Sam and Max it’s something I love and would like to see more popular. However, I know that if it actually became more popular, I would probably get bored quickly and stop loving it as much. Sometimes we don’t know what’s good for us.
However, it has been 14 years since the last time Sam and Max adventure. Unless you count 2021 Sam and Max: Virtual This Timewhich I don’t do because my eyes haven’t been tainted by VR yet. Last time it was Telltale Sam and Max: Season 3: Devil’s Funhousewhich is the last game to be remastered by Skunkape Games.
When it came out, I really got into Season 3. I was thrilled, but because of its episodic nature, I only made it halfway through episode 3 before losing steam and not finishing the rest. So I was ecstatic to have a reason to give it another go, and it was worth it, because it was definitely the best season of the Telltale show.
If you are not familiar with Sam and MaxIt’s really challenging to describe. They’re the Freelance Police, which puts them in a position where they can abuse their questionable power, and they’re cluttered enough to do so. The pair are basically a twisted vaudeville act, with Sam playing the earnest man and Max being brutally uninhibited. The absurd and loose premise means that continuity and world-building aren’t very significant and can be thrown into pretty much any kind of story.
Devil’s Theatre is a pretty sturdy example of this, as its five episodes meander through a variety of tones and genres. The first, titled “The Penal Zone,” has shades of B-movie sci-fi. The second is an adventure story. The third starts out as a film noir before abruptly shifting into something harder to describe. There’s an overarching plot that’s a lot more Lovecraftian, but it all threatens to change at any moment in the blink of an eye.
Oddly enough, the Telltale series, including Devil’s Theatreare among the more subdued versions of the series. Other titles are a bit more saccharine, including 1993. Sam and Max: Hit the Roadwhich was the blueprint for Telltale’s take on point-and-click adventures. Telltale games have a lot more dialogue, which slows down the frantic pace. It’s not a substantial deal. I just think it’s frigid to compare them within a series. If that bores me, well, I thought that was already established.
Despite its more casual pace, the story isn’t without its oddities. It involves Earth being invaded by a talking space gorilla, while Max, a hyperkinetic rabbit creature, gains psychic powers by touching the View-Master. The next five episodes revolve around an artifact called “The Devil’s Toybox” and the power toys it contains. The plot then meanders through all sorts of cosmic horror.
What makes Devil’s Theatre What makes it a bit more appealing than previous seasons – especially now that they’ve been remastered – is that it sticks better to the overall storyline. All episodes end with some sort of spectacular cliffhanger. Yet each one feels unique and adds its own twist.
In the second episode, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak, you take on the role of the couple’s early 20th-century grandparents, Sameth and Maximus. It’s compelling because you follow the story in a non-linear fashion, switching between reels of film and transferring knowledge from later reels back to earlier ones to solve puzzles.
The third episode, They Stole Max’s Brain, begins with Sam going full-on film noir, brutally interrogating people on the streets. The film noir motif slows down too early, which is unfortunate, because it’s a memorable detour. The characters’ reactions to his depressing monologues are some of the funniest moments in the game. But then again, I’m wishing for too much of a good thing.
Devil’s Theatre follows the early Telltale adventure formula, which was inspired by the older Lucasarts point-and-click games. The problem with early Telltale adventures was that they were just okay from a gameplay perspective. As much as I love Sam and Max games and Strong Bad’s frigid game for attractive peopleIt’s mostly about the sights and sounds, not the puzzles.
While it’s challenging to pinpoint exactly why they’re unimpressive, I think it’s mostly due to the way they’re conveyed. In older adventure titles, scenes were often set up in a way that focused attention on your goals. There was something obvious in the background, a character repeating their actions, or just a few clearly interactive objects. Sometimes you had to explore to get context, but you usually knew what you were supposed to be focusing on.
Telltale Sam and Max games rely more on exploration to gain context. You often have to talk to every possible person and look at everything in the environment to figure out what strange thing is central to your next problem. This may be partly a problem with the episodic format, as backgrounds are reused over and over again and can’t be set up in such a specific way.
The puzzle design isn’t terrible at all. They just aren’t as satisfying as they should be. This makes the required exploration a bit more tedious.
The Story of Devil’s Theatre is the overall best of Telltale’s three seasons, but its final episode is rather disappointing. While it has great visuals, the story feels like it needed a longer runtime to be properly told. It introduces up-to-date plot points quickly, then drops them even faster. Characters from previous seasons appear without being reintroduced. Meanwhile, the ending was so poorly edited that I had to watch it twice to understand what happened.
Speaking of which, the final twist is then brought up and almost haphazardly resolved. It seems like point-and-click adventure games tend to stumble in their climaxes, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. But all the ingredients for a satisfying ending were there, they just didn’t have enough time to bake. I hate to repeat myself, but this is disappointing.
The result is a series of episodes that I enjoyed, but I won’t be rushing to revisit, although I’m sure I will eventually. I love Sam and Maxand even if Devil’s Theatre aren’t they in top form, it’s enjoyable enough to witness as a fan. I’m at least glad I finished the season this time.
This is more or less what it looked like when Devil’s Theatre was released. Telltale has made a lot of solid but unspectacular point-and-click games, and Sam and Max lived in this era. It was followed by a solid but unspectacular Back to the Future: The Game and somewhat disastrous Jurassic Park: The Game before we came across their breakthrough The Living DeadAt this point their formula changed completely as they headed towards death due to mismanagement.
But even if they aren’t spectacular, it’s simple to love the games from Telltale’s early days, and it’s obvious that the developers at Skunkape love them. While you can still tell that the game was first released in 2010, the lightening up is significant and effective, making the game feel more at home among its contemporary counterparts. I still hope that now that Sam and Max games have been remastered (and assuming their next step isn’t to create a completely up-to-date installment), they are considering remastering my beloved Strong Bad’s frigid game for attractive peopleA girl can dream.
Remaster Devil’s Theatre is a loving polish that lives up to the standards of Skunkape’s previous efforts. What’s more, Season 3 is definitely the best. If you’re looking to get into the series, you’re probably better off jumping into Season 1. If you’ve been along for the ride this long, you won’t be disappointed. The Telltale Sam and Max The show may not be the most mind-blowing point-and-click game you’ll ever see, but after watching the first two seasons, you owe it to yourself to finish it. I can’t think of a reason why you wouldn’t.
