Escape from Monkey Island Preview

Much to the satisfaction of fans that don't exhibit masochistic tendencies, MI4 won't have as many combining puzzles. There'll still be a few, but not nearly as much as there have been in the previous games. Inventory management should be significantly rehashed to fit the new, intuitive nature of the puzzles. The game will now feature a rotating inventory ring that lets you cycle through items and combine them in the foreground, while the ongoing scene is still visible, only slightly darkened. This should also make the remaining few "combining puzzles" a whole lot easier, since you won't have to reach for the inventory the first hundred times you try to stumble upon the right combo.

Eyes left, baby!

Looking at the stars and wondering...

Unfortunately, the team still plans to use the keyboard-only controls introduced in Grim Fandango (head turning towards the object of interest), and as far as I know, there's no mention of the PC rodent. What's the word I'm looking for... ...ah yes, frustrating! Although EFMI uses a fairly modified version of the Grim Fandango engine, it was probably too much of a hassle, creating room for one more controller. I suppose that the code was too rigid, or it required too much of a workaround.

As for the in-game graphics, well... that's considered as somewhat of a game's sticking point, at least from a hard-core fans' perspective. I for one had troubles accepting the change from the beautifully drawn, and animated graphics of "The Curse" to the relatively crude 3D polygonal models. The main worry is if the 3D models can depict the emotions as richly, and accurately as hand drawn pictures. For a game that relies almost exclusively on great humor, and intelligent-remarks-value, such a restriction is making a huge difference. Although I'm fairly skeptical in regards to the team's decision, I still have to admit I neglected the lack of 2D quality facial expressions in Grim Fandango, in favor of the rich dialogue and great sound. It could've been because GF had such a unique graphic design; I'm not sure. I just can't make an accurate decision over a few movies, and screenshots... We'll need to actually play the game before we can come to some decent conclusions...

The "Grim Fandango modified" EFMI engine boasts 3D polygonal characters and 2D pre-rendered backgrounds. Even though EFMI graphics are leaning heavily on the GF technology, the dev. team has made some rather important enhancements that should bring the eye candy bar up a few notches. No more software rendered mode for MI4... Going the 3D-only route allows the designers to draw the backgrounds at full 32-bit palette, and add some more polys to the models. The EFMI characters are made up of around 1500 polygons strategically placed for maximum effect; unlike in GF that only had about 400 polys per model. Again, let's not forget the difference in design styles...

The biggest visual difference though should probably come from the decision to recycle bin the Grim Fandango animation system, and replace it with a brand-new Obi-Wan's system. I have no doubts that the new technology brings far more fluidity into the movement; I just don't know how it feels in-game. Taking in account all the graphic innovations: the 3D-only decision, higher poly-count, some texture alignment corrections, and the fresh animation system, EFMI should strike you as much prettier than its tech-predecessor. The final decision regarding the visuals, in relation to the depiction of emotions is not even arguable without sitting down and playing the game for several hours. Hold on to your stones until then... If the whole 3D switch turns up to be one giant flop... ... then we'll just line up Sean and Mike, and stone them to death. No hard feelings guys? No pressure either...

A few more tidbits about the game tunes... The musical score has always played a crucial role in all of the Monkey Island games, and EFMI is no exception. Fans should be pleased to know that Clint Bajakian, Michael Land, and Peter McConnell, the musical trio responsible for most of LucasArts' music also did the MI4 soundtrack, despite the fact that they've recently left the company to pursue solo careers... I guess the temptation of the task was too great to ignore.

When?!

It shouldn't be long before we get to relish in mighty pirate's famous one-liners again... The game's release date is set at Q4 2000.

"...Patience young Jedi"... Oh wait, that's not it... "I'm drier than a dead monkey!" Yeah, that's more like it!