Tales of Monkey Island

by Marcus Mulkins
previewed on PC
When does the fifth game not get a “V”?
So, if this isn’t Monkey Island V, what is it? Weeeellllll, start with the end of Escape. Tack on Monkey Island V (which we have no clue what that will be about). That brings us up to, “it’s now several years since our dynamic duo Escaped From Monkey Island.” This brings us to Episode 1, “Launch of the Screaming Narwhal”. For what seems the umpteenth time, Elaine has been kidnapped by LeChuck. Truly fed up with LeChuck’s obsession for his main squeeze, Guybrush heads off to see Voodoo Lady to get a recipe for “LeChuck Finale” (a.k.a., the Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu). Next we have fun collecting ingredients. Comes the moment of combining said ingredients and we have our first Guybrush moment (a.k.a., “oops”). Which necessitates a Search mission to locate a suitable substitute for root beer.
Enjoy that first game of hide-and-go-seek. After that first challenge, they start to get more difficult. Eventually Guybrush does get to run LeChuck through with the Cutlass Mark II, and it does, in fact, put an end to the Undead Pirate Captain LeChuck – by turning him into live Pirate Captain LeChuck. Guybrush oops #2. Greatly unfortunate for Guybrush, he had his hand on LeChuck at the magic moment of transformation – and some of LeChuck’s evil mojo migrated to Guybrush’s hand. That hand is now the carrier of the Pox of LeChuck. Oops #3. Now Guybrush must not only rescue Elaine, he must find a way to undo the pox which is inexorably turning every pirate it comes into contact with into an undead pirate.
That should keep you busy for awhile. For roughly 2–4 hours, depending on how good you are with puzzles.
I should also mention that the graphics have migrated on to some serious 3–D effects. Know what you get when you take an animated cartoon and make it 3–D? To me it looks like marionettes without their strings. I hate marionettes. But, hey, different strokes for different folks. Maybe it won’t bug you as much as it did me.
I will gladly give you episodes monthly, for $34.95 today
That’s the deal. If you pre–order from Telltale from now until July 6th, starting on the 7th you will be able to download Episode 1, “Launch of the Screaming Narwhal”. About a month later, you will be able to download Episode 2, “The Siege of Spinner Cay” and so on until you have all 5 episodes. But wait! There’s more! For the $34.95 that you coughed up, Telltale will also send you the Collectors’ DVD with box.
All that, 5 chunks of a game, 10-20 hours of gameplay spread out over five months, and an actual cardboard box, all for $34.95.
Or you could simply wait for six months (after having already waited 9 years) to buy the game – complete with any patches that may have surfaced in the interim – at your local game store. And probably for a lower price. And then you will be able to plow straight through the entire game, all five episodes, if you want to.
Your choice.