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Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
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Graphics & Sound:
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls is the second to last episode in this season, and while not all of The Devil's Playhouse has been perfect, they have all done a great job of sticking to a common overall plot and introducing some rather interesting mechanics.
As with the rest of the season, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls depicts a very distinct mood that takes on an old zombie film feel. The characters themselves, both new and returning, look great and help to show off the much-improved graphics engine over the previous season, but a lot of the impact of this episode is the environment and the dark and creepy feel that makes it seem so perfect for a town overrun by zombies... I mean Sam clones.
As always, both dialogue and acting does the job, and does it well. Between the witty writing of the series, and the voice actors delivering the lines, Sam & Max continues to top my list of all-time amusing games.
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Gameplay:
Like the past episodes, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls starts off with the unexpected cliffhanger of its predecessor. This time, the duo have been cornered by a mass of Sam-clones, punnily named, dogglegangers or samulcra (depending on which title character you ask), and will end up holding off the invading horde in Stinky's Diner. As you might expect, the main focus of this particular episode is escaping the brain-dead clones and finding out once and for all who is behind all of this craziness.
Of course, one of the overall aspects to this highly unusual season is Max's plethora of psychic abilities generated by the Toys of Power. Oddly enough, it seems these Sam-clones are also after the toys and the Devil's Toybox. This time around, Max starts off with old favorites like the Rhinoplasty, Charlie Ho-Tep and the good-old Future Vision, but he also gets a few new abilities as well. Among these are a deck of playing cards that allow Max to read character's minds, as well as a new toy called the Cthonic Destroyer - a Toy of Power that can banish things from the Dark Dimension, and one that you will very much need to use before the ordeal is over.
While this episode does answer a lot of questions and reveals who is behind many of the issues plaguing the duo this season, it also ends in yet another cliffhanger, one of monstrous proportions, that will leave you wanting more, far more so than the previous episodes. |
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Difficulty:
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls hits the mark dead on as far as difficulty is concerned. While this episode took me a little longer to complete than others, there were only a couple of puzzles that made me back away and think for a while. Overall, the series of problems in Beyond the Alley of the Dolls took just enough effort to get past to not feel too easy or too hard, though less experienced adventure gamers might find the overall feel a bit tougher. As a regular adventure gamer, I was able to run through Episode 4's great story in 10 or so hours, but even the most casual problem solver should make it through in a weekend. Given the game's compelling story, that's probably all you will be doing that weekend too.
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Game Mechanics:
Overall, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 4, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls is one of the better episodes of the season, if not the series. While it doesn't have any flashy new gimmicks like the previous episode's interrogation system or the fancy-shmancy multi-reel mechanic seen in the previous episodes, Beyond the Alley of the Dolls is a great, solid point-and-click adventure that does everything right. The puzzles are well balanced, the writing conveys the standard Sam & Max feel, and most important in adventure games, the story is great.
Beyond the Alley of the Dolls is a must buy for Sam & Max fans. Unfortunately, since this season focuses a lot more on an overall story than the previous ones, it will be hard to simply jump right in like you could during the first two seasons. It really will be a much better experience if you work your way up to this fourth episode. I just can't wait to see how it all ends in The City That Dares Not Sleep. |
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-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP/Vista/7, 2.0 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 8.1 Sound Card, 128MB DirectX 8.1 compliant video card, DirectX 9.0c or better |
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Test System:
Windows 7 Ultimate, Intel i7 X980 3.33GHz, 12 GB RAM, Radeon HD 5870 Graphics Card, DirectX 9.0c |
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Related Links:
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