Gamebar

Sam & Max Episode 204: Chariots of the Dogs

Vitals

Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Genre: Adventure > General
Released: Mar 12, 2008
Players: 1

- Sam & Max Episode 204: Chariots of the Dogs

We're nearing the grand finale of Sam and Max: Season 2 now, and Chariots of the Dogs, being the penultimate episode of Season 2, sets up a perfect cliffhanger for what could be a blockbuster ending (hopefully). Admittedly, I've not played through every single Sam and Max episode, but Chariots of the Dogs, with its ingenious time travel puzzles, side-splitting humor (watch out especially for the villains at the end, which shall not be revealed here) and one heck of a storyline ranks as the best episode I've played, and certainly the high note of Season 2 thus far.

The conspicuous absence of Bosco from the previous episode led to Sam and Max investigating his disappearance. Our paranoid friend had been prophesying the arrival of a group of super secretive villains called T-H-E-M for months now and it turned out he was not crazy after all. Sam and Max eventually found him on board a space ship where he had become a half-man, half-cow anomaly due to an alteration of a past event when he stepped through a time machine elevator. Right here is when things start to get really interesting.

This time machine elevator is the main focus of the entire story which allows Sam and Max to travel to various places in the past, including a 60s-era Oval Office, a 1980s Stinky's Diner when the real Stinky was actually around (you'll also meet little Sam and little Max goofing around on the arcade machine there) and also Bosco's store at a time when he was not even born yet and his momma was running things.

A lot of the puzzles and a huge chunk of the storyline revolve around the intricate balance and interconnection of events past and present. Alter an event in the past and you modify the entire time stream, leading to repercussions in the present day as well as the future, where you'll be able to witness the melancholic fate that eventually befalls Sam in the year 2108 (albeit retold in a light-hearted mood). Fret not that these time travel puzzles may leave your mind in knots as you attempt to choreograph the intertwined events, because they are plainly logical and extremely satisfying to unravel.

The storyline in Chariots of the Dogs also ties up many loose ends from previous episodes. Ever wondered why a typewriter ink ribbon got to be at a disco in the previous episode? It is answered towards the end of this episode in a hilariously enlightening moment. The finale of this episode and the revealing of the mysterious villains will also throw up more than a few laughs. In fact, the voice acting for these lovable �"villains' is some of the best I've heard in the series so far.

Overall, the developers got almost every ingredient in this episode right. Apart from stellar story telling and puzzle design, travel time is kept to a minimum thanks to the convenience of the time machine and there are also no horrendously trivial mini-games included in this episode. Perhaps the only concern is that Chariots of the Dogs has now set the bar so high that there's a real danger of an anti-climactic finale in a few weeks' time. Fortunately, the guys at Telltale have a pedigree of churning out great episodic adventure games, and in them we should trust!

Graphics:

Most of the sets in this episode are either past or future rehashes of indoor locations we've seen before, so there's no groundbreaking set design here. A visit to a location in the past that has not been seen before would have been a nice touch.

Sound:
Voice acting is excellently done especially for T-H-E-M at the final part. The musical sequence at their introduction is also delightfully quirky and imbues great personality to them.

Gameplay:
The gameplay in this episode is arguably more enjoyable than in previous ones. The usual puzzle solving and clue hunting is made all the more enjoyable by the time travel concept. The difficulty of the puzzles is kept unchanged (which means that it's not too brain wracking), but it is more engaging when you have to constantly think about how to tweak past events to modify the current reality. The overall structure also feels more coordinated especially when things start falling into place and the gaps in the plot start filling in as events are unraveled.

Concept:

The designers have adopted the imaginative cinematic theme of time travel, weaving puzzles and structuring a plot around it to great effect.

Value:
This episode, like previous ones, has a playtime of roughly 3 hours, but feels more enthralling and satisfying. Definitely worth the price of $8.95 for admission.

Overall:
All Sam and Max episodes are filled with numerous references to pop culture and events in previous episodes, so long time fans will definitely enjoy and appreciate any such episode more so than a newcomer. However, if you're looking to acquaint yourself with the series, this episode is as good a starting point (and perhaps the best place to start) as any.

By: Freddy Lim
Posted: Saturday April 05, 2008