Sam & Max Episode 203: Night of the Raving Dead

Sam & Max Episode 203: Night of the Raving Dead is the third installment in this second season edition of Sam & Max.  With a theme like Zombies, this game should be a scream, but unfortunately it suffers a little from the mid-week doldrums.

The game designers at Tell Tale games always like to keep their fans on their toes for the beginning of any of their games, and this time is no exception. The initial scene opens in the actual middle of the game, with the intrepid duo held prisoner by the game’s villain, an emo vampire named Jurgen. This Jurgen owns a very cool castle, which he has turned into a rave club for zombies called The Zombie Factory. We’re immediately taken back in time to the beginning of the game to see how exactly they ended up in such dire straits, and the actual game commences.

Sam & Max’s neighborhood has a small pest problem; that is, it is being overrun by zombies. These zombies, despite their brain-eating reputation, do not appear to be an immediate hazard to anyone as Sam & Max can move near them with seeming impunity. This is a good thing, as Sam & Max will be moving through them a lot in the course of the this game, as many of the puzzles require quite a bit of back-and-forth movement.

The puzzle quantity and quality has been an uneven mix in most of these episodic installments, but this time the designers got it mainly right. Despite the tiring backtracking, the puzzles are well-designed and thought-provoking, and provide a good amount of engaging game time. My favorite puzzle involved using a TV show’s product placement to cause a reaction elsewhere.

As in several of the Sam & Max games, there is a mini-game, but only one this time.  It’s a pretty good knock-off of Paperboy, but it’s not as much fun as the Guitar Hero emulation in Sam & Max 202.

However, despite the great puzzles, the manic humor just isn’t present. How can you possibly go wrong with zombies? It does go wrong here, though, with just a small number of zombie gags throughout the game. Much of the humor pokes fun at AOL, product placement, dating game TV shows and European narcissism, but many of these jokes are old and tired, such as the whole “Zombies who let commercials and AOL tell them how to live” theme. The one running gag that is truly hilarious is Sybil’s self-dating service, where she is recruiting a new boyfriend to replace Not-So-Honest Abe. Her interjected comments and remarks to prospective suitors during Sam and Max’s conversations with said suitors are too funny. My favorite sight gag remains Max’s office, which has become a trophy case with relics from all the past episodes.

The cracking on religion has abated somewhat in this third episode. I was curious after the second episode if this third episode would continue with the extreme satirical take on Christianity, but it didn’t. For subsequent episodes, who knows.

Sam & Max fans may be a little disappointed with the overall humor, but if players treat this as a regular adventure game, they will find much to please. The game is a decent length and features fairly complex puzzles, plus lots of rich sight gags and several good jokes. And as a set-up for the next installment, of course, it is a necessary component of the entire series. Evidently the AWOL Bosco is to be a factor in the next game, which I find intriguing, as I love Bosco!

Gameplay: 7.0
The overall gameplay is closer to average this time, with the humor just not hitting all the right notes throughout. The whole zombie theme was hung out to dry. But, there are some good jokes still, and lots of cool sight gags. The puzzles are fun and engaging, and the paperboy mini-game is amusing.

Graphics: 8.0
I love the cartoon style!

Sound: 8.0
Same as always, wonderful music and sound effects.

Difficulty: Medium
Some puzzles are easy, some are not. There is a hint system, though, and a walkthrough on the Telltale site. These puzzles are a bit more involving this time around.

Concept: 7.0 
The concept is essentially the same, which is a good thing for adventure fans.

Overall: 7.0
This episode is the weakest this season so far as in terms of humor, but is the strongest in terms of puzzle solving. However, Sam & Max fans want the hysterical gags the series usually offers, so they may be a little disappointed.