of my favourite ever games but its story has been told, I reckon a sequel is uneccessary.
I agree. Apart from the keyboard controls (I’d have rather a point and click 3d interface) the game was absolutely perfect.
A remake would be awful (unless Tim S. was highly involved), although secretely I’d like to have an animated (al la Corpse Bride) film in order to introduce non-gamers to this fabulous universe.
However I am firmly non sequel… Firmly… right up to the point where Tim Shafer was involed. He knows sopoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more that I do….
10/06/2009 at 02:32 pilouuuu says:
Oh, that dumbass Jim Ward kept Lucasarts stuck during years, to the point of making me hate the company.
Thankfully we had these nice surprises exactly when I was losing all hope to have a new Monkey Island.
We must all make the games be ultra successful, so they realise that adventures are commercially viable and will make they recover from the bad reputation they obtained in recent years.
I expect this to mean that we won’t be getting so many crappy Star Wars games. I wouldn’t mind good SW games like a new Jedi Knight, a new X-Wing or… what about a SW adventure game? I always thought that would be an amazing idea even if KOTOR gave us quite a lot of adventuring in SW universe.
I also would like that Lucasarts recovers all the work they had for Freelance Police and somehow puts it all in Sam and Max Season 3, but I think they must have sent all that to the garbage which would be a complete shame, especially because it was almost complete.
I also can’t wait for remakes for Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle, Loom and LeChuck’s Revenge!
Welcome back Guybrush!
10/06/2009 at 02:42 Psychopomp says:
@Wulf
But I *liked* Twitbrush Janitorwood!
10/06/2009 at 03:28 Pags says:
Sort of old news but people might be interested to know that Steve Purcell is contributing artwork to the special edition of Tales of Monkey Island:
http://spudvisionblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/dawn-of-monkey-island.html
10/06/2009 at 09:05 Ziv says:
i don’t get it… there’s a remake AND a new game? the remake is episodic?! is it for the first game only?
the old game uses a new 2d engine and the new game uses the telltale engine?
10/06/2009 at 09:32 Subject 706 says:
Considering that the cost of making an adventure game should be peanuts compared to say, The Force Unleashed, I can’t really understand what LucasArts are so afraid of. Might it just be the usual publisher fear of not catering to the lowest common denominator?
Er, and yay to new Monkey Island games!
10/06/2009 at 12:47 jalf says:
@Ziv: There is a remake, and it is a remake. Nothing fancy, sticking strictly to the original game in terms of gamplay, plot, dialogue and everything. It is being made by LucasArts. It’s still 2d, but with new, higher-resolution art (which a lot of people think is ugly as hell)
And there is a season of episodic games being made by TellTale. All new stuff. All in 3D, using their usual engine.
10/06/2009 at 12:54 Original Preferrer says:
the original looks good, the remake looks lite complete garbage.
10/06/2009 at 15:54 Wulf says:
@Psychopomp
I actually didn’t like the SoMI version, he never seemed to really learn anything from his experiences, the MI2:LR version was a breath of fresh air compared to that.
Look at it like Princess Bride. The SoMI version is like the original stable-hand Wesley, a dork, didn’t really say anything really intelligent, and he was relatively incapable of forming proper sentences around the woman he loved.
The MI2 version was like the progression of Princess Bride, Guybrush had grown up, much like Wesley had, because he’d been exposed to the World of pirates for a time. He picked up wit, a sense of flair, and understanding of the dangers involved, and the rather cavalier attitude that intelligent pirates have.
This was perfect evolution.
Then in CMI, they regressed the age of Guybrush and took all the things he learned away from him, he was SoMI Guybrush again. That would be like having the Princess Bride II set at a time when Wesley was a dorky stable-hand, and it wouldn’t really be very interesting at all. Just like CMI really wasn’t really interesting at all, to me at least.
I found the CMI Guybrush to be a stunningly dull and uninteresting protagonist. There, I’ve said it, I feel better.
The Tales of Monkey Island Guybrush is like the one of Monkey Island 2. He has his flair, his wit, his cavalier attitude in the face of danger (and doesn’t become a snivelling manbaby when onfronted by Lechuck, a la CMI), and he feels more like a character that’s grown, rather than one that’s become stuck in time, and unable to progress.
