The International House of Mojo

Sometimes reviews are hard to write. There's nothing reviewers like more than storytelling about "that good bit when" or "that lousy bit when". The problem with Chariots of the Dogs from a reviewer's standpoint is that almost all of the fun players will get from it is based on surprise. From two minutes in, basically every line, location, item and character appearance is a surprise twist that will make you smile like The Joker's happier cellmate. So a review about it has to be as vague as possible.

This is how my notes for the game started: "hmph, could've been more surprises behind Bosco's counter, and that puzzle was very... wait, Sam and Max didn't start in their office! Flint Paper's joined forces with them to randomly shoot up stuff! You can properly go in the bathroom and cause a big explosion! Was that a Day of the Tentacle reference? Then... then... then... WOW!"

As you can tell, playing this latest episode of Freelance Police: The New Frontier is very exciting, even when you're holding a pen in one hand and balancing a notepad on your leg. But it's so exciting and stunning that it's impossible to talk about without ruining it for someone who hasn't played it. So instead I'll talk about... ah hell, can you stand one vague mini-spoiler? Well, Bosco's gets a makeover into a big Hit The Road reference. That'll do. I loved that one a lot. No more. There are tons of other references to spot though, including a few LucasArts games, Bill & Ted, Star Trek, Doctor Who, 2001 and Star Wars several times (including a riff on the stupid 'Darth Vader originally built C-3PO' idea).

Oh, and one of my hardest laughs came from simply holding the mouse pointer over Bosco when you first find him. I wonder who thought that up? Finally, Max being sexy is one of the funniest and most disturbing things ever.

The puzzles all have understandable answers, no matter how bizarre or confusing they should become, and occasionally have really devious and subtle red herrings. I was once set on totally the wrong path for one puzzle and it took about a dozen hints (at which point Max was almost yelling the answer down my ear) for me to get the idea. And when that answer came, I was slapping my head in annoyance and both praising and cursing Telltale for their sly underhanded brilliance. I want to also point out that that was the only time I used the hints system, and the only time I've needed more than two hints to solve a puzzle since they were introduced. Disappointingly though, the final puzzle is again severely lacking. It basically just involves pressing a button. I don't know why Telltale keep slipping up with the ending, maybe they're saving a big "boss fight" for the season finale.

What else can I say? Not much without giving anything away. This is the most fun I've had with Sam & Max since, er, the last episode. But then that episode pushed all my buttons, so I thought that any episode that followed Spooky Castle With Zombies, Vampires and Hidden Passageways would be a disappointment. I was proved wrong. The jokes are all spot on, the puzzles are all cunning yet solveable, and the story...

Hmm. I think I've hit a snag there. This episode is more about having fun with the locations and characters with surprise after surprise, but very little of that is an actual plot. In this case however, I don't think that's a bad thing. I was enjoying myself too much to notice a plot. Reality 2.0 was a similar case of low plot, high entertainment, and some consider that the best episode. I have a single note for the plot on my pad, which is "I knew it". I'll let you work out which particular twist I was referring to.

Finally, let me round off by not spoiling anything, but merely suggesting that the next episode could be really hot. Just saying.

Chris Capel
18th March, 2008.

Pros: Loads of fun surprises, very enjoyable to play altogether
Cons: Low on plot, simple ending, impossible to talk about