Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space
Available for Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Release Date (XBLA): October 14, 2009
Official website: www.telltalegames.com

Review Summary:
Although the episodes which comprise Sam and Max: Beyond Time and Space have been out for over a year on the PC, only recently have they come to the Xbox 360's Xbox LIVE Arcade. Knowing this still does not harm the game's overall luster. It is a fun game with the best character acting and art seen in a game by Telltale Games.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Read the full review below.

Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space review

Gameplay

The gameplay functions in Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space work nearly the same way in which every other Telltale Games production that I've ever played has worked. All you have to do as a player is point and click. Click to tell Sam to go somewhere, or to shoot something, etc. Using your on-screen pointer, it's up to you and your sidekick Max to solve various mysteries. Things like how to stop a rat suicide and traveling through time all come with a level of interactivity that adds to the entertainment value. These puzzles aren't static affairs that send players looking for keys to unlock doors ad nauseam. Telltale Games definitely gets good credit in my book for coming up with interesting puzzles that don't get old. At the same time the puzzles aren't too difficult, although getting stuck is a real possibility if you're a puzzle newbie like me.

Overall, nothing terribly trailblazing is done here with the control scheme. I would like something other than just the same old point-and-click, but if it isn't broken, maybe Telltale Games shouldn't fix it. On the other hand, they have added some things to break up the point-and-click gameplay in the form of mini-games. These mini-games include things like boxing rats inside a giant robot and shooting at a whack-a-mole machine. Once again, it simply adds some needed respite from the clicky-clicky gameplay.

Presentation

For starters, the art design work here is very solid much like the high-quality work done on the recent Tales of Monkey Island releases. Everything is bright, colorful and has a consistent cartoonish tone to it. Menus are well designed and allow easy access to all of your saves, as well as all individual episodes. The only downside to the graphics is that sometimes textures look like a blurry mess and models start to reveal their low-poly nature. Of course as an XBLA title, some compression and graphic sacrifices may have been made from the PC releases. Generally though, Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space is an attractive game. Also, I think it should be noted that glitches were completely non-existent as far as I could tell in this game. This is a far cry from more recently developed titles like Wallace and Gromit or Tales of Monkey Island which have had their share of bugs.

The sound is probably the highlight of the game's presentation. From the fantastic voice acting to the sound effects, the sound here is stellar. In fact, the voice acting carries the entire story, giving it the levity to really match the cartoony designs and all-out strange events.

Overall

Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space is hands down my favorite of Telltale Games' adventures that I have played. It has the best voice acting, the least glitches and the funniest storylines. Also, because it's a five episode pack it has great value for the money.