Escape from Monkey Island

There are several factors I like in adventure games. I like it when you can't die too easily, and I like it when you can't ruin the game by forgetting something or doing something wrong the first time. LucasArts' "Monkey Island" series has these, and more. They're funny, they're challenging, and, for the most part, they're CLEAN. They are suitable for most ages, though I wouldn't advise letting kids who are too young play them, and you can get a good laugh without too many inappropriate or suggestive comments. I was really looking forward to playing the fourth installment of the "Monkey Island" series. I'd played all three before and thought they were all great. They were easily the most fun and interesting games I'd ever played, especially since I was used to the whole "Sierra" theme and didn't really know what to expect. There are a lot of great things about these games, namely, you can't die all too easily (although there may be some spots you might be able to) and you can't ruin the whole entire game by forgetting one thing or not following explicit directions. There's always a second chance in Monkey Island (and in most LucasArts games!) Unfortunately, I really didn't like EMI as much as I did the others. The main difference was the absence of the "point-and-click" interface. I didn't mind it too much for using inventory, but simple commands became a bit difficult since you couldn't directly click on something - you might have to turn several times to get it right - and the walking style took a lot of getting used to! Also absent was the choice of "light" and "mega" that was present in other games, because playing on lite first for a little while might have been helpful for "getting used" to the game before really going for it. Don't get me wrong - EMI is a great game and should be enjoyed by everyone. I was disappointed to hear that the creators of the game didn't include little Wally because they didn't like his character, because I (and many others, I'm sure) thought he added a nice touch to the whole game, along with helping move the plot along. (Play the second and third one to see who he is!) And it was too bad that Murray, the talking skull, was only present for a little while and didn't have as big a part as in the third one. Either way, the game was really great, and I would certainly advise it to anyone looking for a fresh new type of adventure game.

I'd never played a Monkey Island game before playing this one but after finishing this game I wish I had.

I'm not a PC gamer, I'm a PlayStation guy. I bought this game for the PS2 (My understanding is that this version is virtually identical to the PC version.) The only games of this type that I had played before are the Broken Sword games for PS1 (which were also excellent) so I can only compare this to them.

Escape from Monkey Island (EMI) is a lot more lighthearted than Broken Sword 1 & 2 (BS1&2). Although there is an element of humour in the Broken Sword games this game is full of it. At times, BS1&2 became tedious, especially during the long, serious life stories of slow-talking characters. EMI is never like that. The conversations are not always short but they're always snappy and interesting.

Not having played a MI game before the whole "I wanna be pirate. Aargh!" sort of vibe was new to me. It was thoroughly infectious though. I loved the overall style of the game and the portrayal of the characters (which were superbly acted). This game is lot more madcap than BS1&2. You can carry a bizarre array of things around with you, all kept neatly in your pants, including a chest, a duck and a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle!

In BS1&2 you could talk to any character about any object you carried and the character would respond with some relevant comment. Although this is realistic, from a gaming point of view it became tedious after a while because every time you picked up a new object or did something new you felt obliged (for completeness, and sometimes necessity) to ask everybody about it and every time you met a new person you felt you had to show him your whole inventory. The vast majority of the time you would just get some dull, useless comment. EMI goes to the opposite extreme where, in general, you cannot show an object to someone unless it is the solution of one of the puzzles in the game, even when it might seem relevant. For example, I pick up a note "to Herman" written by Jo-Jo Junior. Surely it's not unreasonable to show the note to Jo-Jo or Herman and have him comment on it. If I try to "use note with Jo-Jo" all I get is the standard "I don't think he'd like that" response. I think that somewhere between BS1&2 and EMI would be a better level of object/character interaction.

There were many in-references in this game that I missed out on not having play a MI game before. These included odd references and comments in the dialogue and also recurring characters such as Murray, Stan and Herman. Although I felt I missed out on some of the humour by not being able to identify with some of these references the game is completely self-contained and I didn't feel my progress through the game was hampered.

