Review | Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse – Episode 3
Fun Noir…
Format: PC/iPad/PS3 | Genre: Adventure | Publisher: Telltale | Developer: Telltale | Release Date: 22/06/2010 | RRP: $35/season
Jennifer Allen discovers just what it’s like to have no brain in the third installment of SAM & MAX: THE DEVIL’S PLAYHOUSE.
THE MORE I play Sam & Max’s latest episodes, the more comfortable I feel in the environment. I’ve forgiven The Devil’s Playhouse for its initially bemusing console-esque interface. Instead, I’ve spent more time smiling in Sam & Max’s company than I have with any other game this year. The bizarre twosome might come out with some deeply cynical comments but they always feel light hearted and never world weary. How could they feel weary of the world when their world is so bizarre after all? Just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone goes and steals Max’s
brain.
Why anyone would steal the psychotic rabbit’s brain is best left to the game to explain, but it still leaves Sam in an understandably difficult position. Poor Max just looks so listless without his brain. So starts another madcap adventure, albeit one with a darker edge, at least to begin with. Sam’s in a distraught state and he’s not about to take no for an answer. Even if the correct answer is actually no.
Play it Again, Sam
The early stages of this episode are fantastically different compared to the usual Sam & Max tale. With a flourish of film noir goodness, Sam travels across the city desperate to find out what has become of his beloved Max. Thanks to private eye, Flint Paper, Sam knows exactly how to make people talk through a mixture of threats and accusations. It’s comical yet also tragically sweet as you can’t help but feel for the good natured Sam, who’s clearly far from happy. It also makes for a fast paced and original first act. My only wish was to see more of this type of storytelling.
Things return to more familiar ground once Sam settles on a location to explore but the quality is far from diminished. While the puzzles may be a touch simpler compared to those seen in previous seasons, the humour truly shines through. There’s also the reintroduction of a few familiar characters from previous episodes as expected, but I’ll resist delving too deeply into this for the sake of spoilers.
The simpler puzzles actually serve to benefit the game on the whole as I frequently didn’t feel obliged to click on any random object for the sake of it, the majority of puzzles all make logical sense. Initial fears that there’d be no opportunity to use Max’s psychic powers are unfounded thanks to Sam finding a ’spare’ brain when required. There are plenty of opportunities after this to use the rhinoplasty, future vision and teleportation in order to progress.
To say that They Stole Max’s Brain is more of the same seems unfair and disingenuous. It’s true though for much of the game but that’s a great 
endorsement to the quality of the tale. While the first episode of The Devil’s Playhouse felt like it was lacking strength, the second episode and now this have demonstrated that there’s some great ingenuity to be had with the terrible two. Telltale are manipulating the adventure genre beautifully while also throwing in some lovely homages such as the Tarantino-esque attitude in Episode 2 to the Sam Spade like manner of Sam in this episode. It’s delightful to see.
Who knows what Telltale have up their sleeves for the final two episodes but the rate that things are going, this is shaping up to be the strongest season yet.
