Windows

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Almost every naughty bit from the Pythons' gleefully vulgar 1983 movie of the same name is imaginatively regurgitated in this comic two-disc strategy game, amplified by hours of narrated material from the five extant Pythons. Collecting absurd objects (Spam, a French tickler) and wielding them with Pythonic logic, you progress through fully panoramic environments. A Doom spoof calls for shooting not bloodthirsty monsters but such peaceable types as nuns and Hare Krishnas. Through its faux-philosophical finale, this most demented of Python discs subverts multimedia conventions and good taste with equally silly vigor.

If you are offended easily by off-color, British humor, this is not the game for you. However, if you like the general silliness of Monty Python, this is the game for you. As promised, I was offended some of the time but found a lot of great humor throughout the game. Overall I enjoyed playing this game. You also get the feeling that you never quite find everything in the game, which will prompt you to keep looking. Plowing through this game will bring back old memories and add to your desire to see more Monty Python movies and Flying Circus episodes. If you think that type of thing is too silly, walk away. This game loses points for over-the-top rudeness, which easily makes it worthy of its “Mature 17+” rating, and not keeping closer to the movie version throughout the game, especially on the second CD.

There are no easy answers to life's big questions here - Monty Python, unlike Douglas Adams, was unable to boil the meaning of life down to a single number. But there is a guaranteed good time, lots of laughs, and some fairly tricky puzzles. Compared to the latest Quake-killer or Tomb Raider clone, The Meaning of Life is unique and refreshing. It is perhaps the only game today worth buying simply for the end credit sequence, in which Eric Idle sings a brilliant song about relativity, the expansion of the universe, and our place within it. Where else can you learn the speed of light and still be only a click away from some funny farting sounds?

De alguma forma, sente-se que a fórmula está esgotada, mas os apreciadores dos Monty Phyton devem adquirir mais este título, para complementar uma colecção que consegue, ainda, revelar-se divertida a tantos anos de distância dos filmes provado a intemporalidade das piadas criadas pelo grupo.

De mange scener har en enorm underholdningsværdi i starten, men når først man har set dem et par gange, begynder man at lede efter spillet - og dét holder ganske enkelt ikke helt i længden, desværre...

Is it possible to find the meaning of life? Does life have a meaning? Does this meaning, if there is one at all, make any sense? Is life just silly or is it bloody serious? Where does one start the quest to find the meaning of life? Which aspect of life one needs to experience to find the meaning of life? Only Monty Python can provide you with answers to the above questions!

So is this game more than a sum of its parts? Well, no. Although the sound and interface are excellent, the game is missing the most important ingredient: a story. Because of the wide variety of material that Monty Python spans in its skits, I wonder if they could lend their skills to making an adventure game. They’ve made an ambitious attempt here but have missed the mark. Yes, I’ll admit it, I’m an eye candy junkie, and I will often raise my score of a game if it has featured pretty graphics. This one didn’t have that either, so I give it a C-: worth a look if you are a heavy Monty Python fan or not bored easily.

Je moet waarschijnlijk een echte hardcore Monty Python fan zijn om dit spel te kunnen waarderen. Behoor jij tot deze categorie, dan kan je misschien nog wel wat plezier beleven aan 'The meaning of Life', maar voor alle andere spelers is het advies: handjes afhouden!