Product Reviews

When LucasArts pulled production of its second Sam & Max game, it was a wasted opportunity. Fortunately, the developers thought so too and set up their own company with the intention of releasing a series of Sam & Max games for just a few pounds per episode. Culture Shock is the first in the series.

It's a surprisingly slick affair; the canine freelance police detective and his psychotic rabbit friend are brought to life with bright, cheerful graphics. It's as good as anything to come out of LucasArts, and the voice acting is spot on. Purists may moan

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about the change of voice talent from the original PC game, but you'll soon be so engrossed you won't notice.

A big part of Sam & Max is the humour, and Telltale Games has got it exactly right. If you like Sam & Max, you'll love this. The plot involves faded child stars and a megalomaniac intent on hypnotising the world; it's bizarre and strange, but certainly inventive. There are touches of brilliance in there, too, particularly the scene where you travel into Sam's psyche to get admitted into a mental asylum - trust us, it makes sense in the game. Throw in a bit of child-star beating, rat torturing and shooting at innocent drivers' taillights before busting them for traffic infringements, and it's everything you'd expect from Sam & Max.

The interface is superb, and you can solve all the problems using only the mouse. However, the episodic format makes the game almost too simple; the limited locations mean you never have to stray far to find the answer to a particular problem. We managed to make our way through the entire game in less than two hours. It's fun, but it's too easy and it left us wanting a full-length adventure.