The Secret of Monkey Island

The Secret of Monkey Island is a game that, in fact, opened the golden era of the LucasArts quests. Of course, the story about the secret of Monkey Island is not the first game of the famous studio. There were already Maniac Mansion, and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, but it was Monkey Island that set that level of quality, great style and excellent humor, which is still considered the hallmark of LucasArts.

And it is no coincidence - after all, several extremely talented people worked on the project, such as Ron Gilbert (Maniac Mansion, Deathspank) and Tim Scheifer (Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, etc.). The result of their joint work is impressive - it turned out not just an excellent game, but also a landmark for the whole genre of quests for many years to come.

The story tells us about a young man named Guybrush Threepwood. He has nothing for his soul, except for an unusual name, the wind is walking in his head, and there is a gaping hole in his pockets. But there is a strong desire to change the situation, becoming a mighty and famous pirate. And he decides to ask for help to the sea-wolves that have seen the species. Those, without thinking twice, apparently - for fun, decide to come up with three almost impracticable tests, after which Guybrush can officially call himself a pirate.

So our adventures begin. Together with the hero, we will find our love, rob the governor's mansion, learn ... ahem ... fight with swords, defeat the cunning pirate LeChak and, of course, reveal the secret mentioned in the name "Monkey Island (TM)".

Despite the relatively short duration and a modest number of locations, this game is surprisingly much. What pleases the most is the incredibly high density of jokes per unit of time. They joke here very often, and, I must say, perfectly. And the gags are not only on pirate topics. On the nuts are animal advocates, salespeople, salespeople, circus performers and many others. Periodically, the authors even break through the "fourth wall" and begin to mock directly at the player. Perhaps it was these moments that turned out to be the most ridiculous and memorable. So even if you do not digest pirate romance and all the works related to it, you still need to watch The Secret of Monkey Island - you will find something to laugh heartily from. And, surprisingly, despite the abundance of diverse jokes, the game does not crumble into separate scenes and does not look like a collection of anecdotes. It’s a solid, fun, funny and well-written adventure.

Thanks to the excellent work of artists, the game still looks great. The picture of twenty years ago does not cause rejection. All locations and characters are drawn carefully, beautifully and with great attention to detail. As far as possible in 1990, naturally.

The music is superb. Here, as they say, it is worth hearing once, and you, most likely, will never forget this music. Incredibly catchy and recognizable soundtrack.

The only thing that can cloud your acquaintance with Monkey Island is the high language barrier. Unfortunately, the game could not be adequately translated into Russian, and for a comfortable passing and understanding of all the jokes, it is very desirable to know English at least at the intermediate level and / or have a good dictionary.

But for the efforts to overcome this barrier, you will certainly be rewarded. Without false modesty - golden classics, mandatory to familiarize any adventure lover.