The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Title: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Platform Played On: Xbox 360
Release Date: July 15, 2009
Date Played: June 2010
Time Played: 6 hours
Completed (Y/N): Yes
Score: 5/5



Opinion:
Unfortunately by the time I got old enough to appreciate the point and click graphic adventure games they were going out of style, and quick.

Having experienced a couple of graphical adventures over the years I have always heard about how great Monkey Island series was, but never had a chance to check it out. Lucky for me Lucas Arts decided to re-release an updated version of the series.

The game is everything it claims to be, it is funny, interesting and entertaining. It features fully redone voicework and the ability to switch between the new and old school graphics on the fly.

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One thing about the games that were made in the 80's, is that they are extremely hard. Adventure games in particular encouraged experimentation, at times not giving you any hits and relying on you to try using that rubber chicken that you found on one side of the island with a metal pulley that is on the other side. In the 80's after a few hours of trying a player would eventually uncover the secret and move on. A modern gamer though will usually give up after a few minutes and either turn the game off or look up a walkthrough. So to counteract this Lucas Arts added an in-game hint system, which you can use whenever you are stuck.  To be honest, I've had to rely on it 2 or 3 times during my playthrough.

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I really enjoyed my time with Secret of the Monkey Island: Special Edition.  I think that Lucas Arts did an excellent job at updating the game, and they get extra points for giving us the ability to switch between the new updated version and the classic modes.  There is something charming about those pixelated hand drawn graphics of the late 80's. You can play the whole game in the old school mode if you wanted to.

Click to Zoom

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone that enjoys graphical adventure games, or to anyone who always wanted try one. This is without a doubt one of the best in the genre.