The Secret of Monkey Island: PIB PC Game Review

Disclaimer: All of the games on this site were current when the reviews were originally written. All the games reviewed are now old but enough people seem to visit the pages to warrant updating them to mobile friendly navigation.

The Secret of Monkey Island

Brief Description

You are Guybrush Threepwood, a young pirate-wannabe. You have come to Melee Island (TM) to pursue your career. Little do you know what awaits you. Sword-fighting and thievery is easy compared to dealing with a ghost pirate.

This is a very funny (and not too involved) adventure game. The game is divided into four parts. As with most adventure games, you need to be willing to look at everything and pick up almost every object to succeed in your quest.

Game play

The interface is standard for LucasArts adventure games, and doesn't take long to master. The puzzles in the game range in difficulty from easy to about medium. I was stuck fairly thoroughly twice in the game, because my thinking was a bit too linear. That's about average for me in most adventure games.

Conclusion

I bought this because it has a reputation of being one of the funniest adventure games ever written and the price is certainly right. From the insults to the governor's mansion to dialogue, it is one of the funniest games I've played since Discworld. The humour may not appeal to all, I found the (TM) after every mention of Melee Island or the Secret of Monkey Island amusing.

Some final thoughts on the game.

One of the possible dialogue choices at the end of the game is something like "Don't pay more than $20 for a computer game." Well, this game won't set you back that far, and it is quite cute. Once you have enjoyed this game, you may want to try Monkey Island 3 The Curse of Monkey Island, the most recent in this popular series. The LucasArts Archives 3 contains both Monkey Island 1 and 2.

A much harder but equally funny adventure game is Discworld based on Terry Pratchett's novels. Sam and Max Hit the Road may also appeal to you. Also Toonstruck may be a game that you'll find entertaining.

If you want to find older LucasArts games, go to their site and check out the store. They have released a number of older games in various collections. They are one of the few companies who recognise that some people want to play good games, not just bleeding edge games.