Hello and welcome to the first review in Season 2 of Sam & Max, Telltale's very successful foray into episodic content development. Their newest installment - Ice Station Santa - appears to continue to maintain a high level of quality Telltale set in Season 1.
If you haven't played the previous episodes or read my earlier reviews, I urge you to go and do so. But if you want to just jump right in, you won't feel too lost and that's the beauty of it! Sam and Max are an incredibly sarcastic and pointed dog and rabbit detective duo dug straight out of video gaming history, and have been restored for us in glorious satire by Telltale.
In the game, you will control the duo using the classic point-and-click interface that has become a near trademark of the adventure genre. A quick description of typical adventure gameplay could be, "Pick up the thing, find the widget that's impeding your progress, talk to this guy over here, figure out if he wants said thing, give him the thing to get the doohicky, find a way to use the doohicky on the widget so you can get by and so-on and so forth."
For Sam & Max, (I've never been certain if the S&M acronym is appropriate, but it's the right type of humor) all of this typical gameplay is broken up by frequent and riotous bouts of laughter. Their biting comments and almost-offensive implications will keep most gamers in stitches. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself you'll do just fine, and if you don't then you're probably not the type of gamer that Telltale sees as their 'target audience.'
This particular episode, (we're talking about Ice Station Santa, remember) begins with Sam & Max narrowly avoiding an attempt on their lives by a giant robot who can't seem to get enough of mid-80's pop-music. A bit of investigation sends the two out on a trip to the North Pole to get to the bottom... or top... of things as the price on their heads was put in place by none other than Santa Claus himself. It's not long after arriving that you realize that everything is actually not the jolly red man's fault, because he has been possessed by an extra-dimensional being who was mailed to St. Nick from central Canada and has a hankering to drop the heroes (as you'll find out the first time 'Santa' peppers you with automatic rifle fire.)
In my past reviews, I've really unloaded on the driving mini-game and how it's seemed forced in and clunky, and everything you *don't* want to be forced to go through while having an otherwise enjoyable experience. I'm pleased to day that this time around, Telltale has improved things. Driving the Desoto is much better as you can use the keyboard to maneuver the car while firing your revolver with the mouse and by much better, I mean it doesn't make me want to run outside and destroy my own car to get a bit of revenge.
It IS a major improvement and this opened me up enough to actually enjoy their NEW minigame - a boxing match which actually comes with customizable controls. I take the changes in controls as evidence of Telltale listening to its players - which is hard enough to find - and also of them working to improve an already quality series of games.
As I've said before, you can expect the same vein of humor as in all the previous S&M (hehe) titles, but you may be surprised at the underlying view of Christmas' real meaning held by the furry twosome. When the cards are down and it's time to bring it all home, the 'reason for the season' shows through, although heavily salted with cynicism, sarcasm, and all the fun that can be packed into it. All-in-all it's another great title that I encourage everyone to go and pick up.
Happy Holidays!
