Review: Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 4 (PC)

It’s chapter 4, and to be honest, if you haven’t bought the whole series yet, why not?

With a title like ‘The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood’ the folks at Telltale have set up this penultimate chapter of the ongoing Tales of Monkey Island adventure series as a dark point. In classic storytelling it is normal to expect the big low before the big high of the climax, and in many ways, this segment is no exception. Fortunately however, not in terms of quality or puzzles.

Chapter 4 starts with Guybrush being taken back to Flotsam island, the location for the first chapter in this 5 part series, by pirate hunter Morgan Le Flay at the behest of the dastardly Marquis De Singe. Rather than a quick death, our hero is taken to pirate court with a load of charges thrown at him, each of which carry the death penalty, and given the task of getting out of them all.

Why does Dairy Farmer never get old

Thankfully, while returning to the original island presents some of the same locations, enough has changed and become available that everything seems new and familiar (rather than lazy – a factor that could have legitimately been part of the game if it had been packaged as one product). Doors that were locked are now open, while areas that you may be familiar with have a twist on them and a whole load of new puzzles to overcome.

Interestingly however, rather than starting the chapter with a simple one screen situation like the other parts, ‘Tales of Monkey Island – Chapter 4 – The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood’ (not writing that out in full again) throws you straight into the thick of one of the two main multi part puzzles of this segment. It took me a little time to realise that there wasn’t a quick solution to my problems, (although there kind of is a simple puzzle to allow you to open up the area) and really get stuck in to my situation. Perhaps this is due to Telltale Games’ assumption (rightly so) that no-one would jump in at the fourth part. In fact, unless you’re buying the chapters separately, there is little point in reading this review and potentially spoiling what may happen through the game. Fear not, I won’t spoil anything not ruined by the install and launch screens.

All for a sponge

Indeed, Monkey Island fans will be pleased with the almost essential reintroduction of big hat wearing fast talking salesman Stan, with his crazy jacket effect intact. That’s actually spoiled by the shortcut icon, but we’re kind of splitting hairs there. While Stan has a new voice actor, another character enjoys a welcome return (definitely a plot spoiler there) and I was relieved to see the original cast member take the role.

Talking of voices, the audio and performance remains fantastic with great comic timing, especially from Dominic Armato, Guybrush Threepwood’s actor, however it did sometimes irk me that many of the performers either didn’t know how to pronounce the French word for monkey; ‘Singe’. It wouldn’t bother me if it were a plot or comedic point for mispronouncing the Marquis’ name, however considering the characters are meant to know his name through literally being told it, it puts a tiny black spot on an otherwise flawless job of voice direction.

A challenge?

Puzzle wise there is plenty to keep yourself engaged with, and while there were a couple of points where I did remain stuck for a while, this is no bad thing if you can resist the urge to search for an inevitable walkthrough which will probably be available by the evening of the chapter’s release date. The logic did win out in the end, in fact through a little extra exploration and experimentation.

Ultimately, ToMI-C4-TTaEoGT as it shall now be known is another fantastic high quality enjoyable romp into the world of Monkey Island, setting up the dramatic finale as it should, in a very satisfactory and cliffhangery (yes that is a word now) way. While a few spanners are thrown into the works, the story doesn’t hang around and I am personally very excited to see the conclusion. If only because then I’ll feel like a full opinion of the Tales can be given. Where we are now, no matter how great it seems, if the ending is lacklustre then we’ll all be disappointed. Given Telltale Games’ last four chapters however, I think we’re in for something great.