First review of episode 4 is up!
Eurogamer gives it a 7/10.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=73291
Seems like the usual criticisms again ( Recycled locations, characters ,same routine etc etc) accounts for the average score.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=73291
Seems like the usual criticisms again ( Recycled locations, characters ,same routine etc etc) accounts for the average score.
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Comments
http://www.4colorrebellion.com/archives/2007/02/22/4cr-review-sam-max-abe-lincoln-must-die/
For the record, it took me three hours to finish episode 1-episode 2 and two hours to complete Episode 3. My personal opinion is that the series is taking off in the best way possible.
I did find it more difficult and longer, but I also felt that the LPM (laughs per minute) was slightly diminished in some parts of the game because of those factors (not many new jokes to encounter when you're wandering around stuck on a puzzle--or because you have to wander from place to place), but those pacing issues are some of the very things people like about Hit the Road, so your mileage may vary...
Oh, and Mel, et al are in the credits!
"the neighbor hood your office is located is a strange one with neighboring stores include a irresolute store owner , a paranoid drug store owner and a Michael Jackson-ish scam artist"
The drug store owner is bosco and the scam artist is for you to find out.
Yes, I think it was harder, but I feel it all depends on the player. Diduz took 9 hours for example--and I think I took less than half of that.
Don't I get credit for...umm... temporarily reviving the Russian Reversal? No? Damn. :P
You'll give yourself an ulcer pouring over every review and dwelling on the difficulty until it's worldwide release.
And I'm sounding very momish - sorry...
LOL Michael Jackson. LOL
I'm slowly coming to the realisation that the episodic format has its limitations, and that in turn affects the level of difficulty. I'm quite happy to accept that and enjoy the episodes for what they are.. but Brendan did say in his blog:
So I was surprised to read in the 4color rebellion review:
I think Episode 4 addresses this--and pretty well with the limits they have in terms of location--there definitely is that Hit the Road feeling of going from location to location to find a puzzle's "key", that then triggers another round of location-wandering to figure out the next step in the solution of the same or new puzzle. In effect, there are those same good designs/solutions, but a greater need to wander and a higher chance of getting stuck.
I felt the episode was great--easily some of the best writing and humor so far--with more laugh out loud moments than the ones before (my experience as an American and someone with an interest in American politics might influence that belief), but I felt it started sputtering (especially in the latter parts of the game) with the requirements to wander from place to place--I felt it started getting tedious when you started hearing "Where are we going this time, Sam?" for the zillionth time as you wander from place to place, instead of getting new material/comedy to laugh at. And I realized that, hey--this really is a microcosm of what Hit the Road was like, when, for example, I went from place to place looking for a way to get money to spend at Snuckey's
So I reached the end in I think a lengthy 4.5 hours, and really thought to myself, "Wow, there actually are people masochistic enough as to want to be stuck even longer and wander from place to place even more."
But I can't blame them for giving them what people have asked for, and would still be happy if things were to stay like this. I simply feel that having people get stuck and making them wander around ruins the pacing of the comedy in Sam and Max (especially when many of said locations are already extremely familiar and you're basically looking for the new "pin" in the "haystack" of old items--a feeling of searching rather than exploring). I like the jokes to come at a fast clip (probably the reason why comedies on TV are usually only 22 minutes long), so I'd rather have 2000 lines of mostly new and original dialog compressed inside 2-3 hours than 2100 lines spread over 4-5 hours (with a lot of repeated dialog occurring as you get stuck or wander back and forth--for example, if you don't get stuck at all in Episode 4, you still have to listen to "Where are we going this time, Sam?" a minimum of 12 times as you travel to and fro--get stuck on something here or there and you could easily be going 15-25 times).
That said, I realize some people also feel they can't enjoy the humor if it goes by too fast and enjoy getting stuck and/or wandering around ("too much like an interactive cartoon!" or "don't patronize me with such simple puzzles!").
I really liked the comedy in the episode, and thought it was the best of the bunch, but I personally just felt that some parts could have been paced better in a shorter timeframe--just my opinion.
--
Admittedly, I played through it all in one sitting, so I might have thought differently if I split up my playtime...
About the criticisms. I think things need to be put into perspective here.
Complain 1: There isn't enough variety in the locations.
When these people sit down and watch a sitcom like Seinfield, do they complain that it doesn't take place in enough locations? It's the same idea here.
Complaint 2: They are too easy or too short.
Again do people complain when they watch a 1/2 hour sitcom, that it's too short. No, it's meant to be short. That is what Sam and Max are, a game sitcom. Meant to be a few hours of fun.
Yeah, if I exclude the two puzzles that got me stuck, I think the game would have been a solid 5 (maybe even 6) hours experience.
As a matter of fact, I would rate it higher then the 92% I gave the first episode, but since some things are still used over again I have to give it a freshness penality. Don't get me wrong, it's still fresher then the last episode, in some ways.
So...... I give episode 4 a 90% rating.
Highs The humor is getting better and better, cool story and characters;
Lows Returning to the same locations, as before a single episode ends just as it gets going, puzzles tend to be easier than we initially expected.
http://www.actiontrip.com/reviews/sammaxepisode4abelincolnmustdie.phtml?1949
- Gaming Nexus
http://www.gamingnexus.com/Default.aspx?Section=Article&I=1399
Telltale took fans' reactions and made a longer, funnier and overall more exciting fourth episode.
http://gamernode.com/PC/Reviews/2196-Sam--Max-Abe-Lincoln-Must-Die-Review/index.html
This Joystiq review seems interesting (I haven't read it all the way through yet). Basically the Joystiq reviewer has been keeping a running tally of "laugh out loud" moments for each episode he plays, and Episode 4 has the most laughs yet.
Good eye. Obviously that paper is spoilery, but you have to stare into your monitor to see what it says.
I skip over anything about the game or what happens in it..
But this is a game sitcom. It is what it is, and people looking for it to be something else are looking in the wrong place.
That said, it's not flawless, and while it was disheartening to see episodes 2 and three get easier and shorter, Episode 4 puts the series back on the right track. I hope they keep going in this direction for the rest of the season, and I hope there's a season 2, because that's where most good sitcoms start to be really good.
As for the comment about locations, I don't think there necessarily have to be more of them, but it'd be nice to see more done with them. The recurring offices should be changing a bit more with each episode. And it would have been nice to explore a few more rooms inside the White House.
http://www.got-next.com/reviews_read.php?id=557
Eye of the beholder...
http://www.gamedaily.com/sam-andamp-max-episode-4-abe-lincoln-must-die/pc/game-reviews/5796
That and what ShaggE and Mel said =P
Warning! Spoilers above!
I believe he's actually