Picking up where the first episode left off, as The Tomb of Sammun-Mak begins, we find lunatic lagomorph Max and his canine compadre Sam reeling in shock at finding their doppelgängers’ skeletal remains in the basement. After discovering that the flesh-free, decades-old bones are those of their own grandparents and stumbling across a set of silent film reels – “Filmed before the invention of vocal chords,” Sam hilariously notes – they set about watching them and unravelling the unfortunate fate of their ancestors.
Jumping into the roles of Sam & Max’s respective grandpappies Sammeth and Maximus this time around – though for all intents and purposes, they’re identical to our beloved sentient animal duo – players have their choice of four film reels to jump into, each representing a section of the game. Rather than just providing a chapter system, jumping from reel to reel is actually a crucial part of the gameplay, as beyond adding a dash of Tarantino-esque non-linearity, it’s also necessary to play through much of a later chapter to find the solution to completing to an earlier one. After striking out when trying to bribe a gang of elves with a new toy idea in reel one, you’ll have to jump ahead to the third reel, discover what revolutionary toy the elves are making, then leap back to the beginning armed with new-found paradoxical knowledge. It’s quite an underused concept though (after the extended jaunt to reel three to grab a couple of bits of info, you can simply play through linearly), and is essentially a less elegantly implemented retread of Max’s futurevision from Episode 1, and therein lies the issue keeping Episode 2 from bettering its preceding volume; while the psychic powers showcased in The Penal Zone were all original and ingeniously used, two of the three new additions to The Tomb of Sammun-Mak aren’t nearly as clever, nor do they inspire the same quality of puzzles or gags. The ‘Can O’ Nuts’ power – which gifts Sammeth and Maximus with the ability to conceal themselves within a can of mixed nuts – fares worst, and is never really used particularly inventively.
What the reel system lacks in ingenuity and originality though, it more than makes up for in presentation; far from just reusing sets and assets from the last episode, Telltale have not only crafted several rather expansive, diverse and brand new locations to explore, but they’re all steeped in an incredibly fun and charming Victorian themed aesthetic, from the wintry 1900s-era Straight and Narrow, complete with street urchin elves spouting slang in New York (or “Little Arctic Circle”) accents, to the fun silent movie title cards. It goes a long way towards making each chapter feel like its own self-contained game with a distinct, unique feel as well as part of an overarching story, while side-stepping the location-recycling criticisms of the previous seasons. Telltale also manage to strike a harmonious balance of using familiar characters without alienating prospective newcomers; a wealth of characters re-appear from the previous seasons, including Baby Amelia Earhart, but the historic setting ingeniously allows the chance to throw in character origins for fans whilst always keeping new players up-to-speed without missing a note. From the mole people and their recurring cucumber gag (which is surprisingingly not a double-entendre) to Earhart stealing the show, Episode 2 is never left wanting for fun characters bringing hilarity in every scene. The only character who gets a short thrift (*Insert elvish height joke here*) is shifty vaudevillain Monsieur Papierwaite, who isn’t given a lot to do and suffers from the slightly rushed feel of the climax.
While the puzzles don’t quite match the more inventive moments of the opening episode and are a tad easier, almost every one is logical, fun and rewarding. Though the other psychic abilities fall a little flat, thankfully the “psychic ventriloquism” power, which through a dummy named Charlie Ho-Tep allows Maximus to take over and control the voice of anyone in the vicinity, is used to a much more impressive extent, tying into puzzles well and inspiring many optional jokes. There’s also another similar puzzle-aiding bag of tricks up the game’s sleeve in the various curses of the mole people; each mole person has a unique curse that only they can perform, and allowing characters to become the victim of a hex is often the key to a given puzzle. One curse causes the opposite sex to violently recoil at the sound of your voice, which can come in handy if you need to get an uncooperative character from one side of the room to another. Combined with some fun hieroglyphic antics, the curses make for some of the more clever moments the game has to offer, and with a steady mix of inventory, curse/psychic and knowledge-based puzzles, there’s a wealth of diverse adventure-gaming fun along the way.
Moreover, despite the minor shortcomings of the powers this time around, one thing that hasn’t suffered one iota is the sheer gut-cramping hilarity of the game’s writing; juggling note-perfect historical gags (a certain dialogue choice for Baby Amelia’s send-off is amazing in its subtle and laugh-inducing simplicity) and awesome risqué jokes (a moment elf fetish innuendo is particularly awesome) with the series’ trademark surreal vocabulary-laden wit, fourth-wall-poking jabs and sardonic snark, the laugh-out-out humour is as rapid-fire as Earhart’s own fast-paced wordiness. Though it slightly fails to reach the near-perfect heights of the opening chapter, it’s a testament to the sheer quality of Telltale’s work and the series’ impeccably hilarious writing that even a mildly disappointing chapter in Sam & Max’s adventures is still a dizzyingly funny slice of wonderfully outlandish adventure-gaming entertainment that’s worth the time of anyone equipped with a brain and a sense of humour.
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Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse is now available to buy on the PlayStation Network and is also available on PC, Mac and iPad.
Episode Two: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak is out now on the US PlayStation Network, and hits the European PSN on Wednesday 26th May.