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by KYABen on 05.17.10

This year sure is going by fast. Mother’s day has come and gone, Memorial Day is right around the corner, and if you’re anything like me, you can’t wait for summer either. I love the summer time. Barbecues, the beach, the sun doesn’t go down until nearly 9… I can hardly wait. Speaking of hardly waiting,   another little dainty I’ve been anticipating has arrived as well. The second episode in this season of the Sam & Max series The Devil’s Playhouse: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak. The Freelance Police have just defeated the wily and sinister General Skun’ka’pe, but like the old adage says: There’s no rest for the wicked (or perhaps in this case, the wacky).

The game begins with Sam & Max stumbling upon a secret room, with an eerie skeletal effigy of the duo and a mysterious “astral projector” complete with cans of film, contained therein. As they play the movie, Max is unable to control his urge to mess with the projector, and as he reaches out to touch it, they are instantly transported back in time into the bodies of their great grandfathers: Sammath and Maximus. Great-grandfather Sammath, in the style of the times, is rocking a bowler cap, thick, curly mustache and a tweed suit with striped pants. Maximus, much like his great-grandson, is far less formal; donning the ragged, fingerless gloves and cheap looking sweater of a common street tough.The year is 1901, and Sammath and Maximus are in a theatre. On the stage, the magician Mr. Papierwaite is about to begin his next trick: The Great Mystery of the Sphunx. The magician offers members of the audience an opportunity to come onstage and try and unlock the mystery for themselves and, as I’m sure you can imagine, Sammath and Maximus can’t resist.

 As usual, there are some pretty colorful supporting characters to say the least. I would like to point out a few of my favorites,the first of which is the toy tycoon Nicholas St. Kringle. He has a mind to get his hands on the Devil’s Toybox, and it’s your job to stop him. This rather hilarious take on Santa Claus would not be complete without his legions of elves to do his bidding, and Telltale knows that all too well. The elves portrayed herein are rather creepy looking though. They have bald heads, giant mouths with little peg shaped teeth and the trademark pointy little ears. They possess the tough guy, New York street accent one might expect to hear back in those times, and they represent the oppressed, overworked lower class that was an unfortunate sign of the times back then. While I am no advocate of exploitation by any means, in the context of this game, the idea of a “Santa Claus” exploiting and overworking his elves for the purposes of profits and gains is pretty funny. One of the elves even remarks about how they get a “Five hour break, every other month”, and that he doesn’t want to mess up this perk by assisting Sammath and Maximus. The mole people are back as well, and the first one you meet is an old gypsy mole woman. She came to America to start a business and bring her family (whom you will meet) overseas later. The mole people in this second episode have a bigger role than the first, and are a lot more entertaining. There are a few others you will meet, including a baby Amelia Earhart and an effeminate, German, Indiana Jones-ish character named Jürgen.  

There are several all-new psychic powers this time around, including ventriloquism, a magic can of nuts that Sammath & Maximus can hide in, and an Astral Projector. While all the powers certainly have their uses, I would like to touch on the Astral Projector a little more. This game doesn’t play through from start to finish in the typical order. When Sam & Max initially encounter the projector, there are four cans of film with it. Each one is a “chapter” of the game, and you will have to jump back and forth between them at times in order to discover things you need to know to advance the plot in the current part you’re in. This is similar to the idea of Max’s future vision in the first episode, but much, much more in depth. It’s actually a really fun feature and it makes playing this game much more interesting. The only down side I was able to find is that it can get a little overwhelming when you’re trying to remember where you’re at in four different plot lines. If you end up taking too long of a break in between playing this game, you may find yourself stumped from time to time as to what to do next. Also, it can get a little redundant going back and forth to the same areas over and over again. While it is a staple of the game industry, and can be dull at times, linear progression does have its up sides as well. As the story unfolds, you will find yourself travelling across the world from the New York theatre where our story begins, to the Tomb of Sammun-Mak and back again. You will be spending a good deal of time on the Disorient Express travelling to and from your destinations, and there is a lot of story that takes place there.

All in all, Episode Two: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak contains all the things you’ve come to expect from the franchise. Jokes, inuendos, and puzzles galore, the game is a fine continuation of the series. The fact that it plays out in a different era affords a lot of new and interesting opportunities for humor, and Telltale takes full advantage of that. Some of these jokes might go over the heads of a younger audience, but there is a lot there for the rest of us. We were promised an adventure that gets more and more bizarre with each installment, and if this is any indication of what’s to come; I really can’t wait. Check it out May 18, you will not be disappointed.

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