Buckle up and get ready to set sail for the seven seas because Guybrush Threepwood, everyone’s favorite pirate makes a swashbuckling return in Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2 is a direct sequel to; you guessed it, Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1. It literally starts off exactly where the first game left off. Guybrush, having just set sail from Floatsam Island, is being confronted by an unknown enemy on his ship.

If you haven’t played Chapter 1 you will be lost in terms of the story line and you most likely will not enjoy the game. Like so many of Telltale’s other games, this game references many things from previous chapters (in this case Chapter 1) and if you haven’t played Chapter 1, the references will go way over your head.

Let me say right off the bat that if you have liked previous Telltale games like Sam and Max, Wallace and Gromit or Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1 you will love this game. It is very much a Telltale game and fits right in with their style of games.

Being a point and click adventure game, Tales Chapter 2 falls very much in line with other games in its genre. You walk around talking to people, clicking on objects, using objects and doing a lot of trial and error. It’s your standard point and click game. One new addition that we see in Tales Chapter 2 that was not found in the previous game is that now you are not confined to one island. Since Guybrush has his ship now he can sail to a few islands. The game is not open world by any means but there are a few different islands in this one.

As I said before, the game starts right where the last one left off. Guybrush is still on a quest to find his wife Elaine and to stop the evil pirate LeChuck. The game starts off on Guybrush’s ship and like in the first game there is a scene on the ship that you have to beat in order to get to the first island. Both new and old characters make appearances and all the characters are very well written and are interesting and great to talk to.

Chapter 2 is every bit as good as Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1. The writing and dialog is sharp and witty and the story is wacky yet oddly engaging. The animation and graphical design that Telltale chose for the series fits perfectly and it is a very visually appealing game. The game is really a carbon copy of the first one, just with new locations, characters and story line. This is a good thing though. Chapter 1 was a fantastic game that left us on a cliff hanger and Chapter 2 scratches our itch for more Monkey Island perfectly.

The gameplay itself is the same as the first. Even the puzzles are solved similarly, they employ the same type of thinking as in the previous game. One thing I noticed is that Chapter 2 seems to be easier. In the first one I found myself getting stuck quite often. This time around I found most of the game was fairly easy if you just thought about what you had to do. Everything fit into place and made sense when you thought about it.

There really isn’t much more to say about the game. It’s a simple game, like most of Telltale’s games, yet it is still incredibly fun to play and very enjoyable. Like with Telltale’s Sam and Max series, the characters are loveable and charming and you just want to keep playing to see what happens. The game is a point and click game and if you enjoy the genre you are guaranteed to enjoy this title.

I simply can’t find anything wrong with Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2. There is nothing I would change, it’s perfect the way it is. Telltale Games once again delivers a great, refreshing and immensely enjoyable title and I can’t wait for chapter 3.

Score: 10/10

• Pros:
  • Visually appealing
  • Puzzles aren’t that hard
  • Great writing and very funny
• Cons:
  • Can’t think of anything
• Interesting Fact:
  • Tales of Monkey Island is a five part series.

Tales of Monkey Island 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay was released on August 20th, 2009. It was developed by and published by Telltale Games.