GDC 2010 Preview: Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 12 March 2010 / 2,537 Views
Today, Telltale Games officially announced Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse, the third season in the series, for the PC, Mac and PlayStation Network. The series will release in 5 episodes beginning with the first episode titled The Penal Zone coming out April 15th.
I had the chance to sit down and play the beginning of this episode with Telltale, but before I get into the details, let me catch everyone up to speed. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Telltale Games, they tend to focus their efforts on episodic games, which resemble TV episodes complete with cliffhangers. As for Sam and Max, the police duo originated in comic books in the early 80's and have since made the leap over to the video game realm.
The Penal Zone has this B movie or sci-fi vibe to it, complete with narration by an old creepy guy in the same vein as Rod Serling from The Twilight Zone. Sam and Max are locked away courtesy of General Skunkape and it's your job to assist in their escape. I don't want to spoil any surprises, but you will see some familiar faces from previous seasons.
The first episode will introduce you to a new mode called Max Mode, which will allow you to take control of Max and use these magical items called Toys of Power. The first Toy of Power is a teleportation phone which can teleport you directly to the location of characters whose phone numbers you've acquired. The second is called Rhinoplasty, which is basically a huge ball of silly putty, which Max can use to copy pictures with and then turn into that object (For example, I could press the putty into a picture of a bazooka and then Max would turn into a bazooka). The third Toy of Power is a mind reading device. Each episode is focused on a single toy and puzzles involving it. What is wonderful about these devices is that it has created a new way to interact in the Sam and Max world. You don't just use an item from your inventory in a straightforward way like you may think. The game forces you to think out of the box and as a result makes for very rewarding gameplay.
From what I was shown, the Devil's Playhouse looks to be just as entertaining as the past seasons. Telltale has slightly improved on their technology, so I would say the game looks a bit better than it has in the past. Otherwise, if you are a fan of Sam and Max, this game is a must-have. If you have never played Sam and Max, the great thing about Season 3 is that it has nothing to do with Seasons 1 and 2, so you can still have a good time.
Although The Devil's Playhouse will be released on PSN, Mac and PC at first, it will be released on other yet to be announced platforms.
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gd dammit, this had better be released on 360 at some point since not having it would be avoiding a fan base but apart from that it looks awesome
awesome, cant wait, for the complete season to be released christmas for the steam sale.
btw ElGranCabeza the game is classic point and click on PC and works much the same on the Xbox Live Arcade version so I assume that it works the same on PSN... my guess is that if this doesn't use Move (why use a fucking verb for a noun it hurts me and I am horrible at my language) they don't have the kit and that would be stupid move for Sony to make... easy to implement later though
Sam and Max were PC/Wii for a long time... having XBLA absent from the list makes me thing there is a huge embargo going on... kind of a big pink elephant
Sam and Max Hit the Road is one of my favorite games at all time.
Is the PC version point and click? How does it control on consoles? I might opt for PC over PSN based on that alone
they always release it on either PSN or XBLA first then go multiplatform after success.
its a good technique to build momentum toward the fans, and especially fanboys.
if anyone knows these are the same guys who released Monkey Island
