The obligatory Sam & Max: Situation Comedy thread!
 

I can't believe nobody has made a thread of the game yet! I just beat and I must say...

It's just as good and funny as the previous one, but.... I dunno, more tame? I mean, they didn't bop anyone in this game! It's not funny if nobody gets hurt! :P

Things to look out for:

Spoiler:

-The BarrelHaven Tavern prop in the studio when you enter the first time.
-Red Dye 2: Monkey Island reference? In the cooking show.
-The Telltale table fro Texas Hold'em? I think it's behind the sitcom stage?

Also, I think it's just as easy as the previous game, not that I'm complaining...

I think it was certainly shorter than the first one. Or maybe it was just easier and I flew through it in a couple of hours.

Immensly funny though.

From the "My So called Life" reference, the What Ho! Jolly Good! Bosco to the various TV shows I laughed myself silly.

Just wish it lasted longer.

I liked it for the most part, but not nearly as much as the prior. Partly, I blame this on recycling.

I mean, I know I might be asking for too much, but I wish Sam & Max would've had their commentary updated for places that they've been to before. And I wouldn't have minded seeing a few minor tweaks to the office, just to show a slight passage of time.

SWB

I think it is better then SM1. Very funny interactive cartoon with great characters and dynamic gameplay. Still no signs of adventure game though..

I've just finished it, and I had a lot of fun with it. I definitely thought the writing was snappier this time, and I always found myself wanting to go on playing.

It definitely feels shorter than the first one, though I'm not sure it actually is. I think part of the feeling is due to the game's not being longer than you'd expect. I mean: in Culture Shock, you could expect to be very close to the end when you had done what seemed to be the big tasks (getting rid of the Soda Poppers), but there was actually quite a fair bit of game left after that, leaving the very positive impression that the game was not as small as you thought at first; here, on the other hand, when you've done the big tasks (getting Myra the 3 things she asks for), well, you really are at the end of the game; so maybe that's why it feels shorter.

Still, I had a blast with it, and, at the end of the day, that's what matters.

I haven't yet bought Sam & Max Episodes, but next week I'm gonna preorder the whole season if I have the time. I'm going to London (again) next Thursday and I might not have the time to play S&M. :)

Probably going to be buying the season set over the weekend. Hopefully they'll get longer, as Culture Shock really was pretty short.

I'm loving it!

--Erwin

You know, I read this criticism in Evan's review and I really don't understand it. These games are about on the level of the comics. Maybe people are remembering the comics to be more graphically violent than they were? Certainly, one the more humorous elements of Sam & Max is its more abrupt and violent gags, but in general it relies more on silliness than outright offensiveness. Also we did remember the parts where Max put a bullet in Sam's head and Max recounting his tale of beating a purse-snatcher with a parking meter?

I dunno, maybe actually seeing the characters modeled and voiced and brought to life leaves less to the imagination, but it seems pretty close to correct to me. Telltale shouldn't make Sam & Max needlessly gory for the same reason they shouldn't try to make it family friendly - neither would be being faithful to the license.

The first episode had the habit of frequently crashing on me, and Telltale still haven't been able to fix that bug. I've payed for the full season, but I won't play this episode until I'm sure it works like it should. Maybe I'll just wait for the disc release.

Imo thats the only full 3-d adv. works flawless,both techically and artistically outstanding.I almost fell the same Lucasart adv. heyday exciment had long years ago.Simply best adv. of 2ks.

Who said gory? A little bop in the head will do! :P

There are explosions and tales of beating hoodlums! Is that not enough? Either way, I guarantee that episode 3 will have more on screen pummeling of thugs.

Maybe even a few goons.

My insane bitterness after the LEC sequel and Project Jane-J were canned in '04 has almost healed with these completely awesome episodic adventures. (As well as this years hopeful release of Grey Matter ;)) I've got my season pre-ordered. I enjoyed Situation: Comedy even more than Culture Shock! Keep 'em coming Telltale! :D

Some of my favourite moments:

Spoiler:

Myra thinking a 'Ketchup Cake' is some form of innuendo - her reaction was comedy gold! Sam & Max's audition was also great and good use of existing inventory items. Bosco's accent rocked! Plus I enjoyed the seeds of a story arc form as well as exploring the studios! :D

If I'm not mistaken the first episode is supposed to be a bit longer than the rest. I seem to recall Telltale saying as much. Anyway I've really enjoyed both episodes. Already this good and we're only a couple of episodes into the first season!

Played it again, and reminded myself of another thing that bugged me about this installment.

