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Upon reflection, it must be pretty brutal for developers to produce episodic content month after month. It's almost painful just thinking of how divided both conceptual and programming teams must be in terms of the sheer amount of work they have to do on such a regular basis.
But if you've been following the past three nuggets of episodic content Telltale Games has been offering, you'd know that all three games were smooth sailing so far. They had their problems, but the gameplay always remained fresh and interesting. Surprisingly, Episode 4 manages to keep up with and even surpass the comedic value of past installments by tackling American politics with a satirical viewpoint. In other words, Sam & Max are on a mission to kill the man in the Oval Office himself; the President of the United States.
It's almost surprising to see that this fourth episode is still fresh with humor and an interesting story. Episodes 1 through 3 already had some hilarious plotlines. Culture Shock pitted the heroes versus hellbent childhood television superstars, Situation: Comedy grew the ludicrous plot further with a talk show host holding her own audience hostage, followed up by The Mole, the Mob & the Meatball, with a title that speaks for itself.
Considering those events, you couldn't imagine the fourth episode being any more interesting. If anything, you'd think Telltale Games would run out of ideas. Not so, since now the President of the United States himself has gone berserk and must be stopped. Once again, the crime-solving dog and psychotic rabbit have to solve the mystery of the President passing ridiculous legislations and laws which is turning heads all over America. They infiltrate the White House, seeking to kill the President, as well as taking the opportunity to have Max run for office. But really, it's a ridiculous story, but its zany and surreal humor fits the series perfectly.
The last three episodes were fun, but aren't necessary to have a great time with Abe Lincoln Must Die.
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Point-and-click adventure games never deviate far from their core, so the same point and click interface is unchanged. Thankfully, it's the script that really shines in this title and makes the game so enjoyable. Surprisingly, the game had me laughing even more than the animated series. Telltale managed to really up the ante by making the script enjoyable, refreshing and new. Sam and Max as well as the remaining secondary characters are all brimming with the same comical wit and charm they've always had. The dialog shared between characters are incredibly hilarious and easily the game's shining point.
The only gripe I could have with this game is the difficulty. Episode 4 felt a lot more grueling than the other ones appeared, with some puzzles requiring some real out-of-the box thinking. It's a dividing issue, and finding a balance that pleases people on both sides can be very difficult. Also, while it is nice to see that the game was longer than past episodes, there is way too much backtracking. If anything, it would have benefited the pacing if players didn't have to travel back and forth so much.
So there you have it. It isn't often that you see a fourth chapter in a series manage to be the freshest creation of the lot, but that's exactly what Abe Lincoln Must Die managed to achieve. It's funny, it's challenging and above all, worth your time. Granted, I was rather anxious to see how well Telltale could handle one of my cherished cartoons from years past, but it's nice to see that this adaptation was handled as delicately as the cartoon.
The last three episodes were fun, but aren't necessary to have a great time with Abe Lincoln Must Die. If you're looking for a good laugh and a game that isn't short, but ends appropriately (and hilariously at that), then the famous dog and rabbitty thing have your ticket for one adventure of insane political satire and cramp-inducing humor.
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