This is kind of why I’m hoping LucasArts won’t tamper with Lechuck’s Revenge, and that Telltale will continue making series with that Guybrush, because that, for me, is the iconic Guybrush. The Guybrush we should’ve had in both CMI and EMI. I’d love to see a revisionist history that throws CMI andEMI out the window, to be frank.
I’m appreciative of Telltale seeing what I see anyway, and giving Guybrush a future, instead of leaving him stranded in the past as some bizarre form of fan-service.
10/06/2009 at 16:14 Cindy says:
Why is Guybrush getting uglier and uglier? I refuse to play repulsive character.
10/06/2009 at 19:36 M. P. says:
I loved the compilation of Guybrush’s different looks :)
There’s a hugely-inflated scan of the MI2 box art here: http://mojoart.mixnmojo.com/original-art/lechucks-revenge/cover-art/lechucks-revenge_box_front_6498x8190.jpg
Telltale’s new look for the kid is growing at me. It harks back to what he was in MI2: a kid trying to pass for a grown up. Just look at the tiny goatee, how he heroically juts out his weak chin, the “fearsome” frown and “stern” look in his eyes! By comparison, the Guybrush of MI4&5 looked like a permanently-surprised minor character from the Garfield comic strip.
11/06/2009 at 12:34 AbyssUK says:
Wouldn’t the world be a great place if they get sued by Disney for copyright on Pirates of the Caribbean.. you know its going to happen. Everybody get ready for a massive face palm
12/06/2009 at 10:22 Helm says:
Stretching the limits of usefulness, I did a slightly quick mouse edit of guybrush from the top image to give him more human proportions. I stress I do not think that is ‘more correct’ as hyper-stylization is up to the aesthetic imperative of the given artist. Was an interesting momentarily diversion though. I don’t think most people mind the big wave hair, I think they mind the hugely elongated brown and neck more.
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/6530/guybr.png
12/06/2009 at 11:52 mihor_fego says:
As I first played the MI along with LOOM on an old Amiga500, I’m pretty happy LucasArts is trying to reconnect with older brands. I missed the whole of the late 90′s and didn’t get to see what the 3rd and 4th titles of the series were like, but the 2nd was far better than the original. It was huge, funny and the character had actually evolved.
I don’t mind the graphics, as I recently replayed LOOM on my PC and absolutely enjoyed it. The thing is, being a graphic designer I pay much attention to a game’s aesthetics and keeping the graphics of the remake old-style just for the sake of older fans is sad. The main issue in all adventure games is the story, followed by the puzzles, and these games excelled in that area. Keeping the same story but creating a whole new interface, 3d or not, remaking some of the puzzles or changing some would still make it great.
Most would disagree but, as many mentioned, Grim Fandango is my favorite game (yeah, of all time) and I’d long dreamed of it being remade. Its interface had nothing to do with SCUMM, the arrow keys moved the character rather awkwardly, but the story and setting was brilliant. I wouldn’t mind if a remake had the same camera angles, actually I’d prefer it not to. Nor would they have to keep the same dialogue word for word; that’s hardly a remake.
Think of movie remakes; they usually fail, either by attempting to be true top the original or going too far off. Fans of the original always get frustrated, whatever approach the director had to the remake.
If Lucasarts plans to treat this game as a test for future remakes, I’m afraid they’ll continue with the lazy approach of what they did here. Especially since there are people in the development team that were fans of the original, I’d expect them to approach this remake with a bolder vision.
The character’s hairstyle is totally irrelevant to how the game stands in comparison with its predecessor. If any of us who played the original games as children or youngsters try to compare them, it’s rather unfair. Everything we experience at such young ages is bound to evoke a feeling of nostalgia now we’re older. Anyone understands then that such comparisons are always unfair.
I’d like to see this as an opportunity for younger gamers to try this genre. Before the sterile, dead worlds of BAD Myst rip-offs killed it (I’m a Myst fan, but it’s been done too many times). Grim Fandango, The Monkey Island Series, Loom, Legend of Kyrandia, Obsidian, even Myst; these games had great stories, character (not characters) and new concepts for their times. Does this old-school remake sell it to a new audience or was a redesign necessary?
27/06/2009 at 01:40 Elman says:
@Helm : Really nice. He looks a lot better that way… (Sadly)
I want to support this, and I’ll probably buy it if the price’s good enough, since I still get to play it with old graphics and voices… But the new graphics are terrible compared to the original.
I like the 3D one’s artstyle, though. Much better than MI4 or even MI3′s.