Mini Review – The Secret of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition

Point and Click

You have a woman’s hand.

Lurk

The Secret of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition is the sequel to, you guessed it, Monkey Island. If you’re a fan of Lucasarts’ point & click adventure games then there’s a good chance you’ve already bought this, but if you haven’t then go and buy it immediately. For those of you that aren’t fans of the original and only played the previous update, but are wondering whether to get the sequel. The short answer is yes, the long answer is fucking hell yes.

Ooh! An amulet that does the ironing!

Not only does this game have improved graphics and sound – including added voice acting – over the original game, you can still play the original Monkey Island 2 in all its pixelly glory. Add to that the game now has a hint system where by pressing in the left bumper highlights what objects can be interacted with, which can be handy at times where the objects are rather small. The game also has the option of an in game commentary from the makers of the game, Ron Gilbert, Dave Grossman and Tim Schafer. This is activated by pressing the right bumper if you want it.

I would only recommend the commentary if you’ve already played the game once, since it does give away hints on what to do as well as plot points. One small gripe is the updated control system where you move Guybrush around by using the left analogue stick and the cursor with the right – similar to another Lucasarts game, Grim Fandango – but you can turn this off in the main menu anyway.

8/10