Tales of Monkey Island

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Tales of Monkey Island The Tales of Monkey Island logo
Developer(s)	Telltale Games
Designer(s)	Dave Grossman
Series	Monkey Island
Engine	Telltale Tool
Release date(s)	July 7 - December 8, 2009
Genre(s)	Graphic adventure game
Mode(s)	Single-player video game
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Wii, Sony PS3
Media	Download, DVD
System requirements	PC requirments: Windows XP / Vista 2.0 GHz CPU 512 RAM 64 MB video card Mac OS requirments: Intel Core 2 Duo processor Mac OS X 10.5 or newer^[1]
Input	Keyboard and mouse, Wii Remote, Wii Nunchuk, Dualshock 3, Sixaxis PS3 Controller
Preceded by	Escape from Monkey Island
Followed by	The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Tales of Monkey Island (abbreviated as ToMI or TMI) is an adventure game being developed by Telltale Games in collaboration with LucasArts, and was announced at E3 2009.^[2] It takes place after an imaginary fifth game in the Monkey Island series. Players take control of Guybrush Threepwood who accidentally releases a voodoo pox that spreads throughout the Caribbean. He must save the Caribbean from this voodoo pox whilst at the same time rescue his love Elaine Marley from his nemesis LeChuck^[3]. The game is episodic, with the adventure being split into 5 parts. The first episode was released on July 7, 2009, the second on August 20, the third on September 29, the fourth on October 30, and the fifth and last one on December 8.

Tales is the third game in the series to be released on a console platform, the previous two titles being The Secret of Monkey Island (Sega CD, Xbox 360 and PS3) and Escape from Monkey Island (Playstation 2)

Episodes

No.	Chapter title	PC / Mac Release date	US WiiWare Release date	Euro WiiWare Release date	US PSN Realese date	Euro PSN Release Date
1	"Launch of the Screaming Narwhal"	July 7, 2009	July 27, 2009	July 31, 2009	June 15, 2010	Not Announced yet
2	"The Siege of Spinner Cay"	August 20, 2009	August 31, 2009	September 25, 2009	June 15, 2010	Not Announced yet
3	"Lair of the Leviathan"	September 29, 2009	October 26, 2009	November 6, 2009	June 15, 2010	Not Announced yet
4	"The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood"	October 30, 2009	November 30, 2009	December 11, 2009	June 15, 2010	Not Announced yet
5	"Rise of the Pirate God"	December 8, 2009	February 1, 2010	February 18, 2010	June 15, 2010	Not Announced yet

Gameplay

Tales of Monkey Island is set after the imaginary game, Monkey Island 5^[4]. As with its predecessors, Tales of Monkey Island is a graphic adventure game. Players assume the role of protagonist Guybrush Threepwood, a hapless wannabe pirate, and must explore 3D environments to solve a variety of puzzles. Puzzles consist of traditional adventure game conundrums where the player must use the environment to pass a predicament, as well as puzzles that require the use of items that the player has collected and stored in their inventory to complete. In contrast to previous games by Telltale Games, but in keeping with preceding Monkey Island games, Tales of Monkey Island allows players to combine certain items in their inventory to create new items. The game world is explored through use of the keyboard and mouse on the PC, and the Nunchuk on the Wii. Each chapter of the game is estimated to be between two and four hours, depending on the player's ability to deal with the puzzles.^[5] To assist players who struggle with the game's puzzles, a subtle hint system is also integrated into the game.

Each episode contains 4-5 hours of gameplay and around 1500 dialogue lines.^[6] Unlike other Telltale episodic games, the five episodes combine to tell a single linear, progressive narrative.

