Tales of Monkey Island: Lair of the Leviathan Review

I suppose there are worse ways to travel

It’s a new month, and a new installment of Tales Of Monkey Island! The last episode, The Siege of Spinner Cay, ended with Guybrush being swallowed whole by a giant manatee. So it won’t surprise you to find out that you’ll be spending most of the new episode, Lair of the Leviathan, attempting to find your way out.

The hunt for Esponge Grande is not without it’s twists and turns, it would seem.  Conveniently swallowed by the manatee is adventurer and explorer Coronado De Cava, who is also hunting the voodoo soaking sponge, even if only to offer it as a surprise present for the Voodoo Lady.  After Guybrush gives De Cava the locket the Voodoo Lady entrusted to him, De Cava automatically assumes he has romantic competition.  Realising he needs De Cava’s help, Guybrush is forced to pretend Morgan LeFlay is his wife to allay suspicion.  After a little familiarisation session (held while dangling in cages over the cavernous entrance to the manatee’s stomach) De Cava accepts Guybrush isn’t interested in the Voodoo Lady and agrees to help him.  The sponge itself is hidden at the Sacred Manatee Breeding Grounds, where the manatee Guybrush has been swallowed by is headed.  However the manatee has lost it’s way after having it’s cochlea stolen, so not only does Guybrush have to find a way out of the manatee, he also has to fix it first.

Sounds logical, doesn’t it?

Without spoiling too much plot, within the space of the episode you’ll reunite with your old friend Murray the demonic skull, resort to a lot of face pulling, form an unlikely alliance with your number one fan/attempted murderer Morgan LeFlay and help a giant manatee to get some action … thankfully after you’ve found your way out of it.

Hell hath no fury like a woman trapped inside a sea-faring mammal

Lair of the Leviathan is actually quite a good length, longer certainly than Spinner Cay, and the puzzles range quite nicely from simple to difficult. If anything, there were a few puzzles that confounded me by simply being too easy. For instance, I didn’t get to meet Murray until well into the episode, because he was trapped inside a chest for which I was logically looking for the key. I won’t spoil the actual method of his release, only to say that it’s hilariously simple, which is why it took me so long to figure out. (I was halfway expecting to make a De Cava style lockpick kit out of toenails).  A couple of throughly stumped moments aside, the episode took me around about five or six hours to complete, which is about on par with the first episode of the series.

The writing is still top notch, and there’s a lot of comedy to milk from being inside a giant sea beast.  Murray steals the show, just as he did in Monkey Island 3, and really provides the majority of the laughs this episode. And while your conversations with him are brilliant, he also has some fantastic random snatches of dialogue (if you want an example, try talking to him while he inhabits your inventory). The writing is obviously child-proofed, still walking the line between family friendly with allusions of a more adult humour.  However, much like a modern animation film, there are points where this actually works in favour of the comedy, as the game’s innocence tarnishes for a split-second.

The setting moves quite naturally from the inside of a manatee to the outside, with an amusing … transition. While the previous episode felt quite constrained, despite it’s seemingly larger scale, Leviathan seems to accomplish the opposite. There isn’t a huge number of locations, but they’re built quite cleverly to slowly advance the game’s puzzles.

Look at all ... that ... monkey

There is also a greater level of character development in this episode.  Narwhal seemed to spend most of it’s time reminding players who Guybrush was, and Spinner Cay was mainly focused on Guybrush’s animosity for LeChuck, but Leviathan actually has a little heart to it.  A big heart to it too, considering you’re wandering a manatee’s innards, but you get my drift.  Morgan LeFlay manages to make a couple of hours item fetching actually work as character exposition.  During your time inside the manatee, Morgan will work her way from adoring you, to hating you, to eventually respecting your non-violent approach to pirating.

The visuals are put together nicely, thankfully avoiding the somewhat cut/copy NPC model situation we had in Spinner Cay.  There are a few odd little graphic glitches (if you look, you’ll notice Morgan’s tattoo actually floats above her arm during the interrogation scene) but nothing game breaking.  The environments are very well made, the inside of the manatee’s belly looks particularly … squishy.

Pauly Shore clones can sneak up on even the most observant pirates

There were a few points in the game where Guybrush’s inability to be killed hindered the game’s narrative, which was mildly annoying.  De Cava, filled with rage at Guybrush for supposedly stealing the Voodoo Lady’s affection, will refuse over and over again to kill him despite failing certain interrogation questions.  At first I thought this was fair enough, it was just something the writers had to do, but considering you’re later dropped into the belly of the manatee anyhow (which is what DeCava originally threatens you with), what was the point of perpetuating such a silly situation?  If you failed your interrogation, you could easily have been dropped by De Cava, discovered the manatee’s belly area, then after you climbed back up he could have interrogated you again.  Instead, you’re dangled above the manatee’s stomach until you can correctly answer three questions about Morgan, with no threat of De Cava actually having to “kill” you.

I was a little worried after The Siege of Spinner Cay, but Leviathan seems to have set this series right back on course.  It’s well put together, flows quite nicely, and the writing shines as always.

The Verdict:

Pros: A better length and a better use of location than the previous installment.  Writing is still fantastic, and there are a few genuine laugh out loud moments.  Being reunited with Murray will please a lot of long time Monkey Island fans.

Cons: The puzzles are well thought out, which is why the occasional very simple problem will stump you until you resort to the old “try-everything-with-everything” approach.  A few very small visual oddities.  Guybrush’s invulnerability can get in the way of otherwise well written sections.

Overall: 4 out of 5.  If Telltale can keep the series at this level, then I’m going to be very happy.  Good to see that the characters are still growing in the developer’s minds, and they’ve allowed their personalities to become three dimensional along with their character models.  Looking forward to the next episode!