After recently enjoying the first instalment of the series and deciding the next step is to complete the sequel
After recently enjoying the first instalment of the series and deciding the next step is to complete the second instalment, I can now give my view on the ever popular Monkey Island 2.
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I must admit I had high hopes before I began the game, and now having finished the game I’m unsure of my opinion of the game. I will break this review down into the four verdict areas to help explain my reasons for this.
Graphics first… Graphically, the game is fantastic; to think so many artists have been locked away creating such detailed environments and characters is simply unbelievable. After the first instalment being a hit the amount of effort (and probably budget also) was increased clearly for this game, simply put... amazingly beautiful scenes galore.
Sound is another winner, finally getting music and more SFX in the background is heavenly and keeps the game flowing when though the slow times (for example, travelling, or a frustrating puzzle). The music has been beautifully created bringing the game to life with the pirate’y theme.
Now comes the length… After enjoying the first instalments size and puzzles I found the sheer scale of the second game extremely off-putting. The game does not seem to be well designed as the first instalment. I found myself at times with an inventory of 20+ items and 3 islands packed with locations, rooms and objects to interact with, the possibly combinations for puzzles was mind blowing.
The depth and length of the game would have been nice, if this was in fact not an adventure game. I found myself in endless situations where I would be stuck on a difficult puzzle, and unlike Monkey Island 1 having only a room with 10 objects at most to interact with… I would have over 100+ objects to interact with, and with such off the wall puzzle designs this can create much confusion.
I simply hope this frustration with complicated puzzles in such a large scale area is handled better for players of the normal mode (as I chose hard mode). As for the story that the game follows, I found it to be more greatness, one comment I must add (without spoiling it too much for players-to-be) … what the hell was that ending all about! All in all, pick it up and enjoy another great product, just be warned you may want to keep a walkthrough at hand.
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My last conclusion for Monkey Island 1 included “It’s a shame that games are getting over complicated”… I now find it a shame an amazing title is tainted by ignoring its previous glory.