Plot

Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

After several years of swashbuckling, Elaine Threepwood-Marley is captured by LeChuck, who continues in his efforts to impress her with his powerful deeds. In a showdown at the Rock of Gelato, Guybrush Threepwood comes to the rescue wielding the Legendary Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu, which he has constructed using a recipe obtained from the Voodoo Lady. An act of unfortunately-timed showboating botches Guybrush's attempt at wielding the weapon, though, and finds the Mighty Pirate™ struggling to throw together a substitute at the last possible moment. Guybrush engages in battle with LeChuck, eventually stabbing the ghost pirate through the chest with the glowing cutlass; however, rather than destroying him, the attack causes LeChuck's voodoo energy to dissipate, contaminating Guybrush's left hand with LeChuck's sickly mojo and turning LeChuck back into a human! The evil power contained in Guybrush's infected hand causes an explosion on the deck of Elaine's ship, sinking it and sending a screaming Guybrush hurtling skyward.

Guybrush awakens on the shore of Flotsam Island, his mind set immediately to thoughts of escape. However, he quickly learns that the winds there are not so favourable-- it seems there is no off-wind available for the launching of a vessel, as all winds on Flotsam appear to flow toward the center of the island. Guybrush sets out to find a way to change that.

He learns of an informant to the local newspaper-- codenamed "Deep Gut"-- and causes a newsworthy (and pirate-flavoured) ruckus on the island in order to meet with the mysterious figure. Meeting at a creepy shack at the far end of the island, Guybrush learns Deep Gut's true identity: the Voodoo Lady! She informs him of a possible way to rid himself (and the rest of the Caribbean) of the "Pox of LeChuck" he unwittingly unleashed at the Rock of Gelato: an enormous and powerful voodoo-sucking sponge called La Esponja Grande.

Meanwhile, he meets an adversary trying to corrupt his attempts to leave. A scientist named Marquis De Singe who is extremely interested in Guybrush's own-willed hand, and is trying everything to get to know more about it.

In order to get off the island, Guybrush needs a ship, and must commandeer the Screaming Narwhal, the only pirate ship on the island.

Finally Guybrush changes the winds, and he sets out to another island to rescue his beloved Elaine from the clutches of LeChuck. He arrives at his destination, but gets interrupted by an unknown character... with a blade to his throat...

Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay

Guybrush is confronted by Morgan LeFlay, a pirate hunter hired by the Marquis De Singe, who as it turns out is also a huge fan. Guybrush manages to knock her off his ship, but not before Morgan cuts off his Pox-infected hand. Replacing the lost hand with the hook Morgan left behind, Guybrush heads to Spinner Cay. On the Jerkbait Islands, Guybrush finds Elaine serving as a mediator between the MerLeader and the angry, Pox-infected McGillicutty. Elaine is upset over the loss of Guybrush's hand (and subsequently his wedding ring), and entrusts to him her own ring for safekeeping.

Guybrush is then sent out to look for the Vaycaylians' three summoning artifacts- the Wise Turtle, the Noble Seahorse and the Cranky Fish - that will lead him to the only item that can cure the Pox of LeChuck: La Esponja Grande. Using a number of clues left behind by Coronado DeCava, Guybrush recovers the Cranky Fish, and with help from the reformed but not very bright human LeChuck is able to acquire the Wise Turtle. The Noble Seahorse - formerly in McGillicutty's possession - is dug out from where the crew had buried it.

Just as Guybrush gains all three artifacts, McGillicutty resorts to kidnapping the MerLeader and laying siege to Spinner Cay. The combined efforts of Elaine, LeChuck, Guybrush (and a rubber tree mast) eventually clear the blockade, rescue the MerLeader and drive the pirates back. Guybrush then uses the artifacts to summon the legendary sea creatures that direct him toward La Esponja Grande, but is forced to leave Elaine behind with LeChuck.

Meanwhile, the Marquis hires Morgan to once again pursue Guybrush, this time bringing him in alive for a quadrupled rate. Morgan again boards the ship and takes Winslow hostage. As she is about to bring Guybrush in, a giant manatee appears and swallows the ship before disappearing back into the depths.

Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan

Guybrush, Winslow, and the persistent Pirate Hunter Morgan LeFlay find themselves trapped inside a Manatee. Inside, Guybrush finds the long lost lover of the Voodoo Lady, Coronado DeCava. Things turn sour, however, when Guybrush 'let's slip' the purpose of his goal: to find La Esponja Grande. The item that will cure the dreaded pox of LeChuck. DeCava assumes that he is out for the Voodoo Lady's heart, and distrusts Guybrush. However, when Guybrush and Morgan play Husband and Wife, he allows them to join his crew to find the legendary sea sponge, although he is sure that his crew died long ago. He also explains that the Manatee is lost, having lost his sense of direction: the cochlea. Without it, the creature will never find it's way to the Mating Grounds, where La Esponja Grande resides. DeCava has come to terms that the only way to fix this is to create a new one. Using 100,000 grubs! Unfortunately, there's no time to waste so Guybrush explores the Manatee in search of the missing Cochlea, only to fall down into the creature's stomach.

After a tumble, Guybrush lands in the stomach of the Manatee, followed by Morgan, where he finds that DeCava's crew have actually been living there, deciding to ditch their former captain for their 'Paradise'. The trio (if you exclude the skeleton... guess not everyone was lucky...) have formed a group in which all 'Four' members must vote a new person in. Noogie does not believe Guybrush can do anything for them, Bugeye just doesn't like Guybrush, and Moose only listens to his friend Santino. No prizes for guessing who Santino is. After a few rigorous events (and a meeting with Murray, the talking skull), Guybrush wins the favor of all four members of the Democratically United Brotherhood of the Manatee Interior and is admitted to the group himself. With his new position, Gubrush becomes the keeper of the stolen cochlea, taken by the crew members so that they would stay in their paradise forever. With the Manatee back on track, DeCava starts to prepare for departure. Guybrush, however, is chased by the bitter brotherhood that he betrayed, and defeats him with the ruthless fighting skills of Morgan.

Outside, DeCava sends Guybrush down into the depths in search of the sponge. However, the retrieval is not as easy as it sounds. The sponge is guarded by the most ferocious and deadly creature in the sea: the female Manatee. Typical. Retreating back to the surface, Guybrush learns that the only way to get past the danger is to help it to overcome it's loneliness by finding it a mate. Our friend the Manatee would be a powerful candidate, but doesn't seem to be making a move on his own, so Guybrush will have to help. But first he needs two things: to understand the Manatee language and the tongue of a Manatee.

After interrogating the captured renegade crew, Guybrush learns that the tongue was the object Moose used to drink the bile from the Manatee. Upon reentry, Guybrush manages to obtain the tongue, and is able to talk to Manatees. However, he still does not understand the language which will not get him anywhere. According to DeCava, Santino was the only one who knew the language and he learned it from a scientist on Flotsam Island. That's right! De Singe himself! Using the locket that the Voodoo lady had given him, Guybrush altered it so that he could possess the Voodoo Lady's body. After persuading the 'Doctor', he receives a book of how to learn the language in twelve steps. Using the two combined, our hero aids the Manatee in it's quest to asking out the female Manatee. When the two head out, Guybrush snags the sponge which absorbs the pox from his body! Hey, it works!

Topside, Guybrush accidentally reveals his true intentions, enraging DeCava, and he and Morgan are captured and caged to the mast. However, using his knowledge on weight, Guybrush escapes and is relieved to find that the sponge was forgotten (Santino was supposed to pick it up). DeCava, however, begins to fire at the Screaming Narwhal intending to keep the sponge to return to the Voodoo lady. Cannon fire does not work, but his new hungry friend the Manatee swallows the deranged explorer's ship, leaving them stranded once again. Guybrush and Morgan watch as the manatees hold fins together as they swim, and have a 'moment'. Unfortunately, Morgan returns to her main priority in capturing Guybrush, knocking him out, and setting course for Flotsam island.

Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood

Just as Guybrush is taken back to Flotsam Island after Morgan LeFlay's betrayal and delivered to the Marquis De Singe, the citizens of Flotsam Island summon him to court, where he is accused of injuring McGee's pet cat, disfiguring Bosun Krebbs, creating a fake Dark Ninja Dave for Joaquin D'Oro, vandalizing Kilik Hardtack's "X", and the "creation, incubation, dissemination, proliferation and mastication" of the Pox of LeChuck.

