Sam & Max: Beyond The Alley Of The Dolls Review - Alternative Magazine Online

martymcfly

Hey guys,

My review of Sam & Max's latest episode has now gone live:

Sam & Max: Beyond The Alley Of The Dolls Review - Alternative Magazine Online

As always, I would be very interested to hear if the mentioned bugs do indeed make it into the final build, as well as whether you agree or disagree with my final score!

Spoiler Free: May contain very mild, vague spoilers but nothing specific and no big reveals.

martymcfly

It has been confirmed that the bug I mentioned in my review of the PC version (Ps3 Triangle button showing for all options when using a gamepad) has been carried over to the final release, which is a real shame! Can anybody confirm if the shotgun sounds (Grandpa Stinky) worked properly near the beginning for them? I could only hear the shots for some scenes and pumping to reload was oddly silent. I also had a moment in the lab where Max went invisible and turned into a floating gun.

Tilan

I also had Max turning invisible in the lab (twice), and another time he turned into the destroyer toy.

Rather Dashing

This review feels like one for a film, with almost the entire text talking about the story. It seems odd, like reviewing a film but only talking about its soundtrack with a couple sentences of throwback to cinematography, script, or story. Where is the review of the game in this video game review?

Ah, there it is. Out of a 1,437-word review, a piddling 185 talk about the actual game rather than its presentation or technical elements, and unlike the thoughts on those your thoughts on gameplay seem to be disorganized and vague. I understand people have different ideas of what's important in an interactive entertainment product, but I find it very odd that only 1/8th of the review of this game talks about the game.

martymcfly

Rather Dashing wrote: »

This review feels like one for a film, with almost the entire text talking about the story. It seems odd, like reviewing a film but only talking about its soundtrack with a couple sentences of throwback to cinematography, script, or story. Where is the review of the game in this video game review?

Ah, there it is. Out of a 1,437-word review, a piddling 185 talk about the actual game rather than its presentation or technical elements, and unlike the thoughts on those your thoughts on gameplay seem to be disorganized and vague. I understand people have different ideas of what's important in an interactive entertainment product, but I find it very odd that only 1/8th of the review of this game talks about the game.

What more is there to talk about exactly? It is the fourth episode out of five and by now we all know the gameplay mechanics inside out. The story is a major component, as are the environments. Furthermore, I do talk about the puzzles and glitches in the game for a lot more than a mere 185 words.

I discussed the story with regards to the gameplay mechanics involving the dopplegangers, as well as always bringing it back to how it impacts gameplay, such as no DeSoto (the use of tunnels to travel) and environents being recycled.

How you can say only an eighth of the review discusses the actual game astounds me! I will be happy to copy and paste examples throughout where I specifically reference the game beyond the story if you wish.

The Commissioner

martymcfly wrote: »

I discussed the story with regards to the gameplay mechanics involving the dopplegangers, as well as always bringing it back to how it impacts gameplay, such as no DeSoto (the use of tunnels to travel) and environents being recycled.

There was vast potential here for the doppelgangers to actually feature as an organic part of Beyond The Alley Of The Doll’s puzzles, yet this never comes to fruition.

The review seems slightly less objective than normal with the subjective comparison between your expectations and the finished product. In particular, there's the reference to your disappointment from the last episode (which I also thought was relatively good when you look at it standalone). I enjoyed Beyond The Alley of the Dolls thoroughly. I don't know if that's because I like the regular Sam & Max gameplay formula; or whether I'm looking at the series hollistically; or subconciously comparing it to previous series (in which there isn't any contest - this is better than Seasons 1 and 2).

The monthly shifts between themes e.g. the Noir - I'm not expecting those to be a huge thing. Imagine playing the whole thing through Noir style - would it be prudent? Does it work gameplay-wise? I don't know - but I wasn't expecting it. I always expect the familiar Sam walking around interacting with stuff gameplay that has always been in the three seasons to be a main part of each episode. Sure, they could have made more of it, but the point is I wouldn't let that colour my opinion of Beyond The Alley of the Dolls, which should be looked at for it's own merits.

The DeSoto does make cameo appearances, but not as a method of transport in this episode. To be honest, I didn't use it much in the previous episodes - I just used Psychic teleportation to go everywhere, which is what I used in this episode too in preference to tunnels.

I'm not expecting totally all new locations either - every Season has featured revisits to locations. I think that they've spaced them out nicely this season so that they don't feel repetitive. Mama Bosco's Lab was last seen 3 months ago for example. While as a game development thing it saves time to recycle, I don't get the sense of that being a problem. Also keeping grounded to familiar locations helps me stay "in the zone" of being in a persistent Sam and Max world.

I also don't get your Samulacra/Dogglegangers mention in the review about not being organic parts of puzzles. I can think of many examples:

1. You need to distract one of their arms in Stinky's to get to the toaster.
2. You need to distract them to get to talk to Bluster Blaster and Sal.
3. You need them to swat Max up to the Statue by getting them in the correct formation by changing piano tunes.

And there are probably more but those three just came to me instantly.

