The gameplay is unremarkable and the interface is clunky but the humor and story save it from complete disappointment.
Gameplay: 2/5
+ Considering this game was remade nearly 20 years after it was originally released you would imagine that the gameplay would be rock solid. Sadly, though, there are huge problems that really bog down the game. First, the interface is extremely awkward to use. You have a "verb" menu and your inventory menu, which are accessed by pressing Ctrl and Alt respectively. The problem is that these menus stay off screen until you press the button. It's so easy to fumble around trying to combine verbs and items that you will undoubtedly misclick and have to start the whole cumbersome process of opening one menu, then another, then reopening another menu, then pointing at an object just to find out the action didn't work. Considering almost all the gameplay revolves around pointing and clicking objects, this issue becomes a huge problem very early in the game. The next big issue is the text speed/voice speed. There is no way to skip through text/speech once you've started, which is a huge aggravation if you start a long dialogue that you've already encountered or something similar. You can increase the text speed while in classic mode, which does speed up the long gap in between consecutive lines in speech though, but it's still pretty awkward and annoying. Finally, the puzzles really have no consistency. Some are insultingly easy while others are outrageously far-fetched. Thank goodness they included a hint system because there are definitely some sections where you will be scratching your head thinking "How was I supposed to figure that out by myself?" Perhaps if you love point and click adventures you will enjoy this part of the game, but I really would rather see more logical puzzles that make sense. One final note: I thought the sword fighting element that uses dialogue for your attacks was brillaint and would have liked to see more elements like that.
Story/Presentation: 5/5
+ The one thing this game has going for it is its humor and personal style. Nothing is really serious and everything has a subtle joke behind it. Most of the jokes are quick one-liners which range from making you crack a smile to causing a slight chuckle. Nothing is really over-the-top hilarious but it's still light-hearted and helps ease the troubles in gameplay. The story itself is also real fun, and you realize this immediately after the first introduction of the main character. With a name like Guybrush Threepwood, who declares he wants to be a "mighty pirate" but clearly does not look the role, it's hard not to be swayed by his charm. The game does a good job of keeping this charm throughout the whole game, too, and doesn't really let up at any point. Like I said, the story and presentation are one of the strongest and most appealing parts of this game--a real treat.
Graphics: 3/5
+ I'm conflicted with my opinion on the graphics. While I do like the feature to switch to the classic pixelated graphics by pressing F10 (and the transition is impressively seamless and more or less instant), the modern graphics leave a lot to be desired. Sure there are moments when the effects (like the water and heat) really sparkle, but most of the animations are disastrous and embarrassing. The art and character models themselves look fairly good but having two or three sprites in your animation tileset makes the game look very poor. With all the care that was done in redrawing all the landscapes, scenes, and characters it's hard to imagine why they wouldn't do the extra work to make the animations look good, too.
Value: 3.5/5
+ While I definitely think this game is a classic for the PC and should be revisited by those who have never played it just for the sake of knowing game history, I do think that the remake feels a little uninspired. The game lasts about 6 hours or so, which I imagine is average for a point-and-click. Any longer and I would have grown bored with it. But the flaws in gameplay and the discrepancies with the new graphics make you wonder if you're getting you are really getting your money's worth when paying for a game that easily could have been improved with a few fixes here and there.