With Stan serving as the prosecutor, Guybrush represents himself and successfully finagles his way out of the former four charges, but is unable to convince the court to believe the true origins of the Pox. His original attempt to call Elaine to the stand as his witness fails upon discovery that she too has become infected by the Pox, sending her into a mad craze for treasure sidetracked only by her anger against Morgan for having been in Guybrush's company. Unable to get her support or cure her with La Esponja Grande, Guybrush is saved instead when LeChuck appears in court, claiming himself and the Voodoo Lady to be the true causes of not only the Pox, but all the voodoo-related aggravations that continuously sent Guybrush on his several adventures in the previous games.

Despite his distrust at the assumed betrayal from the Voodoo Lady, Guybrush nevertheless consults her regarding La Esponja Grande. The Voodoo Lady hands him a menu to nourish the young sponge with a "feast for the senses" to help it grow and reach its full voodoo-absorbing capability. As Guybrush attempts to satisfy the sponge, he finds that Morgan has been fatally stabbed in de Singe's laboratory and vows revenge, but later discovers her body missing. With all of the sponge's feast requirements satisfied save for an "after-dinner belch", he returns to the ruins of the wind gods.

The Marquis, having used Guybrush's severed hand to create an elixir of life, intends to use the wind machine to disintegrate Elaine and have her remains infect every pirate in the Carribbean, giving him a much larger source to draw more of his elixir from. Guybrush - with help from the animated hand - manages to trick the Marquis to fall into the machine and disintegrate. With the Marquis out of the way, Guybrush throws La Esponja Grande into the wind machine, where it grows to full size and absorbs the Pox from all the pirates in the Carribbean.

Just as La Esponja Grande finishes its job, LeChuck arrives and frees Guybrush and Elaine. Catching them unaware, LeChuck runs Guybrush through with The Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu, revealing himself to be just as evil and Elaine-obsessed as ever. LeChuck reclaims the Pox from the sponge, and Elaine engages him in combat as Guybrush dies.

Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God

After LeChuck runs Guybrush through with The Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu, Guybrush ends up inside his own grave in the afterlife. Upon liberating himself from the grave, he discovers being a ghost and is directed by a mysterious ferryman to the Crossroads in order to separate himself from his physical form for good. He carries a "shred of life" in his inventory and, as explained later, was holding to it while being killed as his last hope of return.

Upon arriving to the Crossroads, Guybrush meets Morgan LeFlay, now a ghost too, who has been down for being killed by LeChuck so easily and is rather eagerless since her arrival. Guybrush engages in an insult swordfight with her (joined by a headless swordfighter who tags along) in order to reason her back into her senses. Convinced that she might still be of use to Guybrush, Morgan cheers up and decides to help him with his quest.

Guybrush visits three different realms of the Crossroads and encounters a strange eerie man named Galeb who lies a lot (before openly contradicting his own lies), but seeing as Guybrush wishes to return back to Elaine and LeChuck, grants him with a spell that opens a rift back to the corporeal world. Guybrush then engages in the search for all the necessary ingredients (with Morgan giving him advice). As he finalizes the spell a rift in reality opens up and Guybrush steps in.

In the corporeal world, LeChuck has absorbed back all of his voodoo and is trying to convince Elaine to marry him, as always. In anger, he has been sailing around destroying different in-game places (such as much of Spinner Cay, the Screaming Narwhal and parts of Flotsam Island). Guybrush meets LeChuck on his undead ship (with his army of skeleton minions) and accidentally mentions La Esponja Grande, which gives LeChuck the idea to absorb as much voodoo as possible with it through the rift opened by Guybrush and channel it into Elaine, turning her into his undead bride. Guybrush then tries seizing the Cutlass originally used against LeChuck, but is not tangible in his ghost form and passes through it.

While Elaine is possessed by LeChuck, she turns against Guybrush and sprays him with a concoction of root beer (the same one Guybrush used on the ghostly form of LeChuck in the first game) that hurts him so badly he has no chance but to return back in the afterlife. Guybrush seeks help and experiences an epiphany of the Voodoo Lady telling him to reunite back with his corporeal form in order to be able to face LeChuck again. This sends Guybrush on another quest which winds him up inside his original body, much like the zombie LeChuck was reunited with his corpse in the second game.