Max's angry face, it isn't right. I mean, instead of giving him an eyebrow, it looks as if the front of his head concaves in, making him look almost like a nehanderthal version of himself.

SWB

Has this not come out in England yet?

I havent seen it anywhere. ;(

It's not available in stores. You can purchase a download from Telltale's online store. A packaged version will be made available on their site after the full season's release.

Did you open the closet door? :D

I loved the internet-petition gag.

Thought there were maybe a few too many US-centric sitcom & actor name based in-jokes, which could cause a lot of the jokes to fall a bit flat outside of the USA or potentially cause this episode to show its age a bit in time.

Other than that though, top notch stuff again.

The reality is that it's hard to know how long an episode is going to be until people sit down and play a nearly done version. It's weird. Early on in production a lot of people thought episode 2 was might end up super short and feeling very empty, but it turned out to be only moderately shorter than 1 (or for some mysterious people, the same length or longer), and feel packed full of crazy things for Sam & Max to toy with.

I can't wait to play this, along with EP1, which I still haven't played!
Did most of you bought the whole season? Or individual episodes?

http://www.telltalegames.com/store/samandmax

[/plug]

:)

That was your 2000th post!

*throws confetti* :)

I just thought they were ficticious names?

I' m fairly sure that Keanu Reeves isn't a fictitious name :)

Who's Keanu Reeves?:P

On a related note, I couldn't shake the feeling that the verbal storms breaking between the characters were a bit more sophisticated than those of the previous episode, making the jokes in Situation: Comedy even more difficult to follow for the non-english speaking population. Smashing everything related to the American dream or the nation's way of life is part of the duo's job description, I know, as is the tendency to overcomplicate things during verbal communication. Still, I believe it could be turned down a bit without many cassualties on the joke department.

Just my two euro-cents.

I haven't finished episode 2 yet but i must say i felt the same. I didn't understand quite a few of the jokes because:
- english isn't my native language
- some jokes mention names and people i have never heard off which made me wonder if either i'm dumb, either those people are only famous in America or these people doesn't exist at all (which would be rather pointless).

This really is something Telltale should think about imo. Do they make a game for an American public or for the world to enjoy. I'm not familiar with the original cartoons so maybe they are actually staying true to the original but still.

I generally found the jokes in Episode 1 far more enjoyable.

Very good point. Although I haven't played the game, I remember I felt exactly that while playing the original Sam & Max Hit the Road back in 1993. But, you know, Sam & Max is an American creation after all. And I'm guessing it's not just a matter of language, perhaps it's more related to culture in general. I mean, Americans would say the same about jokes in French movies being produced here in Quebec (where I live) or in France.

I wonder why gamespot hasn't reviewed episode 2?

There were a few like that for me, which is why I brought it up in the first place. Some I got, but only vaguely - I recall some awful 80s US sitcom with a (white) girl who played a robot. There was a line regarding the robot girl in the Cosby Show, which was a pretty funny melding of the two series' into one in Max's (or was it Sam's?) memory. But goodness, a lot of people around the world will have totally missed it.

Pop culture references are great, but maybe stick to the global classics as much as possible.

just bought the season set, and downloaded/installed second episode.. Trying to find out if I'm going to start it tonight, or do the smarter thing; wait to tomorrow..

I almost shot my drink out my nose on Bosco's "Pip pip, honey nut cherrio" response.

Just finished the 2nd episode also and don't see enough comments on the music...it has been really great. Good job Jared Emerson-Johnson!

They're going to. In general, I think the holidays delayed some of the reviews.

Regarding the US-centric celebrities... this is interesting feedback. One question that comes up a lot is whether these games will be localized. Humor can be very hard to translate, so localizing a game like this would require a lot of work to make sure the humor (and maybe even the references) carry over.

Then again - I am American and a pop culture junkie, and even I didn't understand some of the jokes. ;)

My favorite reference in episode 2 is when Max says something about how he hasn't been so upset since they canceled My So-Called Life. This was a short-lived TV show about high school kids that happened to be on TV when I was in high school. I LOVED that show, and actually headed up letter-writing campaigns and petitions to try to prevent it from being canceled. (Didn't work.)

The line about the robotic girl in the Cosby Show is good too. :D

I've had the "My So Called Life" theme song stuck in my head for two days now. DAMN YOU MAX! :D

my so called life was great..but I cant imagine Max watching it..unless he's a claire danes fan.. it just didn't make sense for max to say that for me..

Spoiler:

One hair piece isn't nearly enough for my tastes, I want more (at least some mold on Max's experiment). Of course, I'm glad we did get to see Max's Megatron (Walther P-38).

SWB