Monkey Island 2 Special Edition Review [Xbox 360] page 2

16 Jul 2010 at 11:15:01 by Peter Parrish
Systems used to review this title: (360)

Other audio problems are smaller, but still irritating. Several comic audio cues, such as that which is supposed to play when Guybrush holds aloft a bone in Scabb Island's graveyard, simply don't appear. This gives certain scenes a sense of comedic anti-climax when they should be hitting a crescendo. Later on, a song by a couple of skeletons goes totally out of synch with the music. Given that it's also accompanied by what is by a considerable distance the worst voice acting in the entire game, it's tempting to think it could be a subtle new joke about old people and skeletons being poor at singing. Even if this were the case though, it comes off sounding like a shoddy mess.

For reasons unknown, the speed at which certain puzzles must be done has been tightened up to the point of absurdity. There are a handful of examples of this, but perhaps most frustrating is one involving the distraction of a gentleman so that a couple of flags can be switched around. In the original game, he would leave the area for long enough for this to be achieved. Now, he appears quicker than a Call of Duty sequel. New players would be rightfully baffled by this. Using the new hint or object-highlighting clue systems wouldn't help here as the puzzle is actually being approached correctly, but the game appears to be suggesting there are more stages necessary to make the chap stay away for longer. The same issues actually make the finale almost unbeatable unless you switch into classic mode.

In most cases, additional frames of animation have been squeezed into the special edition which helps to make Guybrush's walking motion look more realistic with the new graphics than it did in the first special edition. At times though, some frames seem to actually have been removed. Rapp Scallion's reincarnation suffers badly from this and his talking animation is so poor that his mouth only has the binary positions of open and closed.

It's sloppiness like this which mars an otherwise fine release. The entire introductory sequence of terrific illustrations from the original MI2 is omitted for reasons best known to LucasArts - though a few remnants (such as the two dancing monkeys) are present. Guybrush's foot-tapping animation from the intro has also been preserved and is used during (brief, but still irritating) loading screens. Tim Schafer will no doubt be delighted by the extra f that has been added to his name in the credits. Indeed, speaking of the credits, the lengthy 'things to do' list from the original MI2 has apparently absconded with the introduction to some far-away island. Why actively remove some jokes from what is supposed to be a complete edition?

Again, the original Monkey Island 2 is a superb game and this special edition offers both 'classic' and 'upgraded' versions at a more than reasonable price. The voice acting and music (iMuse troubles aside) are magnificent. Artistically, it's a matter of preference whether to go with updated or classic graphics, but the option is there to play either (and with full voice acting.) But for every delightful new addition, there tends to be something missing or an awkward little problem. These things don't overwhelm the positives, but they do hamper them. Harlin's score is outstanding, but compromised by the 360's lack of iMuse support. Additions like the commentary track are great, but other aspects like the original introduction and post-credits jokes are now missing. Frustrating puzzle timings, missing frames of animation, jarring loading screens and that godawful rendition of the skeleton song are minor, but compounding, issues that all sully this release.

All of which, sadly, means that Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Special Edition (in its Xbox 360 guise in particular) cannot quite be called the definitive version of the game.

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