Lame humor, poor voice acting, and an embarrassingly constant reuse of the same assets make Sam & Max Save the World a disappointing continuation of one of the most impressive adventure games of its day. Playing this immediately after Sam & Max Hit the Road only makes the later game's weaknesses that much more pronounced. While the earlier game was hilarious, stylish, and found new ways of elevating the form, this is just a hacky retread with some of the laziest attempts at humor I've ever seen.
Rather than six episodes, this really feels more like six stitched together unfinished fan-made demos. The fact that there are only a handful of character models reused over and over only heightens the firmly established amateurish vibe, like someone put it together using some kind of cheap game making utility. The voice acting isn't all bad, but the line readings of both main characters mar an already weak script. The actors just don't have any feel for the characters beyond the extremely broad strokes, with a stultifying lack of energy (especially Sam) and a dearth of comic timing (especially Max). I'd be perhaps a bit more inclined to forgive it as a relic of mid-2000s low quality voice-acting if it weren't for the fact that Hit the Road's actors nailed it so awesomely a decade earlier. Sadly, that downgrade in voice acting goes hand-in-hand with a general depreciation in graphics, atmosphere, visual style, and ambition.
But ya know what? I don't hate it. As much as the game often annoyed me, there were still many bright spots scattered throughout all the episodes and constant glimmers of good ideas, like Max as president, that in more talented hands could have really shined. The puzzles were mostly not bad - generally not too challenging (especially given the pathetically tiny size of the game world), but usually still fairly satisfying to solve. Some of the characters were even quite good, such as the game's final villain, who is one of the most unique and amusing bad guys I've seen in ages. So yeah, this game has a few things going for it. But goddammit, it could have been so much better.
Rough ranking:
Episode 6: B-
Episode 5: C+
Episode 2: C+
Episode 4: C
Episode 1: C
Episode 3: C-
Overall: C
Also, the Machinima sketches are dreadful
Rather than six episodes, this really feels more like six stitched together unfinished fan-made demos. The fact that there are only a handful of character models reused over and over only heightens the firmly established amateurish vibe, like someone put it together using some kind of cheap game making utility. The voice acting isn't all bad, but the line readings of both main characters mar an already weak script. The actors just don't have any feel for the characters beyond the extremely broad strokes, with a stultifying lack of energy (especially Sam) and a dearth of comic timing (especially Max). I'd be perhaps a bit more inclined to forgive it as a relic of mid-2000s low quality voice-acting if it weren't for the fact that Hit the Road's actors nailed it so awesomely a decade earlier. Sadly, that downgrade in voice acting goes hand-in-hand with a general depreciation in graphics, atmosphere, visual style, and ambition.
But ya know what? I don't hate it. As much as the game often annoyed me, there were still many bright spots scattered throughout all the episodes and constant glimmers of good ideas, like Max as president, that in more talented hands could have really shined. The puzzles were mostly not bad - generally not too challenging (especially given the pathetically tiny size of the game world), but usually still fairly satisfying to solve. Some of the characters were even quite good, such as the game's final villain, who is one of the most unique and amusing bad guys I've seen in ages. So yeah, this game has a few things going for it. But goddammit, it could have been so much better.
Rough ranking:
Episode 6: B-
Episode 5: C+
Episode 2: C+
Episode 4: C
Episode 1: C
Episode 3: C-
Overall: C
Also, the Machinima sketches are dreadful