Tales of Monkey Island: Lair of the Leviathan Available on WiiWare Soon

Pirates, giant sea mammals and demonic talking skulls invade the North American WiiWare™ network Monday, October 26 with the release of Tales of Monkey Island: Lair of the Leviathan. The 3rd chapter of the five-part episodic series will be available for 1000 Wii Points ($10) on the Wii Shop Channel.

If you haven't yet check out our review of the game.  Fans of the Monkey Island franchise won't be disappointed. 

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan Review

When we last left our mighty pirate hero he was being swallowed up by an extremely large manatee. This game opens up, as the previous chapter did, with a brief recap of the events by the Voodoo Lady. We then cut to our trio or heroes, Guybrush, LeFlay and Winslow, deep inside the gullet of that large ocean mammal.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan continues where we left off and is the middle chapter of the five part series. This chapter of the game switches from the more action oriented play of Siege of Spinner Cay back to the more puzzle focused game play of Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. The difference being this puzzles don't seem as hard as they have previously. There seemed to be more guidance towards the solutions of the puzzle and it was easier to figure them out. That's not to say you won't have to make some crazy combinations, such as combining an employee manual with a torture handbook, but they seem to be more straightforward than the past chapters. There also didn't seem to be as much humor throughout Chapter 3. This could be because all the characters are deep inside the belly of a beast, but who knows for sure. There are still some funny moments, but the one liners are less obvious and it's more about crazy situations this time around.

The story of Lair of the Leviathan centers around Guybrush trying to replace the cochlea of the manatee in order to help the beast get back on track towards the sacred manatee mating grounds and all of the game play focuses around the inside of the creature's mouth and it's stomach. The environment is appropriately disgusting. You'll be sliding down the tongue and throat and exploring the stomach areas complete with pools of bile and disgusting fleshy tubes that Guybrush uses to travel quickly to different parts of the stomach. Guybrush meets the explorer Coronado de Cava inside the beast. He finds the scientist is very crazy and does not want other adventurer's trying to find La Esponja Grande before him. He must, at one point, convince de Cava that he and Morgan LeFlay are married and have entered the manatee on vacation.

The puzzles center around Guybrush trying to join the Brotherhood that the pirates inside the manatee have created to protect the cochlea from being replaced because they enjoy the life they now have. Guybrush must obtain a unanimous vote from all four members, one of them being a skeleton, to join the brotherhood, but they won't vote for him until he's done something for him. One of the pirates wants a date with Morgan, another only votes the same way as the skeleton and one wants you to beat them in a pirate face off where you make funny or disturbing faces that are better than the other competitor. These puzzles are cleverly devised, but as mentioned before, not too difficult. They involve having Morgan creatively interrogate one of the crew members, convincing one that Guybrush will be tortured once he joins the Brotherhood and finding a number of disturbing pirate faces that can be used in the face off.

Lair of the Leviathan focuses more on the story than previous entries in the series and really sets the stage for what will come in the last two chapters. It's not as funny as previous chapters, but that doesn't take away from the overall experience. If you've invested in the first two chapters of the game it's well worth your money to continue the story as it has become very interesting. I'm really beginning to wonder if their is some joke behind the appearance of all the pirates, because they have continued, yet again, to model them off of the previous characters with a few changes and there was not appearance of the pyrite parrot this time around. For fans of the Monkey Island series, you really shouldn't miss out on this adventure. The pox is spreading...

Final Score: 4/5

Review copy of the game provided by TellTale Games.

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay Review

Tales of Monkey Island: The Siege of Spinner Cay is the second installment in Telltale games newest episodic adventure. If you played the first chapter of Tales Of Monkey Island then you know exactly what to expect when starting up this game. When we last left our plucky hero, Guybrush Threepwood, he was being held at the point of a sword by a mysterious pirate. That pirate turned out to be Morgan leFlay, who is a beautiful young bounty hunter that also happens to idolize Guybrush. She’s been hired by the French doctor who wants Guybrush to conduct experiments on him and during their brief confrontation she cuts off Guybrush’s hand and escapes off of the Narwhal.

The Narwhal’s mast breaks during the fight and from there Guybrush and Mr. Winslow head off to the Jerkbait Islands, home to a race of Merpeople. As soon as he gets to the island he runs into Elaine who is arguing with another pirate and the leader of the Merfolk. The pirate and his crew have been infected by the Pox and are attempting to “acquire” the summoning artifacts used to summon La Esponja Grande, the only thing that can rid the world of said pox. Guybrush is also looking for the artifacts and this is the main focus of The Siege of Spinner Cay.

Guybrush spends his time covering ground across three main islands uncovering clues and combining items in an attempt to recover the artifacts so he can save the world. The puzzles in this installment are much harder than the previous game as there is little to no clues as to how you are supposed to go about your tasks. The first game seemed to drop more hints and help you along a little better than this chapter did. That’s not to say the puzzles are completely incomprehensible, you just have to think a bit more than you did during Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. The main island in this game has the same style of winding jungle as before, but you are not required to decipher clues to walk around the correct path. There are set paths to walkthrough and it’s much easier to navigate this time around. There is no quick travel option, though so you will have to walk or sail to all your destinations and that takes a bit of time.

