2009-07-12

Far Cry 2 Monkey Island? Silly pun!

Hey guys and gals! New post already, I promised it wouldn't be long!

Though there won't be a review just yet, there will be by/before the end of the month, of no other game than Far Cry 2. Yes, I realise it's a bit belated, considering the game's release was almost a year ago, but do remember to take into account that I'm a pretty slow gamer and that I usually buy games a while after they're released. Partly since they're cheaper, but also because I sort of subconsciously plan my purchases, so that when one game's over, I'll have another one waiting.
Or I simply buy them later because I didn't have enough money at the time they were released.

This rule does not apply when there's a sale at GameStop or other similar game shops, however. They just had one some weeks ago, and I bought a total of four games! It summed up to around the price of a single, newly released PC game. These games included (so you might see reviews of at least one of them in the future) Red Orchestra - Ostfront 41-45, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Dead Space and Crysis Maximum Edition (which includes Crysis Warhead with Crysis Wars as well.)

While on the subject of purchases, unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months (that is, if you're into the whole gaming aspect of life), you'll probably know that LucasArts has finally decided to spark some life into one of their old, beloved adventure series. Namely none other than the tales of swashbuckling, fine leather jacket selling pirate Guybrush Threepwood; the Monkey Island-series.

Originally given life by the adventure game master Ron Gilbert at the time when he worked for LucasArts, the series have gained worldwide positive reception for their excellent humor and beautiful pixel graphics. Well, that goes for the first two installments, at least. Gilbert was regretfully not involved with the work of the third installment in the series (which however still was a pretty good sequel), and (thankfully) not involved with the fourth game either (the horrid abomination of an adventure game called Escape from Monkey Island. I hate that stupid rock-catapult puzzle.)
The series' resurrection doesn't see our friend Ron labelled as anything more than the original creator of the series either, unfortunately, but this time around, it seems that we will finally have our share of good, piratey fun, despite the absence of its father. Current leader of the pretty deserted adventure game genre (in comparsion to the early 90's) Telltale Games have acquired the rights for making a set of five episodes of adventures for Guybrush, called the Tales of Monkey Island. Some of you may know Telltale as the creators of the episodic Sam & Max-series (based off of the quirky characters by the same name, created by Steve Purcell), also based on an old LucasArts license.
After playing the first season of Sam & Max, it seemed an excellent choice to let Telltale take care of our old pirate friend Guybrush. I purchased the whole set of five episodes (so far just the first downloadable, with the others coming) and from what I've played so far, it's great to have Guybrush back again! I love it that they took inspiration from his design in Monkey Island 2 - LeChuck's Revenge, with the beard and all.
So, so far it seems like the adventures of Threepwood are finally back and steady at their feet. Or should I say peg legs, yarr harr?
If you know about Tales of Monkey Island, you should also know that there's a neat-looking remake of the first game, The Secret of Monkey Island, coming up soon. The remake features full speech and remastered music and, last but not least, high resolution graphics!

With this explosive and successful return of our favorite pirate, who knows, perhaps we'll see even more classic favorites remade? LucasArts have also published Windows-compatible versions of some of their oldies on Steam, but Zak McKracken seems to be missing. A remake on the way, maybe? If so, let's hope they fix the dreary walk in the Mayan pyramid.

EDIT: Just finished the first Tales of Monkey Island in the episodic series, it was real fun! Appearently, Ron Gilbert is listed as more than just the original creator. To judge by the credits, it seems he's been in contact with the dev team for some tips. Anyway, just wanted to say.

That's all for now, look out for a Far Cry 2 review coming soon!
/Marcus out.

No comments: