Well in that podcast with Dan he said episode 4 and 5 were really good.. so I can't wait for episode 5.. to quote Brendan: does Telltale listen to their fans? Quite possibly
Which in itself means you’re able to more closely monitor what people buy and how they respond to it – have you been able to do that with Sam and Max?
That’s somewhere we’re still growing – I think you’ll see that when we get to episodes five and six of Sam and Max the feel will be different because we are aware of what characters people like. That happens in TV – Norm and Cliff in Cheers got more lines as the show went on. I’ll be interested to see, by the fifth season of Sam and Max, how things have developed.
Interestingly, I think this episode was more linear than the previous three. You pretty much had to do things in order except for
collecting the signs
, which you might have done already anyways. It seemed kind of artificial how they told you exactly what to do in 2 & 3 -- no real surprise what was going to happen next. Of course I realize that many adventure games do the same thing, but it's still sort of silly.
Yeah, the best so far, it offers a style and a madness that defy HTR's, imho!
And the puzzles have been improved, so the game is longer.
WON-DER-FUL!!!:D
It's funny, I personally found the puzzles way more intuitive (and hense easier) in Ep4 than the previous three. They were designed equally as well, but I guess because this is the 4th game I just 'knew' what would be required to solve each puzzle. I guess I was just in the right mindset. Not a complaint though, it means, IMO, that telltale're dead on!
The only one that had me stumped for a while was finding the hidden object for the final puzzle - I knew what I had to do, just took a while to actually hunt out the object.
But, as in the 3 previous games, I loved every minute.
I think Episode 4 has been the best so far in every respect. I thought it was the funniest, had the best story, had the best puzzles, and I found it had shorter load times and much less lag than the others. It also reminded me a lot of Hit the Road which is a very good thing. If this episode is any indication, the rest of the season and the seasons after will be awesome.
I just wanna add a little something to show my appreciation. Episode 4 is by far the best episode yet. Why? Well, first off the script is extremely well done, and very "Sam & Max'y". I laughed my ass off so many times the hospital is getting really tired of sewing it back on!
Also, the puzzles are exactly as hard as they should be - at least in my opinion. I think i spent 5 hours on this episode, and i got stuck several times, but not so stuck that i got frustrated. Instead, it lead me to take different approaches to everything, and by that, i really got around to checking out all the superb dialog this episode has. I don't know if it's that new guy who brings all those great lines into the game, but if it is, PLEASE hold on to him forever!
Well, that's about it. Oh, and let me also give a high-five to the animation team and the design team. Everyhing in this episode looks astonishing! Spot-on Sam & Max look everywhere. It's perfect!
Oh baby, that was fabulous, and Telltale seem to have succeeded in upping the difficulty without making the puzzles obscure or arbitrary, always a hard thing in an adventure. Spot on humour - wonderfully absurd, and the music, which has been consistently amazing up before Ep. 4 somehow still managed to kick it up a notch for this Episode. Whatever Telltale are paying Jared Emerson-Johnson, he's worth his weight in gold. In short, a total classic. If the next two episodes can maintain this level of quality, I'll be in heaven. For me it was almost worth the price of my season pass for this episode alone.
Anyway, I'll stop gushing now. I can only say that I wish Telltale would run a competition with a voice acting role in Sam and Max as the prize. The only thing better than playing Sam and Max would be to be a part of it.
I agree with all the praise here - a fantastic achievement.
My only gripe: I'm trying to decide whether or not I mind the occasional bad language in these new Sam and Maxes. It's not as though it's particularly offensive, examples being 'bastard', 'bollocks' and 'I did not have sex with that woman', but I don't believe it's necessary and it's a pity to hear a funny line ruined by something crude. As far as I'm concerned, one of the great qualities of Sam and Max games is the way the game takes place in bright, cartoony locations, which contrast brilliantly the acts of gratuitous violence and Sam and Max's malevolent thoughts, making them much funnier. I just think to maintain this deceptive innocence requires the language to be entirely clean. I find the funniest spoken jokes are the most eloquent ones anyway: who could forget the exchange over Jesse James' hand, or 'this rampant weenie cannibalism turns my stomach'?
Undoubtedly my favourite episode to date. Just felt a lot better and the couple of occasions I was stumped for a while let me discover so much more of the hilarious dialogue. The humour and comedy in this episode was fantastic. Max's presidential joke to warm the crowd up had me in stitches
Keep up the good work Telltale, I haven't a clue what I'm going to do when the season finishes!
Loved the episode. Certainly the best so far. Although it lasts as much as the first episode (puzzle-wise), the actual content makes the game seem longer. Also, the humor is top-notch, and the puzzles don't seem as easy as in the third episode, for example.
