Season Three

Blurb

The Freelance Police are back, this time facing down a powerful and rather insane Gorilla from another galaxy. This ape, one General Skun-ka’pe, is determined to seize the mysterious Toys of Power–which reveal unique and bizarre psychic abilities to those that wield them–scattered across Planet Earth, and he starts his assault a little too close to home for our heroes.

As destruction rains down on Straight Street, Sam & Max must harness the rabbity-thing’s psychic powers to combat this vile interstellar simian foe. Can they return Skun-ka’pe to the galactic prison dimension from which he escaped, or have they doomed themselves to forever be stuck in… The Penal Zone?!

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Critics

Adventure Gamers (PC) – …Overall there’s nothing that should keep even the most marginal Sam & Max fans away. It’s been a whole two years without a new adventure for the Freelance Police, but the wait has been worth it, at least for one episode. Whether this high quality continues throughout the rest of The Devil’s Playhouse remains to be seen, but The Penal Zone is a very strong start of what looks to be another season of whimsical comic destruction.

Sam & Max UK (PC) – There’s really very little to fault with The Penal Zone. This is exactly the type of episode I was hoping for, bringing some new mechanics into play and sprucing everything up. As long as the next four episodes don’t fall down the recycled content trap that entangled the previous seasons, it looks like we’re in for a very exciting ride in The Devil’s Playhouse. Welcome back, little buddies.

Adrenaline Vault (PC) – The third season of Sam and Max episodes is off to a very pleasant start with The Penal Zone. The game looks better than any Telltale game I’ve played thus far, the story is typical for the genre but it’s told in a welcome new way, and the game’s filled with off-beat, colorful characters. The developer only has a few bugs to exterminate to make this a good beginning to what could be a very entertaining new season of episodes.

Further Reading

• S&M Wiki

Blurb

In the second episode, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak, the Freelance Police face even more bizarre and dangerous new characters (and some familiar faces). The game’s designer calls this episode Sam & Max’s “trippiest trip yet”, as it features new psychic powers, peculiar foes, a journey on the Disorient Express and an ancient mysterious riddle from across the ages.

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Adventure Gamers (PC) – This is certainly one of the most rich, creative and boundary-pushing Sam & Max episodes yet … The Tomb of Sammun-Mak may not quite hit the heights it could have reached, but it’s fun, it’s creative, and it thoroughly entertains. While other Telltale series have suffered a bit of a letdown after a promising start, The Devil’s Playhouse is shaping up to be a consistently entertaining season, any way you slice the cucumber.

Sam & Max UK (PC) – The Tomb of Sammun-Mak has gone beyond the expected and the result is one of the best Sam and Max capers Telltale have produced. … Enjoy it, for the consistent level of quality throughout makes it impossible to pass up. If this standard of innovation is only just the beginning, the cliffhanger at the end of the episode will have you drooling over your calendar in anticipation for the future.

International House of Mojo (PC) – With this latest episode, Telltale continues to nail Purcell’s off-kilter universe, delivering a quality, mayhem-laden story infused with crackling dialog with an expertise that suggests it’s all second nature to them by now. … If Telltale Games has a “flagship franchise,” there’s no question that Sam & Max would be it, and even with only two of its five episodes out the door, the The Devil’s Playhouse makes it pretty clear as to why.

Further Reading

• S&M Wiki

Blurb

You wouldn’t want to see freelance shamus Sam when he’s steaming mad. Someone’s snatched his little buddy’s noodle, gunning for control of its bizarre psychic powers. Now Sam’s rolling up his sleeves, smacking heads, and throwing slugs — whatever it takes to get back what’s rightfully Max’s! But who’s behind this egregious theft? The giant space gorilla? The suspicious-looking cockroach? Or maybe the fishy dame that runs the local greasy spoon? And who — or what — is a Yog Soggoth?

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Critics

Adventure Gamers (PC) – They Stole Max’s Brain! isn’t an inspired leap forward for the series that the two prior Devil’s Playhouse episodes have been. It’s a smooth chunk of comic entertainment that will satisfy series fans, and it’s not a major disappointment by any means. It just doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its own exciting introduction, relying a little too much on overly similar puzzles that aren’t nearly as inventive as its storyline.

Sam & Max UK (PC) – Don’t get the impression that They Stole Max’s Brain! is a bad game. It certainly isn’t. … The opening acts of the game are highly enjoyable and engaging, and the plot is gripping with interesting characters, but as the episode progresses it falls downhill into lacklustre puzzles and concludes pretty quickly. You’ll definitely get thrills while playing through, but you’ll probably be left wondering what could have been.

Adventure Classic Gaming (PC) – While the previous episode breaks the linear storytelling by traveling to the past, this episode marks the return to a more linear narrative and back to the present. Even so, the game feels fresh and not outdated or recycled. The final scene of the game ends again with an absurd shocking cliffhanger. It is not easy to see ahead what crazy turn this season may take next.

Further Reading

• S&M Wiki