Can Guybrush’s second adventure be just as good as the first?
Guybrush’s adventures continue on the high seas as pox-plagued pirates lay siege to the innocent Mer-People. In between defending the Mer-People and dodging the persistent pirate hunter hot on his trail, Guybrush manages to catch up to his beloved wife and despised arch-nemesis — but their reunion is short-lived. Now Guybrush must focus on eradicating the Pox of LeChuck before more harm can be done. And as the Mighty Pirate draws closer to a cure, the waters will only grow murkier in this thrilling chapter of the epic saga.
The first episode of Tales of Monkey Island was an impressive start and a perfect rebirth for the franchise. Launch of the Screaming Narwhal left us on a cliff-hanger with Elaine and LeChuck getting cosy, plus Guybrush is attacked by a mystery woman. The Siege of Spinner Cay continues literally as the first episode ended and it seems that the woman is working for the crazy French guy from the first episode, ending in a pretty result 🙂
After that pleasant encounter, you head to the Jerkbait Islands where you are reunited with Elaine, but Guybrush is responsible for releasing the Pox across the Caribbean and is talked into fixing it by finding La Esponja Grande but to find it’s location he must find 3 artifacts hidden across the islands that you can travel to by raft. The odd thing about this episode is LeChuck, he seems to have changed for the better and Guybrush is really suspicious. I am too, I wonder if this good streak will last or if LeChuck will revert to his old ways? Time will tell…
I found that this episode was slightly shorter than Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, but it was more seamless with it’s puzzles and interactions with other characters, so to me it’s a better episode overall. The puzzles are more on the easier side this time around, but I hope that Episode 3 will be a bit tougher and last a bit longer. As with most episodic games, once you’ve completed Episode 2 there is little reason to come back as there are no collectables or anything else to do. It would have been nice to have more to do afterwards, but it’s a really small complaint.
The version I got to review was close to final, but there were some bugs and typos that the team were aware of and should be fixed for the version that is now out for you to download. So any irregularities I found while playing the game should all be sorted in the retail version.
The Verdict
Siege of Spinner Cay is better than the first episode, but it’s a testament to Telltale’s talents when it comes to building an episodic series, each episode is usually better than the last and they always leave you wanting more. Well they’ve succeeded once again and hopefully will continue to do so with Lair of the Leviathan.