Having regained control of his original body, Guybrush returns to face LeChuck, only to discover that he still cannot hold the Cutlass of Kaflu because he is not a demon (unlike LeChuck, since the third game). Back in the afterlife, Guybrush lives another epiphany in which the Voodoo Lady suggests him to "reverse the order of things" instead of going further. Guybrush then talks to Galeb who provides him with a spell to diet the sponge back to its original size, and by doing so, unstick it from the rift it is stuck in.

With the Esponja shrinking back, Guybrush breaks the rift and all the voodoo is released back. Elaine regains control of herself and turns on LeChuck, as do many other characters from the game for having had enough of him. LeChuck, however, easily fends off their attack and gets on Guybrush, deciding to finish him once and for all. During their fight (which is hardly even one as LeChuck easily overpowers him and mostly just throws Guybrush around), Guybrush puts several objects on LeChuck's ship in place to shoot himself from a cannon through the mast back into the rift with Elaine's help. There, Morgan attacks LeChuck (who follows Guybrush) with her sword retaining him there, with Elaine impaling him with the Cutlass from the other side. In order to lock the rift forever on LeChuck, Guybrush uses the remaining shred of his own life, supposedly ripping LeChuck apart between two worlds.

As Guybrush is left alone, his body seriously damaged, trapped within the afterlife with nobody around and no means to escape, he remembers the initial spell to open rifts and uses it again, this time with only Elaine's ring as their symbol of unity throughout the afterlife. When he does so, he reappears back on the Screaming Narwhal in his living form (with his left hand back), with Elaine and Winslow aboard, and all three sail into a romantic sunset.

When the ending titles close in, Morgan is shown bringing LeChuck's remains (in a capsule) to the Voodoo Lady who fulfills her promise of allowing Morgan to return to the land of the living as a Ghost Pirate Hunter, and laughs with evil while holding the capsule.

Development

The game is being developed by Telltale Games, under license from LucasArts. With many of the Telltale employees being ex-LucasArts employees many of the current developers have worked on a previous Monkey Island game. The Design Director Dave Grossman worked with Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer on The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. Michael Stemmle was a lead designer on Escape from Monkey Island.

Though Ron Gilbert, original creator of the Monkey Island series is not a member of the Telltale Games team, he spent several days with the designers early in the development process, discussing character motivations and his own personal view of the Monkey Island game universe. Some of the puzzles and story elements were brainstormed by Ron during this period.^[7]

Dominic Armato reprises his role as the voice as Guybrush Threepwood, and Alexandra Boyd reprises her role as the voice of Elaine Marley. Boyd previously voiced Elaine in Curse of Monkey Island, though her voice was not used in the sequel, Escape from Monkey Island. Earl Boen reprises his role as LeChuck from The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood onward, although he didn't voice LeChuck in the earlier episodes. The original composer, Michael Land also returns to score the soundtrack.
Screenshots and concept art are shown below^[8] and the Tales of Monkey Island trailer can be found here.

Awards

Tales of Monkey Island has been recipient to a number of publication awards and nominations within the video game industry. Following the game's announcement at E3 2009, IGN named it the "Biggest Surprise" of the convention, while the game was a finalist for GameSpot's E3 Editors' Choice Award for Best Adventure Game.

IGN later nominated the first and third chapters as the best Wii and PC adventure games of the year respectively, the latter losing out to the special edition of The Secret of Monkey Island.

For their best and worst video games of 2009, OC Weekly named Tales of Monkey Island as the "Best Series Revival" in 2009, and About.com put Tales of Monkey Island as the second best Wii game of the year.

Gamasutra gave the game honorable mention for its best PC games of the year, as well as giving similar mention to Telltale Games as one of the top developers of the year, while PC Gamer US awarded the game "Adventure Game of the Year".

Nintendo Power also nominated Tales of Monkey Island as the overall game of the year, best WiiWare game and best adventure game of 2009, as well as nominating Morgan LeFlay as the best character of the year, which the character won.

