thordog
Feb 25th, 2007, 08:13 PM
If there’s one thing LucasArts excels in, it’s making humorous adventures. Their impressive track record includes the Monkey Island series, Maniac Mansion and its successor, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, several Indiana Jones games and so on. Doubtlessly one of the best is Sam & Max: Hit the Road.<BR><BR>The duo Sam & Max, a dog in a blue suit and a saw-toothed rabbit, first appeared in the comic Sam & Max: Freelance Police, and later in a cartoon. Personally, I’ve known them only from this game. Sam and Max are a pair of first-rate sadists who revel in destruction and violence, Max being just a bit worse than Sam. Despite this, they have the curious profession of Freelance Police. At times the police commissioner assigns them missions that they perform in the style of private detectives. Usually breaking as much personal property as they can on the way.<BR><BR>When the game starts, the duo more or less saves a woman from the death ray of a mad, love-starved scientist. I say more or less because after kicking the scientist’s butt, they leave without untying the woman still trapped under the death ray. Arriving back at their seedy office, they receive a phone call from the commissioner. Before long, Sam and Max are knee-deep into the case of a missing Bigfoot that’s disappeared from a carnival. Their adventure takes them through fancy places such as the Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota, the Graceland-like home of a villainous British country star, and the Mystery Vortex.<BR><BR>The controls are what you’re probably used to from LucasArts adventures. There’s several icons you can cycle through to click on things: the eye (look at), the hand (pick up), the squeeze doll (use), the mouth (talk to), and since you’re controlling Sam, an icon to use Max on things. The game isn’t insanely difficult, and if you have some experience with adventures you won’t have trouble beating it without a walkthrough. The humor is irresistible, though I can’t vouch for it reaching the level of the comics. Voice acting is great and the characters are hilarious. You don’t want to miss out on this game.