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enginethatpoweredthelikesofFullThrottle,
DayoftheTentacleandSam&MaxHitthe
Road,anditallowedplayerstochoosefroma
listofcommandsanditems.
ButitwasTheSecretofMonkeyIslandin
1990 thatreallyhitthespot.Featuring Guybrush
Threepwood,itpushedhumourtothefore,
withawholehostofknowingnodsalongside
abeautifullyimplementedboutofinsult
swordfightingthathadtheprotagonists
seekingtoroasteachotherwithwitty retorts.
“MonkeyIslandhadsomereallyfun
puzzlesthatdidn’tmakemuchsense,but
there was slapstick and that was part of the
charm,”saysCecil.
Inthesecondgameofthisseries,
Guybrushcouldusethepiano-playing
monkey,Jojo,asawrenchonavalveto
openupapassageway.
“Puzzleslikethatwerereallygreat,but
generallywe’vealwaysworkedhardtomake
surethatourpuzzlesmakesense,”headds.
HAVINGALAUGH
LikeLucasArts,Cecilhaslongbelieved
humour to be important. Beneath aSteel Sky
had afactory supervisor called Gilbert Lamb
withastrongYorkshireaccentwearingacoat
“madefromthelast 10 beaversintheworld”,
whodescribesoneofhispipesinavery
risquéway.Therewasacrazyplasticsurgeon,
DrBurke,whoaskedforFoster’stesticlesin
exchangeforinstallingaportinhishead(“I’ll
havetosellyoumyballs,”saysFoster).
Butcoulddoubleentendres,one-liners
andcrazysituationsworkaswelltoday?
Cecilsaysthedialogueoftheoriginalis
cruderthanwouldbeexpectedtoday,but
humourwillremainpartandparcelofthe
newpackage,aswilltheneedtochat.
“Communicating with characters is still
howwe’re conveying the newstory,” Cecil
⬆Leisure Suit Larry was abig hit forRevolution Software ⬆Sam &Max Hit the Road allowed players to choose from alist of commands
⬆Just like atraditional point-and-click adventure,
Beyond aSteel Skywill have many puzzles tosolve
