![]() While the visual style is a bit simplistic in its execution, it has an undeniable charm that actually amplifies and aids the ridiculous situations in which Sam and Max are constantly find themselves. The rest of them sat there for 10 minutes, told me, "This is stupid," stood up, and walked away. I made several of my friends watch the game as I played, and of the five victims, only one actually seemed to enjoy it. I may love the writing and humor, but many will not. If the descriptions have left you cold, though, then playing the game won't make it a better fit. ![]() For the $20 price tag, you get about 15 hours of gameplay, which is more value than you usually get from a full $60 title these days. If you're remotely interested in the bizarre scenarios that I've just described, then you really owe it to yourself to give Beyond Time and Space a whirl. Frequently, the people they encounter in their adventures are borderline crazy, including Bosco, the conspiracy theorist Sybil, the woman who's always changing jobs Stinky, the amazingly awful cook and the giant stone head of Abe Lincoln. Sam and Max, who consider themselves to be "freelance police," like to shoot first and ask questions later they probably belong in an institution, but they somehow end up saving the world on a regular basis. ![]() While the scenarios are very bizarre, the characters are just the right amount of crazy for Beyond Time and Space to be amusing. Sam & Max never ceases to amaze with its inventive scenarios, from attempting to save a possessed Santa from a demon known as the "Shambling Corporate Presence," saving Easter Island's Moai statues by becoming some kind of religious deity, killing a vampire with an army of raving (of the dance club variety) zombies, time travel, and dealing with the inner workings of corporate hell. Sam, Max and company are all so ludicrous, insane and hilariously written that it's difficult to not enjoy watching the on-screen antics unfold. The biggest hint that I received was, "'I bet we can make that general look like a fool and make his train whistle without leaving the tiki bar."Įven if you don't usually enjoy point-and-click adventures, most of the game's value is in the writing. It's a wonderful integration into the gameplay that gives you major hints without making the player feel like an idiot. It's a slider that you can turn off or crank up, and the hints come in the form of your crazy rabbit sidekick, Max, mentioning something about the next task or letting you know if there's anything useful in the immediate area. When the game starts to stump you with its bizarre puzzle solutions, there is a somewhat hidden option in the game that will give you hints. There is absolutely nothing that gives you the slightest inkling that this is what you need to do. ![]() For example, one of the things that you must do in order to proceed is take a remote control and drop it out a window. There are some instances that feel like you're taking the most random item you can think of and doing something, anything with it. It's entirely possible to get through the game by simply walking into a room, picking up everything that you can, and then trying to use the items on the things you couldn't take. Most notably, the final episode references the other episodes at almost all times, including a puzzle that would be impossible to solve if you hadn't played the prior installment.Īs I've stated, the gameplay mechanics in Sam & Max feel extremely dated. You can play any episode whenever you want, but you'll want to play them in order because although the episodes are functional on their own, they often have connections to other episodes and lead right into each other. Beyond Time and Space is the five-episode-long second season of Sam & Max. Each episode comes out about a month after the previous one, and in a few months, you have a full game. ![]() Sam & Max gained popularity for having a reasonably successful formula of delivering a "season" of episodic games. The writing and humor won't appeal to everyone, as this game deals with time-traveling mariachis who live in a spaceship that looks like a sombrero. The title relies entirely on its art style, humor and writing to appeal to the player, since the gameplay mechanics are stuck in the 1990s. Sam & Max: Season Two – Beyond Time and Space is a point-and-click adventure game that was released on the PC in late 2007 via GameTap and early 2008 via Steam, but it's just now finding its way to the Xbox 360. What is the most bizarre funny scenario you can imagine? Whatever just popped into your mind, I can assure you that Telltale Games has come up with something even crazier. ![]()
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