Excepting the fact that we have to go back and forth a great number of times (quite tedious), I don't see any other reason why one wouldn't like it.
Hope the following 2 episodes are up to this one's standards.
I've just played through the game and a brief (i'm in a hurry) review from me:
I found both pros and cons in episode 4.
As for the pros: the game was noticeable longer, the white house was modelled very nicely, another good character (the special agent superball), good humour, nice interlude (although a bit too long),
i could knock off the head of this bad joke called president
, again a new idea for the car driving scene, one week closer to the gametap release date (one week down, one more to go), nice misleadings.
As for the cons: Only three new rooms (episode 2 brought six new rooms), i'm getting quite tired of running to the same places over and over again (look what's new at sybil's place, get bosco to give you a new device blabla), this is kind of boring if you do this in the fourth iteration in a row, i miss something NEW, the music was fitting quite well but it also wasn't that you would say: Wow this tune was great, still no inventory puzzles, there was more to riddle in this episode but beside of
getting the idea to call sybil on your own
i never got stuck, i still miss great riddles and such where you don't have to run from A to B, do something and then run back from B to A. In german you call this "Dienstbotenrätsel", the navigation can really be a drag at this point as you have to watch the same animations over and over again just to get from A to B and back again.
the easter egg that I found into the golf hole... I was trying to understand how I could use it, but it was was totally useless. Crazy joke, it appears into the hole just setting the day as easter sunday
the easter egg that I found into the golf hole... I was trying to understand how I could use it, but it was was totally useless. Crazy joke, it appears into the hole just setting the day as easter sunday
Abe Lincoln must die is the best episode yet by far. I laughed out loud several times and cracked a smile many more at the clever dialogue. Max as president is brilliant. The puzzles are much better, too. Episode 4 is the standard to which this series should aspire.
Comments
From Develop Online's interview with Dan Connors
Nice work!
Interestingly, I think this episode was more linear than the previous three. You pretty much had to do things in order except for
I was glad to see the return of the oh-so bitchy soda poppers, best episode to date.
Good job guys.
And the puzzles have been improved, so the game is longer.
WON-DER-FUL!!!:D
The only one that had me stumped for a while was finding the hidden object for the final puzzle - I knew what I had to do, just took a while to actually hunt out the object.
But, as in the 3 previous games, I loved every minute.
Also, the puzzles are exactly as hard as they should be - at least in my opinion. I think i spent 5 hours on this episode, and i got stuck several times, but not so stuck that i got frustrated. Instead, it lead me to take different approaches to everything, and by that, i really got around to checking out all the superb dialog this episode has. I don't know if it's that new guy who brings all those great lines into the game, but if it is, PLEASE hold on to him forever!
Well, that's about it. Oh, and let me also give a high-five to the animation team and the design team. Everyhing in this episode looks astonishing! Spot-on Sam & Max look everywhere. It's perfect!
Anyway, I'll stop gushing now. I can only say that I wish Telltale would run a competition with a voice acting role in Sam and Max as the prize. The only thing better than playing Sam and Max would be to be a part of it.
My only gripe: I'm trying to decide whether or not I mind the occasional bad language in these new Sam and Maxes. It's not as though it's particularly offensive, examples being 'bastard', 'bollocks' and 'I did not have sex with that woman', but I don't believe it's necessary and it's a pity to hear a funny line ruined by something crude. As far as I'm concerned, one of the great qualities of Sam and Max games is the way the game takes place in bright, cartoony locations, which contrast brilliantly the acts of gratuitous violence and Sam and Max's malevolent thoughts, making them much funnier. I just think to maintain this deceptive innocence requires the language to be entirely clean. I find the funniest spoken jokes are the most eloquent ones anyway: who could forget the exchange over Jesse James' hand, or 'this rampant weenie cannibalism turns my stomach'?
Keep up the good work Telltale, I haven't a clue what I'm going to do when the season finishes!
Rgds,
Excepting the fact that we have to go back and forth a great number of times (quite tedious), I don't see any other reason why one wouldn't like it.
Hope the following 2 episodes are up to this one's standards.
I found both pros and cons in episode 4.
As for the pros: the game was noticeable longer, the white house was modelled very nicely, another good character (the special agent superball), good humour, nice interlude (although a bit too long),
As for the cons: Only three new rooms (episode 2 brought six new rooms), i'm getting quite tired of running to the same places over and over again (look what's new at sybil's place, get bosco to give you a new device blabla), this is kind of boring if you do this in the fourth iteration in a row, i miss something NEW, the music was fitting quite well but it also wasn't that you would say: Wow this tune was great, still no inventory puzzles, there was more to riddle in this episode but beside of
All in all i would give it a 7 out of 10.
That's awesome! Wow.