In Adventure Gamers Aggie Awards 2009, Tales of Monkey Island was the winner of the following categories: best story, best writing (comedy), best gameplay, best voice acting, best third-person PC adventure, and best adventure game of 2009! Also it was a nominee of: best animation, and best music.

Characters

Main Characters

Supporting Characters

Murray - (Evil)
Stan - (Prosecutor and Trial Memorabilia Salesman)
Reginald Van Winslow - (Navigator of the Screaming Narwhal)
Anemone - (Helpful and Sexually Ambiguous Vaycaylian)
Bugeye - (Leader of the Democratically United Brotherhood of the Manatee Interior)
Coronado DeCava - (Lost Explorer and Lover of the Voodoo Lady)
Wallace Grindstump - (Judge and Bartender)
Kilik Hardtack - (Bailiff and Member of McGillicutty's Pirate Crew)

Ancillary Characters

Bosun Kathryn C. Krebbs - (False Accuser of Guybrush)
Captain McGillicutty - (Pox-Infected Pirate Captain)
Franklin - (Galeb's Supposed Guide-Dog)
The Ferryman - (Skeletal Ferryboat Operator at the Crossroads)
Davey Nipperkin - (Keelhauler Gazette Reporter)
Gaffer Crimpdigit - (Flotsam Island Glassblower)
Galeb - (Lying Crossroads Stranger)
Hemlock McGee - (Double Peg Legged Pirate with a Petrified Cat)
Murkel Trenchfoot - (Member of McGillicutty's Pirate Crew)
Jacques - (De Singe's Magnectic Monkey Test Subject)
Jungle Beast - (Legendary Stinking Jungle-Beast of Flotsam Island)
The Giant Manatees - (The Leviathan that Swallows Guybrush and the Even Bigger Female)
MerLeader - (Chieftan Beluga Leader of the Vaycaylians)
Ms. Prettywhiskers - (Hemlock McGee's Cat, aka Ms. Barfywhiskers)
Moose Muszalski - (Laid-back Memeber of the Democratically United Brotherhood of the Manatee Interior)
Noogie - (Drumming Member of the Democratically United Brotherhood of the Manatee Interior)
Santino - (Deceased Member of the Democratically United Brotherhood of the Manatee Interior)
Tetra - (Vaycaylian Librarian)
Pirates Ted, Bill and Kevin - (McGillicutty's Pirate Crew of a Thief, a Swordsman and a Treasure Hunter)

Featured Islands

The "Gulf of Melange" as depicted in Tales of Monkey Island.

Flotsam Island
Jerkbait Islands : Roe Island, Spinner Cay, and Spoon Isle
Rock of Gelato
The Small Gulf of Melange Islands : Boulder Beach, Brillig Island and the Isle of Ewe

Reviews

Images

Tales of Monkey Island Image Gallery
Voodoo Lady conceptual artwork	Guybrush tries to scale the anchor chain of the Screaming Narwhal	Guybrush teaches a pyrite parrot some new words	Captain Reginald Van Winslow
LeChuck and a monkey	Guybrush on the pier	Elaine conceptual artwork	A sinister hut deep in the jungles of Flotsam Island
Voodoo mad science	A pleasant exterior view	The Voodoo Lady at work.	LeChuck conceptual artwork
Screaming Narwhal conceptual artwork	Guybrush with voodoo root beer	Guybrush conceptual artwork

Trailers

Trivia

This is the only game in the series, to date, where Monkey Island is not visited.
Additionally, Tales holds the largest body count of any MI game to date. Deaths in the game include Guybrush, Morgan, Marquis De Singe, Davey Nipperkin, Noogie, McGillicutty, three of his crew members, and several others mentioned.

Pre-Order

[1]TellTaleGames had a promotion where if you pre-ordered the series before July 6th, you would get a bonus collectors DVD with exclusive artwork cover and a choice of any episode from any of the other series.

References

External links

Retrieved from "http://miwiki.net/Tales_of_Monkey_Island"

Category: Games