the secret of monkey island review
Test: The Secret of Monkey IslandAfter several more or less successful attempts in the adventure game, including the emblematic Maniac Mansion, LucasArts published in 1990 one of his major works, The Secret of Monkey Island, cult title if any. Do you like point and click, wacky situations, insulting duels, piracy, ghosts and rubber chickens? Then this game is for you.
ME, GUYBRUSH THREEPWOOD, REDUCABLE PIRATE ... MORE OR LESS ... ALMOST ... FINALLY, AT LEAST TRY, AT LEAST ...
Isle of Melee, Caribbean, during the heyday of piracy. You follow in the footsteps of Guybrush Threepwood (wish you!), A clumsy, unlucky young man who dreams of becoming a great pirate. Good thing, the island of Melee is one of the most famous haunts. To prove his worth and put an end to the jibes he triggers when he exposes his dream, Guybrush will have to pass the three tests launched by the local Pirate Council: winning a duel against Carla the Queen of the Saber, finding a hidden treasure, licensed by the local tourism syndicate, and steal an idol from the house of the governor, Elaine Marley. Of course, nothing being ever simple, poor Guybrush will quickly find himself embroiled in a story much larger than his little quest for departure. A story based on love, a revengeful and loving ghost pirate, the fearsome Chuck LeChuck, stamped characters and a mysterious island full of monkeys. Among others. Welcome to a completely wacky pirate world.
A CRAZY STORY
What strikes you about Monkey Island is its surreal world. If you thought that the Pirates of the Caribbean saga gave an offbeat picture of piracy, you will soon rank it as Arte documentaries after watching the adventures of Guybrush. There is almost no serious element in this game. Everything is diverted, mocked, adapted to create a funniest and anachronistic universe possible. In this, the writing of the script and the dialogues holds a major place in the coherence of what could have been nothing but a huge mess. And it must be recognized that the LucasArts teams have shown great talent at this level. Although seemingly simple, the story becomes more complex as it goes along, multiplying the diversions from classic situations, the false leads and absurd reversals. There are legacies, crazy and hilarious events, such as Guybrush’s very special training with Captain Smirk’s insult machine. A number of photos were also skilfully returned, such as the traditional damsel in distress, in this case Elaine, not that distressed in the end. Everything is happening, events as characters. They are also particularly neat and just as surprising or crazy as the script. A fearsome bretteuse will prove to be a real feignasse, a disturbing ghost a pathetic lover, or a big malabar, with hooks instead of hands, terrorized by a simple parrot…THE ART OF DIALOGUE IN MALANDRINS
What keeps all of this going, there are also many dialogues that hit the mark every time. Funny, quirky, sometimes totally surreal, they make all the salt of the game, in conversations as in duels of insults. Indeed, Monkey Island includes phases of saber duel clashes, which are only won if you manage to blow your opponent's nose by using insults learned while fighting other pirates. No risk of getting killed, just learning that they are sometimes happy, but never vulgar and always funny. This writing rhythm and these very well-written dialogues are one of the greatest qualities of the software, whose omnipresent humor cannot leave marble even the most austere of players. Not to mention the many references to popular culture or other works by Lucas. We will give thanks, on this subject, to the French translators, who have, on the whole, done a most correct job. There are still a few errors and mistakes here and there, even forgetting to translate, especially the rare times when Guybrush dies. But these minor issues fortunately do not spoil the gaming experience and the overall tone is well preserved.WANTED PUZZLES
Like any self-respecting adventure game, and in addition to the famous duels of insults, it is here necessary to solve puzzles and riddles to advance. The interaction is childishly simple. Whether it is dialogs, actions or objects, everything is available in the menu at the bottom of the screen: talk, walk, use, push, take, etc. Everything is there. Thus, the command "speak to" allows you to initiate the conversion with the NPCs, a discussion tree then opens to choose the most appropriate reply or the subject which interests you. You can also choose objects in your inventory to interact with them, or with other characters or external elements. Sounds like nothing, says it like that, but The Secret of Monkey Island is one of the first to integrate such a system, which has revolutionized the genre. Previously, these games required opening dialog boxes to enter the desired action, which was particularly restrictive. Point and click, on the contrary, turns out to be simple and effective, which makes the course of the game much more pleasant. You will only pull your hair out in front of the many puzzles of the title, not because of the gameplay. And here we come to the big piece of software. To move forward, you will have to collect and combine objects, talk to the inhabitants, solve riddles, puzzles and apparently insoluble situations. However, Cartesian logic is not always the order of the day in Monkey Island and problem solving will often go through ridiculous or absurd detours. You have to try everything to move forward, even if it may seem far-fetched, otherwise you will get stuck. Without knowing the game, reaching the end can take hours. Fortunately, LucasArts made sure that Guybrush's death was almost impossible and tried to avoid as much as possible the blockages preventing the player from advancing. There are, of course, but it is rare. Which is not bad, far from it. However, be prepared to spend long hours in front of your screen to solve many twisted puzzles.THE BARRIED SPIRIT OF THE CARIBBEAN
The Secret Monkey Island is a 2D adventure game, more specifically a point and click in third person view. If the game has aged, it is still very pleasant to play, despite sometimes long loading times, especially on the floppy version, and large, clearly visible pixels. The title had several PC versions between 1990, the date of its initial release on floppy disks, and 1992, the date of its release on CD-Rom this time. The initial version has three floppy disks and runs under DOS. Although very beautiful in terms of the technology used, the graphics are only displayed in 320 x 200 and 16 colors. The Amiga and Mac versions benefit from a graphic improvement allowing a display in 32 colors, but it will be necessary to wait for the CD-Rom version of 1992 to benefit from a display in 256 colors worthy of the name. And there, we must recognize that the graphics are really beautiful, especially very detailed environments and stuffed with incongruous or intentionally anachronistic elements, like the grog distributor. You move Guybrush there through fixed screens, although some, a little wider than others, may involve a lateral unfolding of the image. The player mainly navigates in the decorations of the islands and the boat, but also on the maps, on a scale of course different. The design alternates between cartoon style, for the colorful Caribbean environments, and naturalist style for close-ups. Indeed, the gameplay phases are frequently interrupted by cutscenes or rather fixed tables, in which generally only the lips of the characters move. Very popular in the early 1990s, these scenes present magnificent, fairly realistic drawings, real explosions of color. Even if this genre has since fallen into disuse, the illustrations remain superb. Alternating between disturbing and warm atmospheres, the visual aspect is particularly successful and has its own identity that can be identified at first glance. Besides the graphics, which play a major role in the atmosphere of the game, we should not forget the music. Quite simple, rhythmic and festive or disturbing, the melodies accompany the main events and certain phases of play without ever weighing them down or being intrusive. The melodies, especially that of the title screen, stay in mind for a long time and participate in the quirky atmosphere of the title. What immerse you in a zany Caribbean vision. At all levels, The Secret of Monkey Island is therefore a great success.Good points
Very nice graphics
Wacky puzzles
The duels of insults
The crazy atmosphere
Omnipresent humor
Completely wacky characters
The little onion dialogues
A good lifespan
Simple and effective gameplay
Music that stays in your head for a long time
Negative points
Loading times sometimes a bit long
The French version a bit imperfect
Hilarious, disconcerting, wacky, but also beautifully written, pleasing, pleasing to the eye as well as ears and deeply addictive, The Secret of Monkey Island largely deserves its status as a cult game. Perfectly combining challenge, adventure and the most total fun, Guybrush's misadventures are a real delight for lovers of point and click games ... and others. An essential masterpiece!
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