Siege of Spinner Cay does suffer a bit from being one of the middle chapters in a multiple chapter story. There is no real beginning, which means you are thrust straight into the action. That was definitely evident as this chapter seemed a bit more action oriented than before. It also suffers from having no real end. There is, as expected, a huge cliffhanger that will continue into the next chapter. By itself it feels a bit odd, but knowing that it is part of a larger story arc helps quite a bit. You will be left wanting to continue the story when the credits roll.

Overall it’s a quality addition to the story and has all the strengths of the previous chapter. The humor is still there, the characters are developing at a nice pace and the visuals are just as stunning as before. There are some issues on the Wii of the frame rate dipping just before and right after the game auto saves, but those were the only times it ever came up. If you picked up the first chapter and want to know what happens it would be well worth spending the 1,000 Nintendo Points. If you complete this chapter you’ll probably want to end up buying the entire series, because at this point you’re well wrapped up in the story.

Final Score: 4/5

Review copy of the game provided by TellTale Games.

Get The First Chapter of Tales of Monkey Island Free

Did you know that tomorrow is "National Talk Like a Pirate Day?". I did, but only because I have a brother who's big into the Ren Faire scene. But that's not the point of this post.

Telltale Games is celebrating the occasion by giving everyone the chance to Play like a pirate and offering the first chapter of Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwahl for free. If you haven't seen it yet our review of that chapter can be found here.

The game is worth every penny of the asking price of $0. Go download it if you haven't. It's a bit on the brainy side, meaning you'll have to do a lot of thinking outside the box, but I think you'll enjoy it and if you do there is another chapter available already and three more on the way.

Even better, through the 21st of September, they're also offering 50% off on the iPhone, Steam and Direct2Drive special editions of The Secret of Monkey Island.

Now get out there with your hook hands and your peg legs, hoist the mainsail and shove off for Flotsam Island. And don't forget to pick up a "U" tube while you're there.

WiiWare: Tales of Monkey Island - Chapter One Review

In the mid '90s, LucasArts was a big name in the adventure game genre. Today, that title belongs to Telltale Games. Telltale has worked on other franchises, like Wallace & Gromit, Strongbad and Sam & Max, and now it has teamed up with original Monkey Island series publisher LucasArts to work on an all-new sequel in the franchise, which originally launched in 1990. What makes the sequel unique is something not unusual for Telltale: it will be released episodically. Tales of Monkey Island: The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal is the first of five episodes that will constitute the newest adventure in the world of Monkey Island.

Tales of Monkey Island opens up with series hero, Guybrush Threepwood, out on the high seas in search of a fizzy rootbeer that will complete a voodoo recipe. This recipe is vital in that it will not only destroy series villain, the cursed, undead pirate LeChuck, but it will also rescue Guybrush's wife Elaine. After a bit of clumsiness, Guybrush completes the recipe, defeating the evil pirate but also creating such an explosion that Guybrush is launced into the air. After this incident, and a bit more story, Guybrush finds himself stranded on Flotsam Island with an infected and near useless hand. The gamer thus spend the remainder of the episode looking for a way off the island, where the winds constantly blow inward, in order to reunite with Elaine.

Through his quest, Guybrush meets a colorful cast of characters, such as a reporter interested in all kinds of pirate news, a voodoo queen, a frilly French doctor, and a pirate selling glass knick-knacks. All of these characters will have tasks they request of Guybrush before helping him, sending the hero all over Flotsam Island to find pieces to complete the requests' puzzles. Many of these island residents mispronounce Guybrush’s name, most intentionally, and some of these mistakes are hilarious.

Guybrush's walking is controlled by the Nunchuck and he interacts with objects in the environment with points and clicks of the Wii Remote. Gamers will be forced to decipher clues and come up with some clever item combinations in order to complete all the tasks necessary to leave the island. Items are combined by placing them in one of two boxes on the inventory screen and pressing a button. If the items can be combined, they will glow yellow and a new item will be added to the inventory. Thus, gamers will find themselves attempting many random item combinations whenever they're stuck in an area, all in the hopes that an unlikely combination is the solution to a tricky puzzle. The puzzles themselves are not terribly difficult, but you have to think a bit outside of the box in order to solve some of the trickier ones.

One staple of the adventure genre has always been witty dialogue, and there is no lack of that in this game. Pop culture references and laugh-out-loud moments are littered throughout the adventure. The voice cast from the previous Monkey Island games has also returned, and overall the voice work is brilliant. Jokes are delivered quite well, and each character has a very distinct personality. One of the biggest elements of the gameplay-- the treasure map-- also harnesses audio. Directions are given not with traditional map directions, but rather audio clues to help you follow the proper trail.

Adventure games had fallen out of popularity for a while, but Telltale Games is doing everything it can to bring the genre back into the fore. Tales of Monkey Island is a beautiful sequel to a classic adventure, and the face lift the series has been given is a great addition to Telltale's already robust lineup. While there is no clear ending to The Screaming Narwhal, it is a fun tale that shouldn’t be missed by any fans of old point and click style games.

Final Score: 4/5

Review copy of the game provided by TellTale Games.