Review: Tales of Monkey Island Ep2: The Siege Of Spinner Cay (PC)

Author: Rees | Date: August 20, 2009

I thought that an episodic Monkey Island would be a bad idea – that the story wouldn’t “flow” properly, that the scale of each game just wouldn’t be “big” enough, and most importantly, that it’d be too long between episodes for the game to hold my interest. Yet, firing up the second episode of Telltale’s latest in the Tales of Monkey Island series, it seems like I haven’t been away at all. The story picks up right where it left off, and I soon forgot about the month long wait.

Perhaps this episodic thing isn’t so bad after all.

In this episode, Guybrush finds himself reunited with Elaine and LeChuck, and soon learns that LeChuck has turned over a new leaf. We need to go in search of DeCava and Le Esponja Grande, as mentioned by the voodoo lady in Episode 1, and to do so our hero needs to summon some mythical sea creatures to guide him to Le Esponja’s secret location.

This involves collecting three “summoning artifacts” hidden around the Gulf of Melange with the help of the newly-reformed Lechuck, and the residents of the Jerkbait Islands, a race of androgynous and worryingly friendly mer-people called the Vaycaylians.

I’d hate to give any more of the story away (these are all plot points that are learnt in the first few minutes of the game), but I think it’s safe to reveal that you’ll find yourself seeing off a rather large siege later on, too.

So, introductions over, it’s onto the review proper. As many of you will no doubt be aware, I gave the first episode in the series 10/10 – a perfect review score, and I still stand by it. The first game in the series was funny, clever, colourful, and faithful to the Monkey Island “feel” that we’ve all grown up with. It was a game that I couldn’t find fault with, so it couldn’t have scored any less.

So I’ll cut right to the chase and say it: this episode isn’t quite as perfect. It’s not bad by a very long shot, but it seems to be lacking a certain something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It also has a few not so good points that I can put my finger on – the sexual innuendo with the Vaycaylians seems a little out of place, the gay jokes around the Narwhal’s first mate, Winslow, don’t seem very Monkey Island, and Elaine’s voice acting (what is with that accent?) can be very grating at times.

I also think that the ending was confusing and felt a bit rushed.

However, these aren’t big issues, and they’re certainly not enough to make The Siege of Spinner Cay a “bad” game – they just stood out, and perhaps served to tarnished the otherwise excellent experience ever so slightly. Maybe I’m being a little too harsh on the game as I’d set my expectations unreasonably high after Episode 1, but I think these odd little points needed to be made.

On the flipside, for those few negatives, the game delivers positives in droves. The story is intriguing and compelling, the puzzles mostly fairly logical (with a bit of Monkey Island madness thrown in – I mean, how else would you track down a buried treasure chest?) and the voice work and writing top-notch. It has to be said that I didn’t laugh out loud as much during this episode as I did during Launch of the Screaming Narhwal, but the comedy is there in a much more subtle way, and it keeps on coming and coming.

The Siege of Spinner Cay certainly doesn’t disappoint and is a very worthy addition to the series indeed. It doesn’t quite live up to the very high standards set in The Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, but it seems so set the stage for something so much bigger, so I’m expecting a big payoff in Episode 3.

With these points in mind, I think I’ll give The Siege of Spinner Cay a very respectable 8.5/10.

(Review is of the PC version of the game.)

3 Comments »

Comment by Mark

2009-08-21 05:15:38

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee Monkey Island (again)!

I never liked the VA they used for Elaine in MI3, so I didn’t really like her in Narwhal either (thankfully her part was reasonably small in both). I think the actor they used for MI4 suited her better in my opinion and would certainly suit her attitude in MI2 if it was ever remade.

And thanks for not revealing who the attacker was at the end of Ch.1. Will you be reviewing the other episodes aswell?

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Comment by Rees

2009-08-21 12:35:59

We certainly will be reviewing the other episodes! We’re also having a little Tales of Monkey Island related competition in the near future (I’ll leave it to Vince, our competition master, to tell you all about that one).

It’s hard to know what to reveal and what not to reveal in a review like this. Obviously some people haven’t completed the first episode yet, so it wouldn’t be fair to ruin the story for them. I think the little summary I gave was enough to whet the appetitie without ruining the story for anyone.

On the subject of Elaine, I’m not sure I like her really. There’s a lot of interaction in this episode and she never really comes across as particularly likeable. The fact that her voice is annoying really doesn’t help matters, either.

Oh well, onwards to episode 3!

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Comment by gregor

2009-08-25 10:44:48

I know what that *certain something* is that makes this game weaker than the first–the lack of any puzzles. Having Elaine give you a pass without prompting and giving the pass to the ferrymerman is NOT a puzzle. It’s tedious inventory manipulation. Likewaise, most of the game is simply pick up this and give to that–no though required.

I agree the story is well-crafted. The dialog is passable. But without challenging the player I say, no adventure has taken place. This game was like all those FMV attempts. This game is a movie, and not a real adventure game.

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