Return of the Max…
Max, the hyperkinetic rabbity-thing with a lust for violence and a sawtooth grin, has always been the more unhinged member of the Freelance Police – a loveable lunatic with a knack for spreading chaos wherever he goes. But recently his abilities have taken a supernatural turn. It all started when he stumbled upon a mysterious toy that allows him to glimpse the future. Now Sam & Max have aroused the attention of a host of villains from across the galaxy who are hellbent on acquiring the magical Toys of Power to achieve their own ends. As those who seek the Devil’s Toybox close in and Max’s psychic abilities grow beyond his control, the Freelance Police will come up against their most frightening adversary yet: the power of Max’s mind.
I’ve played the Sam and Max games since Telltale brought out Episode 1 of the first season to PC back in the day. I’ve been a big fan throughout, which makes this review a bit melancholy for me. I loved it and now that the third season has finally been remastered, it feels like the end of an era once again…I remember playing The Devil’s Playhouse on PC when it released, because the PS3 port was a bit of a mess in terms of performance. I always hoped that afterwards, we’d get a 4th season, but alas it was not to be. I’ve been reviewing the remasters of the series since 2021, so it’s taken a good while to get here, but damn has it been worth the wait…
The Devil’s Playhouse is 5 episodes of chaos that have been vastly improved for PS4 and Xbox One. Framerate is no longer an issue, the visuals have been nicely polished and its just the perfect send-off for the series. I didn’t notice any difference between the PS4 and Xbox versions.
It definitely feels a lot different to the previous 2 seasons thanks to the Toys of Power that Max can use, but it definitely feels like the point where the series had hit its stride. The developers Skunkape are made up of a small fraction of the original Telltale team and it is amusing that they picked the name of a character from the final season as their name. I had hoped we would get all of the games remastered and they have delivered that superbly.
I honestly don’t know what happens with the franchise now…the VR game that had nothing to do with Skunkape/Telltale didn’t set the world on fire, so maybe this is truly the end of the wacky duo…I really hope not, I would absolutely love for them to make a comeback.
The Verdict
Overall, the series ends on a high here with the finale and even though I wanted them to come back, I couldn’t have wished for a better ending to the Telltale series. I have massive respect for Skunkape for bringing the remasters to us and wish them all the best for whatever they have planned next.