Review: Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3

Guybrush is back... again... for the middle episode of the newest iteration of the much loved Monkey Island series.

While playing through a game like Tales of Monkey Island it is easy to compare it to one of the first four complete games and draw comparisons, advantages and disadvantages of the episodic format. Primarily I think we can all agree that being able to play the first fifth of the game months before the full product would have been released otherwise rates in the top three positives. This episode however has given me far more points to add to the list than the previous (rather good) episodes have made clear, and it’s all because of the setting; Lair of the Leviathan.

Tales of Monkey Island is the fifth game in the comedy pirate adventure game series, and the first to be released in an episodic format. Ideally, you’ll know a bit about Monkey Island, and hopefully about this newest incarnation, rather than starting your education with the middle episode of the fifth game, but needless to say, the franchise has (almost) always mixed a light hearted pirate universe with some great puzzles, and probably better comedy. If you’re reading this review, you’re probably wondering whether or not this third episode lives up to the previous ones; perhaps you’re buying them one at a time, in which case let’s save some time and spoilers and just say, yes, purchase it.

TellTale games has a history of episodic games and here just past the halfway point it seems the format is being used very well. In a normal adventure (bearing in mind that the full series of five episodes is available for less than a normal retail product), you are bound to have some elements of down time, where the best puzzles are filled in with some less than stellar mechanics, perhaps just to help move the story along. In an episodic game however, each episode must be a full experience in itself which seems to work well within this genre, giving new gameplay mechanics and a decent plot and puzzle arc to each episode.

If I were to tell you that the vast majority of this chapter took place inside the manatee that swallowed Guybrush and his ship at the end of part 2, you would be well within expectations to wonder how the designers could make it fun and worthy of a full episode. However, this chapter excels in many ways that the others have not.

Despite the limited locations, the closed environments that you will be exploring in Lair of the Leviathan are well designed, visually very interesting and full of unique and interesting (if slightly clichéd) characters. In a move that almost gained a review point just by itself, the return of one of the series’ fantastic characters is a joy to behold, bringing a smile, a tonne of great comedy, puzzle integration and thankfully the original voice actor back. The surprise of who it is however, I won’t spoil here.

Rather than opening up the world throughout the episode as the others have, it seems more of a linear experience, being thrown from restricted locations to restricted locations, though while that means the chapter can feel a little easier, the amount of content is comparable to the previous chapters. The new mechanics include a simple but well executed pirate face pulling minigame, and a clever question/response system similar to insult sword fighting in style, but without any of the tedious collection phase.

The music seems to have taken a bit of a twist too, revisiting some of the older themes subtly, which can’t be a bad thing considering the original material, and it really feels like the closest episode to the previous games in terms of themes and general feeling. Even the end credits made me smile throughout. Possibly the first game where I was hoping the credits would last longer.

Overall, Tales of Monkey Island Episode 3 – Lair of the Leviathan continues the excellent series, pretty much as expected, given the great previous chapters. Well worth a purchase for any of you silly enough to have not bought the full season already. If you’re not sold now, maybe Monkey Island isn’t for you.