The Curse of Monkey Island

The Good
After years of waiting the world finally got to see another Monkey Island game, and save for the usual analy-retentive hardcore fanbase everyone was pleased with this return to the classic adventure game. And why not? The game returns to the classic point-and-click gameplay with an updated interface, clever puzzles and a remarkable technology face-lift courtesy of fmv cutscenes, full voiceovers and some of the nicest, crispier 2D graphics ever to come out of LucasArts.

The new story is rather dull compared to the old games, but frankly it could have been way worse, and in the end it's all just an excuse to set up gags and comedy bits. Which are, of course, quite amusing and fun. Sure, they don't seem to be "that" funny anymore, but I'm not the same kid that played Monkey 1 so long ago, and if you look at it, the wacky stuff is pretty much the same in all the games. I (and probably you too) am the one that has changed, it takes a little more than grog and pirates to make me laugh nowadays, but that doesn't mean the game is doing anything wrong.

The Bad
Some of the puzzles are waaay out there, like the one with the bubblegum and the teeth, it sometimes borders on the completely illogical and the gameplay goes to the dreaded "click on stuff 'till something happens" style.

Furthermore the story was a real downer when compared to the prequels, guess this is the area where Ron Gilbert is missed the most, and you can really tell that his dark, sarcastic touch added a lot to the games.

And what about that ending?? Where they in a hurry or what? That has to be the shortest ending sequence that I've ever seen in a game... "wham, bam, thank you m'am!"

The Bottom Line
Overall a great game, you'll miss Ron Gilbert (believe me, you'll notice he's gone) but overall a very solid Monkey Island game that has yet to turn to the "Monkey Island Reunion" feel you get in the next game. The original 2 are classics, but this one isn't a slouch either.

The Good
So this is LucasArts's third Monkey Island adventure after six years. It may not be created by Ron Gilbert like the previous Monkey Island games, but LucasArts made sure that all the spirit of these predecessors that made them very popular, exist in the third game. Once again you play Guybrush Threepwood, who places an engagement ring on Elaine Marley's finger, and, unfortunately for him, the ring turns Elaine into a gold statue due to the pirate curse that LeChuck has placed on it. In order to get the real ring, he must travel to another island far away. To make matters worse, LeChuck wants to marry Elaine just to piss Mr. Brush off.

Right at the start of the game, you will notice how Mr. Brush has transformed from a bearded and stubby pirate to a skinny dude who happened to grow overnight. The game is divided into six parts, and gives you the option of playing in either regular mode or Mega-Monkey mode. There really is no different between the two, except that you have to do more shit in Mega-Monkey, and if you happen to choose just the regular mode, certain scenes won't be omitted.

CMI has all the elements that The Secret of Monkey Island had. During the course of the game, you have to get a crew of three pirates to sail the seas with you, prepare to swordfight against some pirates, travel between islands, do a little business with some foreigners, and finally, defeat LeChuck once and for all.

If you have forgotten already, this first game required you to learn fifteen insults to use against Carla, the swordmaster. CMI is no different. There are new insults that you must learn. However, to initiate a swordfight, you do not click on a pirate anywhere on a map, but click on a pirate's ship, do a little combat out in the sea, and board his ship. The point with this particular rant is that there are some arcade sequences in this game, and some of them include using the cannon at the start of the game to sink boats with pirate skeletons on them, and going out to sea and bombing a pirate ship in order to get on-board. These sequences are fun to play.

The game features high-resolution graphics, but because 3D was not popular in the nineties, the graphics are still in 2D, just like the last two games. When I first looked at the graphics, I realized how Disney-like they were. Of course, CMI is not the only game with a Disney-like feel. I can give you a few examples such as Sierra's King's Quest VII and Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!. The backgrounds and the characters that you interact with are hand-drawn nicely. When you get on-board a pirate ship, and start throwing insults at the pirate, the tone that they use to comeback at you with lines like "Oh, yeah?", "I'm shaking, I'm shaking.", and "I am rubber, you are glue." are the originals from MI1, but they sound great coming from different pirates.

Speaking of characters, some of them from previous games, including the voodoo priestess, Wally, and Stan, are back. Stan is one of the funniest characters in the game, and seems to change professions. First, he was a ship salesman, then he specialized in used coffins, and now, he's an insurance salesman. What is funny about him is that I really have no idea why he waves his arms. A new character that you will meet is Murray, the talking skull. He says nothing sensible but how when he comes back as a normal human, he is going to cause pain and suffering to the good samaritans, and how he wants Mr. Brush to join him.

And what good is CMI without some humor added to the mix? Occasionally, you have to laugh at what characters will do or say, or what appears on screen. I laughed at the way that CMI was written in the form of the THX logo, with the text "The Monkeys are listening" below it. Another example would be when the three pirates suddenly burst into song instead of just doing their jobs, and you have to make them shut up. Minor things include the false ending halfway through the game, and how you can get fooled into thinking that you can use 3D graphics.

Well, after six years, Lucas managed to incorporate the Monkey Island theme into the game, so that MI fans will immediately know that Lucas didn't fool them into thinking that this is actually something else entirely. This theme is also easier to remember. It was likely that fans would be singing the tune just before they decided to buy a MI game. I remember when an old friend from uni sang it when I lent him a copy of Escape from Monkey Island. The theme that plays when you are talking to voodoo priestess and Stan (from Monkey Island 2) is still there, but these are "revved" up.

The interface is pretty simple to use. Point the "X" anywhere until some text at the bottom appears. Right-click the mouse button to bring up a coin with three pictures inside it, allowing you to examine and pick up objects, or talk to characters or use your mouth on something. Pressing [F1] will bring up an open book, which will allow you to adjust several game settings, turn text and voice on or off, and save, load, and quit your game. During the game, pressing [SHIFT-W] will allow you to win the game, but I have no idea why you want to do this.

The Bad
All I can complain about is the ending, which is very short compared to other MI games. Normally, when I finish a game, I tend to sit back and watch the end credits roll by. The end credits in CMI are crap, and I felt that they needed more work. At the start of these credits, you have Murray saying "This is so unfair" and that's it. It wouldn't hurt to have him say different lines every two seconds, and that is what made him funny. The background could have changed so to make it have several other backgrounds rather than the animal skull at the right remaining static.

The Bottom Line
If you have played the previous MI games, my suggestion to you is try to play this one. The third game has much better graphics, and there is some humor and the gameplay that made the other MI games successful.

Rating: ***½

The Good
The Curse of Monkey Island (1997) picks up sometime after the second game with Guybrush quickly getting trouble with the zombie pirate Le Chuck and, after turning her into a gold statue, his bride-to-be. The game offers new puzzles to solve, new locations to explore and, yes, plenty of wit, satire and comedy. LucasArts uses cartoon quality animation, CD quality music and has every characters voiced by some incredibly talented actors.

The Bad
While much of Le Chuck's back story is revealed, with some call backs to the first two games, do not expect to get a clear explanation about the fabled Big Whoop treasure or the actual secret of Monkey Island. Fans may need some time to get use to the new point n' click interface and, in the late 1990's, you needed a pretty powerful computer to run the game without some major slow downs Last, but not least, the Carnival on the second disc feels underdeveloped as does the ending.

The Bottom Line
Curse of Monkey Island is a great addition to the Monkey Island franchise by offer appropriate improvements to the series, while still respecting its comedic, graphic adventure roots. Look behind you! It's A three headed monkey!