Going into Curse of Monkey Island presents a challenge a half: I was aware that opinions are divided about this game. Some said this was the best of the series and a highpoint in the entire Point-and-Click-Adventure game genre. Others said it was a bastardization of the series and the absence of Ron Gilbert was painfully obvious. So what do I think of it?
Well strangely enough I can see both sides of argument. On one hand, Curse of Monkey Island succeeds on many levels: The animation is extraordinary to behold and it’s certainly welcome to see animation of Disney level being put to good use in a computer game. The voice acting is great – particularly the contributions from Alan Young and Earl Boen. The backdrops are beautiful to behold (but then again, I’ve been saying that a lot for many of the adventure games I’ve been playing lately). The jokes are great and laugh out-loud funny. And even if Rob Gilbert isn’t on board, the people behind Curse of Monkey Island are obviously putting in a lot of effort to say something of their own.
But on the other hand, many of the problems are really repeating themselves. The insults are still there and whilst it’s a nice idea to put a different twist on them it’s odd to see one of the memorable aspects of the original replicated. The plot is compelling enough but it’s still following the same structure as the first Monkey Island game. The ship battles are an unusual inclusion – almost as if the game suddenly decided it would rather be Sid Meier’s Pirates instead. Also annoying is how little Elaine Marley contributes to the game itself – she’s shown to be a smart and capable woman so it is disappointing that she’s been shut out of the game for 95% of it. I did say it was clear that the makers of Curse of Monkey Island wanted to say something of their own but it is an off-putting thought that the makers may have been spending too much time than necessary looking at Curse of Monkey Island’s predecessors.
And then there’s the ending: Again, much like Monkey Island 2, it led from a bizarre final act that seemed to be completely disconnected from the rest of the game only to arrive at a conclusion that could be best described as abrupt. Personally, considering the abrupt nature of the ending to Monkey Island 2, I would've preferred it if the makers swept it under the rug and concentrated on saying something of their own - bu no, they seemed awfully intent on going out of their way to explain Monkey Island 2's ending and thus it comes across as being somewhat unwelcome.
But if following the motions that Monkey Island 2 set up (to the letter!) seemed a bit suspicious, worse still was the series of vignettes based on previous Monkey Island locations. Thus one gets the feeling that maybe somehow the love for Money Island 1+2 may have had a far greater influence on the makers of Curse of Monkey Island then first assumed.
At least this time though the game got a proper ending. Not a good one but it was somewhat satisfying to see Guybrush and Elaine sail off into the sunset.
So in the end I enjoyed playing the first three Monkey island games. But now I think, having completed Curse of Monkey Island, now may be a good time to stop. At time of writing, I have no interest in pursuing Escape to Monkey Island or the Tales of Monkey Island – as is my understanding, if I was bothered by the various allusions to the first two games in Curse of Monkey Island then the next two game aren’t going to much better.
So in a way, maybe this is the cue to stop waffling about Adventure games in this blog. I’ve been playing a lot of adventure games over the past month so now perhaps now is a good time as any to cease and explore new horizons. And is there something I already have in my sights?
Oooooooooooooooh yeah….
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