The International House of Mojo

The episode begins very well. No office, no phone, some great jokes, and is that an iMuse thing going on with the music and the characters? Cool! There was admittedly some disappointment that, I suppose inevitably, Straight Street and many previous locations make an appearance. I was really hoping for a completely original romp in Hell here, but it was not to be. Luckily the disappointment gave way to delight when I actually started playing the game instead of nitpicking the impossible.

Besides, the Street comes with such a great gag that it's worth it. And was that 'One Way' sign intentional all along? If so, kudos!

Eventually I got past the longest beginning EVER and made it to the corporate nightmare that is Hell itself. Anyone expecting loads of LucasArts analogies will be a bit disappointed, but the spirit is undoubtedly there. As is a "current marketplace realities" joke finally. I guess the pain has subsided enough now. Anyway, Hell, and luckily for this poor reviewer after the last episode some things can safely be talked about. Bosco and a few others are trapped in their own personal hells and the general goal (although it obviously won't be the last) is to free them. It also doesn't spoil things to say that eventually Sam will end up in his own version of Hell, which closely reflects the one of the series' fans.

The story twists nicely, including the ultimate twist which made me yell out "Of COURSE!" to my screen. It is all told very well indeed and wraps up both Season Two and threads from Season One succinctly and satisfyingly.

Voice acting is once again excellent. Satan is the only new character and he sounds a lot like Malcolm McDowell, which makes sense to me. Animation is also the same high standard, and I particularly like the way Sam mopes in his personal hell. I salute Jared Emerson-Johnson for the excellent music again, although I am bitterly disappointed that there isn't a song in this episode. Six great songs in Season One, no great songs in Season Two. Only place where the first season beats the second I think.

Now then, what I really want to talk about is the puzzles. What's New, Beelzebub is easily (a word I will never use in the context of this episode again) the hardest game in the series yet. Rightfully so, being the final episode. Half the time the player isn't just asked to the solve the puzzle, but to identify it in the first place, then work out the goal and the massive stream-of-thought that is required to just work out what the hell we're supposed to be doing.

There were several times where the Hints system was smacking me over the head with the answer and I still couldn't see it. Speaking of which, the Hints themselves have definitely become less of an 'Answers System' and more like, well, hints. They are quite subtle now, and even after using the system I still felt like I'd solved the puzzle myself and the hints were just a prod in the right direction. Which is just how they should be.

However, I definitely wish that there were more "in-game" hints. Sometimes answers have hardly any clues at all, such as how to get rid of Leisure Suit Larry around Sybil later on (I'm talking in code now of course so not to spoil things, although I'm not far off). Some solutions went un-solved because they were so literal and frankly brutal! I was actually shocked by one incident, then doubly shocked by what happened immediately afterwards. Still, on the plus side there is a lot more casual violence in this game! Woohoo!

Still, none of this brain-ache matters. It's hard, but it's the finale until 2009 – it's supposed to be hard. Sam & Max have gone out with a bang (several in fact), and their best season yet ends with the best episode yet. The reason I held Abe Lincoln Must Die as the pinnacle of the series is that it has the best of everything an adventure game should have – story, puzzles, acting, music, animation, writing, memorable moments and big giants smashing things. Other episodes have usually slipped up somewhere in that list. What's New Beelzebub ticks them all and makes them better. No song unfortunately, but I'll be singing this game's praises for a long time.

If Telltale make a better S&M episode than this I'll tell you, otherwise take it as read that this is still the biggest, hardest and best episode of the lot. Now to end with my best line in context:

"If that doesn't get us into Hell, nothing will!"

Chris Capel
14th April, 2008.

Pros: Great writing, very funny; a joy all the way
Cons: Really really really really hard; no song