P.S. It says there are no spoilers in your review, but in the trailer for this episode they specifically omit

Skun'kape

. Most likely to protect people who have only played episode 1 and don't want a big spoiler. Did you need to mention it at all considering it doesn't play any major part in the game except for the opening puzzle?

martymcfly

The Commissioner wrote: »

The review seems slightly less objective than normal with the subjective comparison between your expectations and the finished product. In particular, there's the reference to your disappointment from the last episode (which I also thought was relatively good when you look at it standalone). I enjoyed Beyond The Alley of the Dolls thoroughly. I don't know if that's because I like the regular Sam & Max gameplay formula; or whether I'm looking at the series hollistically; or subconciously comparing it to previous series (in which there isn't any contest - this is better than Seasons 1 and 2).

The monthly shifts between themes e.g. the Noir - I'm not expecting those to be a huge thing. Imagine playing the whole thing through Noir style - would it be prudent? Does it work gameplay-wise? I don't know - but I wasn't expecting it. I always expect the familiar Sam walking around interacting with stuff gameplay that has always been in the three seasons to be a main part of each episode. Sure, they could have made more of it, but the point is I wouldn't let that colour my opinion of Beyond The Alley of the Dolls, which should be looked at for it's own merits.

The DeSoto does make cameo appearances, but not as a method of transport in this episode. To be honest, I didn't use it much in the previous episodes - I just used Psychic teleportation to go everywhere, which is what I used in this episode too in preference to tunnels.

I'm not expecting totally all new locations either - every Season has featured revisits to locations. I think that they've spaced them out nicely this season so that they don't feel repetitive. Mama Bosco's Lab was last seen 3 months ago for example. While as a game development thing it saves time to recycle, I don't get the sense of that being a problem. Also keeping grounded to familiar locations helps me stay "in the zone" of being in a persistent Sam and Max world.

I also don't get your Samulacra/Dogglegangers mention in the review about not being organic parts of puzzles. I can think of many examples:

1. You need to distract one of their arms in Stinky's to get to the toaster.
2. You need to distract them to get to talk to Bluster Blaster and Sal.
3. You need them to swat Max up to the Statue by getting them in the correct formation by changing piano tunes.

And there are probably more but those three just came to me instantly.

P.S. It says there are no spoilers in your review, but in the trailer for this episode they specifically omit

Skun'kape

. Most likely to protect people who have only played episode 1 and don't want a big spoiler. Did you need to mention it at all considering it doesn't play any major part in the game except for the opening puzzle?

I meant organic with regards to the Samulacra in broader terms: they generally restrict the player rather than function as major components of the story/gameplay. The examples you mention are great... but those three are about as deep as it went and I wanted a lot more interaction with them. I was hoping for a more complex puzzle, perhaps where Sam has to intergrate with them and fool them? It was hinted at with his hat being stolen (as if one clone was special) and then nothing came of it.

I thought I had finally found a moment where this would happen when we use the 'Master's' microphone to order them about... but it turned out to be a simple command that required no real input at all from the player. This could have been a great puzzle.

I apologise though if I sounded less objective than usual. I just felt that the reuse of locations/the tangent storyline/the lack of truly utilising the atmosphere from the beginning throughout, made the episode feel same old same old.

It wasn't just the reuse of locations either (which I agree can help establish a concrete world): "Yet to therefore have them exploring generic locations such as a dock, a lab and many recycled areas from previous episodes immediately makes the sense of satisfaction gained through exploration and discovery plummet."

I actually found the new locations rather generic. Last month's episode (although slighlty disappointing to me) did feature a great location with the museum. The storm outside/the exhibits/the layout all felt really great. Compare this to the cloning facility in episode 4, which feels pretty dull, small and lifeless.

Coupled with some pretty bad glitches this hurt its impact even more. I also wouldn't rave about the storyline at this point... fair enough if some people think this is the best series yet, but I would have to disagree as detailed in my review.

Of course, this is all just my own opinion. I personally loved episode 2 of this series whereas I know some fans hated it. Each to their own, right?

PS: Skunkape's mention doesn't really seem to be a huge spoiler... he is in the game for about 2 minutes and isn't a central character. Fair enough, Telltale keep him out of the trailer... but I assume anybody who reads my review will be up to date with the story so far?! Regardless, it is a very minor spoiler if you wish to class it as such!

PPS: Any expectations I had were based on Telltale's past efforts, being able to deliver both strong stories and enjoyable gameplay. I still stand by the fact that, in both departments, the later episodes of TOMI had a greater polish than the corresponding episodes of The Devil's Playhouse.

Pinchpenny

The Commissioner wrote: »

I'm not expecting totally all new locations either - every Season has featured revisits to locations. I think that they've spaced them out nicely this season so that they don't feel repetitive. Mama Bosco's Lab was last seen 3 months ago for example. While as a game development thing it saves time to recycle, I don't get the sense of that being a problem. Also keeping grounded to familiar locations helps me stay "in the zone" of being in a persistent Sam and Max world.

Presently we saw it three months ago. When all the episodes are out and someone plays through them all, the gap between seeing all these returning locations and characters is going to be much smaller. Sure, it grounds you familiarity, but wouldn't you rather explore new places? Meet new people? I know I would.