There were a few niggling technical annoyances in this game. You will often enter a doorway or exit point just by walking too near it. Very annoying given the loading times between areas. Especially when you walk into a room and accidently walk straight back out of it again. Also, as the camera angle changes, the new angle is sometimes from the opposite side. If, for example, you walk left to move to new a camera shot, in the next shot you may need to move right to continue in the same actual direction. But you're still holding left, which just moves you back to where you before. But you're still holding left so you move into the new area again. Etc. Etc. Ad nauseum. This is annoying but just a niggle.

Compared to BS1&2 this game seems very short. I wouldn't say it's any easier or harder but it just didn't take me very long to complete. Maybe this is because of the more succinct dialogue in this game. I don't know really.

Overall, I think I'd rather have a Monkey Island game than a Broken Sword game. Both are great games but I think this, along with other Monkey Island games I believe, is just more fun. And that's what it's all about.

Escape from Monkey Island, the fourth game in the Monkey Island tetralogy, is a mixed bag. One thing is for certain, the ending of the game is so ridiculously over the top that I'm pretty sure the game-series has reached some kind of conclusion (though CMI is still the pinnacle).

On elements that were done well, I must agree that the voice cast of the game was simply professional. Even though I miss Alexandra Boyd's lovely British accent, her replacement Charity James does a good job with Elaine, though truth be told I liked her performance as Grace Nakimura in Gabriel Knight 3 better. Stan is also a bit of a heckler, but decent. Musically the game does not quite deliver as all music is either similar to or borrowed from Curse. That is not to say that the soundtrack isn't high-quality, it just doesn't offer as many memorable moments as the past games.

Graphics wise the game is rather uneven. Certain animations are very fluid and lighting in the game is quite brilliant. However, over-all physics are somewhat lacking. On a positive note, the cut-scenes a really well executed. The interface has seen only minor improvements from Grim Fandango, but if you ask me LucasArts made a wise decision in adding action-lines into the game.

A few points of criticism are in order though. Jambalaya island in Act II came as a rather big shock for long time fans and still one of my least favorite sections in the game. Monkey Kombat in Act III, though fun may seem rather tedious to some gamers. Additionally, I was rather disappointed at the blatant fan-service quality of sticking Murray into the game. He is fun to talk to, but ultimately serves no purpose to the over-all plot.

However, one thing is still in the right place, that one thing that Monkey Island is really about, humour. The humour of the game is a shade different from that of previous games, but just as witty and fresh.

Escape from Monkey Island may not be a shiny package, but it is a funny game and definitely a fine ending for a classic series.

I love all the monkey island games, they are all excellent. The first Monkey Island Game (the secret of monkey island) was very funny. The second game was my least favourite, but brilliant. The Curse of Monkey Island was one of the best because it was one of the funniest and better graphics than the first two. But this one was possibly my favourite. It is in CGI, it is very funny and it is also one of the hardest (maybe the hardest). It took me forever to defeat Jojo Jr. at Monkey Kombat, but it was fun. I think Guybrush is funnier than in the first three games. The hardest part of the game is Monkey Kombat. I had to use a walk-through as well as it was difficult.

Overall I would give this game: 10/10. Curse: 10/10 Secret: 10/10 Revenge: 8/10

Normally, sequels are worse than their predecessors. This is generally more true for movies than computer games, but mostly holds true for computer-games too. Escape from Monkey Island is an exception to this. It is in my opinion the best of the four games, and then I think the three predecessors to this one were great too.

You will like this game the most if you have played the previous three, since there are a lot of flashbacks, and characters from the old games in this one, so you will miss out on a lot of the jokes and story if you haven't played them.

But if you did play the three other Monkey Island games, and loved them as I did, you MUST play this one. It is truly great, and everything is perfect. It's true they moved to 3D this time, but it wasn't at all disturbing as I thought it would be. The graphics is great, the story is even better, and the humor is fantastic! It's a must-play!

The monkeys are listening...