Play It Again, Sam - Culture Shock
The first of The New Adventures of Sam and Max, Culture Shock takes players into a mysterious case involving former child stars on the rampage!!! Only one person duo can stop this: Sam and Max, Freelance Police!
This is an oppurtunity for the community to replay Sam and Max as a whole. Replay the episode, and post you comments on the ups, downs, and zigzags of this episode.
This is an oppurtunity for the community to replay Sam and Max as a whole. Replay the episode, and post you comments on the ups, downs, and zigzags of this episode.
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Comments
Aside from all the voice acting stuff, I discovered some things that I missed during my first playthrough thanks to that "did you try" list. Like, I had no idea you could get Whizzer to sing More than Jerks. I had to ask him like 20 times to do it though! lol
I also missed asking Bosco if he had any such and such. I loved all the references to Hit the Road and the way Bosco just kept on saying "Nope."
I was really surprised when I noticed a reference to Harry Moleman at the Black Hole. I love that they threw that in there.
Taking the time to talk to Max at different points in the game was fun too. One conversation in particular I remember is Sam wishing he had his banjo and Max replies he wishes he had like a million marshmallows or something. I just found that really funny.
Other than all that, it was fun. Although, I finished it pretty quickly since I still remembered most of the solutions to the puzzles and stuff. I forgot how goofy Brady Culture was, and it was fun to see him and the Soda Poppers together, especially in light of all the stuff that happens in Season 2.
Basic outline:
Loved the designs, most of the characters (Sam, Max, Bosco and Specs), the observations, neatly plotted story (if slow), liked the newspaper headlines and the line: fire away grizzly!, and the psychoanalysis puzzles, the ending was also quite a joyous spectacle. The driving sequences + The pulling overs. The El Train - made the neighbourhood feel alive - which it really isn't at the moment with Sam and Max just wondering around.
Didn't like Sybil and the other soda poppers, some of the observations like the gumball machine and of some Bosco's products were quite weak, the office - (sorry but I have to talk about future episodes here) having had so many future episodes with the office in it, with better things like Whack-a-Rat, etc. it just seemed quite dull, despite some interesting observational jokes.
Overall, a good starter episode, that had some good things to say, a tight and neat plot, story was quite interesting (unlike a few later S+M ep's), plus the characters introduced quite well, apart from my exceptions: Sybil - annoying sterotype figure that in this episode I had no fondness for, Soda Poppers - Do I need to go there?
Plus the score was amazing, and characters and location designs were pretty much without faults.
I liked the characters, Sybil is just real, the Soda Poppers are funny in my book, Brady Culture was a good comic arch-enemy, and Bosco was... well, Bosco.
The humour was OK, there were a couple of classic lines, but much more came later. Also the graphics was quite richer in the later episodes.
All in all, in retrospect, Culture Shock flashed some of the potential that the Season Two episodes later fulfilled, but it was executed in safe mode - it was a reasonably risk-averse decision by Telltale, but it means that Culture Shock comes pale when compared to the episodes starting with Abe Lincoln Must Die.
Just for this episode, because I love Sybil in the later episodes, for this episode she really seemed like a no-caring obsessed careerist.
Amy thankfully toned down her "exaggeration" and "sarcasm" and annoying voice and in season two, they thankfully got rid of all those careers and let her breath.
As a introducing episode, it's really really good. I'm just too used to Kasten's voice, I guess. But there's some stuff really REALLY hilarious here ^^!