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Sam & Max in 3D

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the carnivorous-rabbits dept.

Obiwan Kenobi writes "I know we see game announcements everyday (especially with E3 in full swing), but this is a biggie: The Sam & Max Sequel, Freelance Police has officially been announced. This fantastic (and hilarious) game finally gets its 3D-outing. Check out the nice trailer and stop by the official site for concept art and more." The original game is one of my fondest game memories, and this looks pretty promising.

6 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Lifeless 3D by zsazsa · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The 2D concept art drawings on the page have much more character and whimsy than the 3D screenshots. To quote max from the end of the trailer, "Eh, it's been done." It's as if they're making it 3D simply because 2D doesn't sell any more.

    Will there ever be a 2D adventure game ever again?

    (Prompted from discussion on a certain IRC channel...)

    1. Re:Lifeless 3D by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The 3D aspects of Grim Fandango were part of the design concept, not a marketplace necessity. Grim Fandango stands today as one of the finest, most complete pieces of interactive artwork that I've played, not a small part because the 3D was an integral part of the story and artistic concept. I was moved emotionally a number of times by Grim Fandango, so life is definitely possible in a 3D game, as long as the 3D aspects are not simply marketplace requirements.

    2. Re:Lifeless 3D by PurpleFloyd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It seems to me this game is simply crying out for a cel shading 3D engine. It's a fairly simple technique to create "cartoony" graphics in a true 3D environment. I've always felt that the artwork in the original Sam & Max Hit The Road was almost as important as the characters, plot and dialouge in establishing the unique "feel" of the game; I hope Lucasarts can bring that artwork into 3D without losing its wacky charm.

      --

      That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
  2. Re:I'm not very excited by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've got to say that this is the strangest post I've ever read... Let's see, where to start...

    Mario 64 - Sold incredibly well, is one of the top 10 games on the recently posted Top 100 games of all time list on IGN (I'm pretty sure, but I don't have the site in front of me since it's blocked at work). Probably on many's top 25 (mine, for sure).

    Zelda (in 3d) - Ocarina of Time is also in the Top 20 of the aforementioned list at IGN. It was so popular it was re-released with the new Zelda game (which is also receiving spectacular reviews).

    Sonic - I really liked the Sonic Adventure series. I'm obviously not alone since it was released for GC.

    Duke Nukem - The originals were fun, yeah, but 3d was great. Sure it wasn't similar to the original, but to me, the series was getting stagnant very fast.

    I don't know what you're so glum about. I was quite sure that after 9 years we would never see another Sam and Max game. It could be a tabletop game for all I care at this point. :)

    Lighten up, sometimes modern games are good.

  3. Monkey Island, disproving 2-D vs. 3-D by 2Flower · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I seem to be the only person on earth with this view, but:

    MI3 was worse than MI4, despite MI3 being 2-D and MI4 being 3-D.

    MI3: Rehashed jokes, rehashed puzzles, pitiful explanation of MI2's ending, very few puzzles or NPCs who remain in my memory after the game's over, truncated ending sequence, ugly sprite scaling.

    MI4: Fun 'commercialism' theme, new villian, more memorable characters, new twists on the series, better humor (albeit this is subjective).

    I don't care what dimension the game extends into as long as it's fun, and MI3 was boring and insulting compared to the much more entertaining MI4. If they want to do Sam 'n Max in 3-D so be it, and as long as it's SAM AND MAX and not a pale imitation (FT2, Action Game(tm)!) it'll be entertaining. Don't be a dimensional elitist.

  4. 2D and 3D by Krieger · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As others have lamented...

    Why 3D? Frequently it can come nowhere near the beauty of a 2D game. Look at all the beautiful art and scenery in old games, then consider the screen sizes they had to work with. It is amazing that many looked as good as they did.

    A game with a story and good 2D artwork will eclipse the vast majority of 3D games.

    Some of my favorite examples of failures (in my eyes at least). Railroad Tycoon, classic game... ultimate time waster. Railroad Tycoon II had much needed improvements, except for the fact that they adopted a 3D viewpoint, which made it nearly impossible to lay track well. In that case a psuedo 3D from overhead would have worked well, but due to the 3D craze...

    Damn. Guess I'll just have to start my own game company. ;)