This is the fourth chapter of the Monkey Island series. As normal, prepare to find lots of salty humor and engaging game play from this legendary series. Loaded with lusciously rendered backgrounds and more monkeys than you can handle, Escape from Monkey features an original cinematic story full of drama. The game is highlighted by hundreds of challenging puzzles.
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I like this one a lot more than most it seems. Almost certainly because it was the first one that I played. Some aspects are unforgivable, like the tank controls (not an issue on the PS2 version for what it's worth), and Monkey Kombat. But I still find it very charming and more or less in line with the rest of the series in terms of writing, puzzle design, etc.
I can't actually bring myself to hate this game, despite the really weird tank controls and multiple trial and error sections. I think I actually like it despite everything.
One of the most disappointing games I have ever played; looked dated even before it came out
That swamp puzzle can go fuck itself
That swamp puzzle can go fuck itself
Though I agree that it is the worst game in the franchise, I by no means think it is bad. Yes, it is very clunky (definitely play with a controller), and isn't particularly pretty, and the new gimmick (though a good idea) was not well executed at all; but it's still got the same style of humour and story we love the series for. For that matter, I think humour is one department in which this game shines brighter than the others; the same style of jokes, but perfected to the point of being the title which made me laugh the most. If you like Monkey Island, don't skip on this title, it's worth your time.
“Escape from Monkey Island” came out during the darkest time of 3D graphics, and it shows. Not only do the locations and characters look awful, but the control system also has to be one of the most user-unfriendly in the history of graphic adventures. Moving around the maps and interacting with objects can get incredibly frustrating, and it’s very easy to miss interactive areas of the screen without a mouse.
That aside, it’s hard to deny that this was the series’ first serious attempt at telling a story with a fleshed-out plot. A bad attempt, but at least they tried. Things like the infamous Toothrot retcon are an insult to the players, but at the same time, we can’t deny that the spirit of the original games was built around self-deprecation and continuous betrayal of the fans’ expectations. I think the problem is that the franchise has adopted a more childish and cartoony approach as it progressed over the years. “Escape” started along the same lines as “Curse”, but it really gets worse and worse as it progresses.
The puzzles also get incredibly tedious and frustrating for no particular reason, with the parrot one winning the crown for the most annoying activity to engage in a video game. Monkey Kombat has been mentioned by most players as their biggest turn-off, but I thought it was a decent alternative to the insult battles. At least it made me use my brain, unlike the other puzzles. Most of the second half just had me try all objects on everything without even knowing what I was doing, most of the time not even sure about what my objective was supposed to be. It’s not that the puzzles are built around a pun or absurd ways to get to a relatively straightforward outcome, they are just random item combinations to troll the player. There were bits like that in the previous games too, but here it felt like they really jumped the shark in all possible ways.
There are also a million bugs waiting for you, including game-breaking ones waiting for you. I would recommend not playing altogether, but if you do, make sure to save often and keep multiple saves. I also needed to download a separate launcher to play my Steam copy.
That aside, it’s hard to deny that this was the series’ first serious attempt at telling a story with a fleshed-out plot. A bad attempt, but at least they tried. Things like the infamous Toothrot retcon are an insult to the players, but at the same time, we can’t deny that the spirit of the original games was built around self-deprecation and continuous betrayal of the fans’ expectations. I think the problem is that the franchise has adopted a more childish and cartoony approach as it progressed over the years. “Escape” started along the same lines as “Curse”, but it really gets worse and worse as it progresses.
The puzzles also get incredibly tedious and frustrating for no particular reason, with the parrot one winning the crown for the most annoying activity to engage in a video game. Monkey Kombat has been mentioned by most players as their biggest turn-off, but I thought it was a decent alternative to the insult battles. At least it made me use my brain, unlike the other puzzles. Most of the second half just had me try all objects on everything without even knowing what I was doing, most of the time not even sure about what my objective was supposed to be. It’s not that the puzzles are built around a pun or absurd ways to get to a relatively straightforward outcome, they are just random item combinations to troll the player. There were bits like that in the previous games too, but here it felt like they really jumped the shark in all possible ways.
There are also a million bugs waiting for you, including game-breaking ones waiting for you. I would recommend not playing altogether, but if you do, make sure to save often and keep multiple saves. I also needed to download a separate launcher to play my Steam copy.
It is absolutely crazy to me that a game that looks this ugly came out from a major publisher in 2000. You fire this thing up and the animation and character models and backgrounds just slap you full across the face with no warning. PC games weren't exacly known for their photorealistic beauty at this point in history, but we're not talking the dawn of 3D gaming here. This company - on this engine - made GRIM FANDANGO two years earlier, and that was great. This game looks like EARTHWORM JIM 3D. It looks like BUBSY 3D.
I probably wouldn't be so hard on it if the rest of the game didn't suck huge also, but it does. Charmless, zero-laughs writing just drafting off bits from the previous games, a nothing plot and totally unrecognizable returning characters, absolute garbage puzzles from start to finish, one legendarily stupid minigame, and an abysmal control scheme (a.k.a. the worst part of GRIM, but that game was, you know, really good, so it didn't matter). After the last game was such an unlikely success, it sucks that they went and dicked the dog this hard right afterwards. It's even more disheartening to see the unbelievable pass this thing got with reviewers in its day. Were they just trying to prop up the genre? Afraid that if they gave the biggest-name point-and-click of the year its deserved D+ for effort that they'd kill them all for good? Didn't make a difference either way, I guess. But good lord, if this was the best they could do, the genre deserved a break.
....
(sorry, one more thing about the graphics. So like ... this game has pre-rendered backgrounds. So ... shouldn't the character models be good? Couldn't they use a COUPLE more polygons?? They look SO BAD. The backrounds are jpegs! This is the PC for Christ's sake, not the N64! FEAR EFFECT came out nine months before this!! Wtf was going on here?!?)
I probably wouldn't be so hard on it if the rest of the game didn't suck huge also, but it does. Charmless, zero-laughs writing just drafting off bits from the previous games, a nothing plot and totally unrecognizable returning characters, absolute garbage puzzles from start to finish, one legendarily stupid minigame, and an abysmal control scheme (a.k.a. the worst part of GRIM, but that game was, you know, really good, so it didn't matter). After the last game was such an unlikely success, it sucks that they went and dicked the dog this hard right afterwards. It's even more disheartening to see the unbelievable pass this thing got with reviewers in its day. Were they just trying to prop up the genre? Afraid that if they gave the biggest-name point-and-click of the year its deserved D+ for effort that they'd kill them all for good? Didn't make a difference either way, I guess. But good lord, if this was the best they could do, the genre deserved a break.
....
(sorry, one more thing about the graphics. So like ... this game has pre-rendered backgrounds. So ... shouldn't the character models be good? Couldn't they use a COUPLE more polygons?? They look SO BAD. The backrounds are jpegs! This is the PC for Christ's sake, not the N64! FEAR EFFECT came out nine months before this!! Wtf was going on here?!?)