Sam and Max Episode 201: Ice Station Santa Review

Ice Station Santa represents the beginning of Sam and Max Season 2, something tremendous to think of when we compare this series with other episodic games, which in some cases have trouble reaching episode 2 (SiN) or take nearly two years between episodes (Half-Life 2).  Sam and Max Season 1 was all over the place in terms of content.

It started off well enough, a solid point-and-click adventure, featuring funny dialogue, superb voice acting and writing, and some solid puzzles.  What followed was a lot of the more-of-the-same syndrome that we often expect when discussing adventure games.  It wasn’t truly until episode 5, Reality 2.0, that we saw the real potential of the Sam and Max series.  The subject matter was fairly smart and new, and very entertaining characters (like (C.O.P.S) were introduced. The game finally began to expand beyond simply following the same point-and-click formula for everything.  All of a sudden we saw different types of gameplay included, which with smart writing and logical puzzles took the series to new heights.  Sadly, episode 6 would revert to the previous episodes creating a somewhat disappointing end to the first season.

Perhaps being a glutton for punishment, I decided to continue with the Sam and Max series into season 2, hoping to find new experiences and not just Season 2 with different puzzles.  Well, the answer to the question of what Season 2 is like follows.

 

 

Ice Station Santa begins with our heroes besieged by an enormous robot, tasked with killing the daring duo for reasons unknown.  The way this episode begins, including a bit of action and puzzle solving, before moving on with the credits, is a nice way to kick things off and definitely lends an episodic feel to the game, akin to something you would encounter in an actual television episode.  Upon resolving this, our heroes find themselves at the North Pole, at the home of Santa Claus, uncovering a demonic plot whose ramifications could affect everybody on the planet.  It’s up to Sam and Max to save Christmas, and what follows is the stuff of legends.

Ice Station Santa feels like the sequel to Reality 2.0 in that it seems to take all of the things wrong with the last few episodes and improve on them, much like Reality 2.0 was the first episode in Season 1 to really offer something new in the way of gameplay.  If possible, the writing has actually gotten better in this episode, as the jokes seem funnier, the wit is sharper, and all the voice actors seem inspired.  Perhaps one of the biggest changes has been the addition of the new character Stinky, who runs the diner next to Bosco’s.  Stinky is an annoying know-it-all, who will grate on the nerves of even the most patient gamers.  Another welcome addition consists of the folks from C.O.P.S. opening a Pimp Your Ride shop next-door to the diner.  I greatly enjoyed the C.O.P.S. characters and hope they continue to be featured in future episodes.  All of these changes and new additions are a refreshing change of pace from last season and go a long way towards establishing that this is a new season and things will be different.  These weren’t all of the additions, but I should leave some things to be discovered by the reader.