Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Because I am a hopeless geek, and even though those Telltale episodes mostly make me want to kick old ladies to death, my affection for the characters circa Hit The Road remains undimmed. So I got all nerdy-excited when I saw this post about Sam & Max figures over at Topless Robot. Only to find all they’re just more of those ubiquitous bloody designer vinyl figurine thingies that people with complicated haircuts buy. Do not want. On the other hand, this statue is brillig, but I’m not spending that much money on something I can’t even move the arms on.

Come on! We’re way overdue for some sort of awesome poseable action figure with sound effects and interchangeable hats, or a plushie Max with velcro blood splatters. I’ve waited so long, and my desk looks so depressingly bare since I moved my Bioshock Big Daddy figurine off it after reading one too many Ken Levine On Game Narrative interviews.

A few weeks back we heard the splendid news that LucasArts alumnus Mike Stemmle had joined Telltale. As one half of the team that created the original Sam & Max: Hit The Road, who better to get involved? So we got in touch and spoke to the man, finding out what he’s been up to in the meantime, what it’s like to return to S&M after all those years, the potential for the modern adventure, and how former colleague Sean Clark should have been a lot more careful at Mike’s wedding.

RPS: The last time I saw you was in the depths of LucasArts, midway through the development of Monkey Island 4. So my first question has to be, does your office still look like this?

(Click for the full glory)

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Generally speaking RPS has a somewhat tempestuous relationship with Telltale’s games. Walker specifically tends to go on a big ol’ rant whenever they come up, which probably means it’s a good thing he’s off having adventures in San Francisco and I’m posting the news that the Sam & Max Season 2 Finale “What’s New, Beelzebub?” is now available to play. There’s a twelve-or-so Peggles demo available before you splash out, and a full Season 2 set with all five episodes is available to buy if you don’t fancy this episodic thing, thankyouverymuch.

Here’s some interesting news. Telltale, they behind the recent Sam & Max episodes, have hired Mike Stemmle, one half of the LucasArts double-act who created the original Sam & Max: Hit The Road.

(I should stress, I took this photo eight years ago, and he looks nothing like this now. But his office is worth remembering. Click the pic to see the full-size. Oh, and this hung from the middle of the room.)

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If you somehow managed to wade through all ninety thousand words of my fevered ranting about Telltale’s Sam & Max episodes recently, you might have noticed that, despite my other criticisms of the series, I do have a lot of time for Episode 4: Abe Lincoln must die. Apparently it was the best reviewed of the series too, so it’s not just me being mad.

Well, turns out the whole three-to-five hour fandango’s just been released for free, to help promote Season 2 of the game – the first episode of which is released this Thursday. It’s well worth a play, whether you’re yet to try any of the series or if you’d given up on it ealier, as it’s a bit of a change in direction and, I’m told, has informed some of Season 2’s approach.

Go geddim from here. Happily, it’s now a direct download from Telltale, rather than through IGNPlanetSpot’s nosey sign-up process, incidentally.