Tales of Monkey Island Episode 2 Review

A little over a month since Telltale released the first episode in their highly anticipated Tales of Monkey Island series, Guybrush Threepwood’s intrepid adventures continue with The Siege of Spinner Cay. Can the momentum gained from such a successful premier continue, or will it prove to be a disappointing one hit wonder?

Unlike the relatively slow pace of the first episode, The Siege of Spinner Cay begins by throwing you right in at the deep end. Revealing the identity of the mysterious character from the cliffhanger ending, whilst presenting you with the first puzzle, instantly grabs your attention and is an impressive start. This new character is likely to feature in future episodes and does an excellent job at leaving a lasting impression. In this opening scene the characters reminiscing about insult sword-fighting, a fond memory from the original Secret of Monkey Island, is intelligent and witty, acting as a good indicator of what’s to follow.

The number of locations to explore has increased from the first episode, hopefully something which will become a regular trend. The introduction of more settings avoids  making the game feel boring or overly familiar but, disappointingly, the desert islands which make up these new scenes are quite small in size and only require a few visits whilst solving puzzles before they become obsolete. Despite this, they are still effective in making the world feel larger and more interesting.

As with the first episode, The Screaming Narwhal, all of the characters are beautifully animated and cleverly express a great range of subtle emotions. Both Lechuck and Elaine play a much greater role and succeed at both supporting Guybrush whilst also standing out as important characters themselves. The relationship between Guybrush and Lechuck is a real highlight, with the former zombie Pirate trying to prove he is a changed man, despite Guybrush having his doubts.

TellTale clearly know their audience and work this to great comical effect.  One example is based around the fact that most adventure gamers recognise, in this genre, picking up everything and anything is a requirement. If someone specifically stops you from picking something up, it only confirms that you’re going to need it at some point. After picking up a bucket, even though you have no need for it, a character asks “Why do you need that bucket?”. Guybrush’s reply is simply “I dunno, ‘cos its there I guess”.

The Siege of Spinner Cay is shorter than the previous episode, but the quality of the puzzles, writing and story have reassuringly increased. The puzzles are logical yet  they remain challenging and the story is both interesting and humorous, capturing the heart of the Monkey island series. The standard has once again been set at a high level for Episode Three and with another cliffhanger ending, coupled with TellTale’s ability to deliver its episodes quickly, hopefully means that the wait won’t be too long.