Good Cop/Bad Cop Review: Sam and Max: The Alley of The Dolls

Once again Offcers Pete “Good Cop” Surplus and Jon “Bad Cop” Pendelton have hauled in Sam and Max for questioning over their latest episode, The Alley of The Dolls. But is it jail-time for the duo or will they get away with it once more?

Pendelton: Back again I see? I’m not surprised; we just can’t keep to keep you boys away from the station. Now we’ve got episode four, The Alley of The Dolls, to look at. Rather than taking away key elements from you two (as with the previous episode), you’ve given us more Sams than we know what to do with. You’ve also given us some new psychic powers and returning characters who we haven’t seen in a pretty fuckin’ long time. You think that’s gonna be enough to keep you off our shit-list? We’ll see, but I’m letting you know right now; I’m not gonna be as easy on ya as I was before…

Surplus: I guess this is becoming sorta routine for you guys, right? We drag you in here, decide you’re pretty decent-if-slightly-twisted guys and send you back out on the streets for another month. Well this time my buddy here’s got a few things to say, and you might not necessarily like all of them. Take it away, partner.

Pendelton: You’ve shocked me, gentlemen. I never ever thought that your shtick would annoy me, but you managed to do just that in this episode. The Alley of The Dolls involves Sam clones running amok through the streets of New York. In almost every major discussion between characters, you boys argue over what to call the clones: Samulacra or dogglegangers. I’ll admit, it’s a funny gag…at first. The 50th damn time you make it, though, it’s thoroughly tired and played.

Surplus: Hey, now. I’m not sure it’s completely fair to focus so much on that gag. Sure, it’s a bit overused, but in the context of the whole episode I was sort of surprised that the clones were less important than they initially seemed. The actual plot that emerges is much more interesting, although it does take its sweet time.

Pendelton: This episode showed me a different side of the Sam and Max world; the horribly grotesque one. I don’t know how you boys get your kicks, but I don’t like it. First we witnessed the demented, soul-shrieking horror that is Yog Soggoth. Then I had to sit back and watch as a waitress and cockroach played tonsil hockey. Finally, the demonic acessories unleashed upon The Statue of Liberty and Max himself were enough to give anyone the friggin’ willies. This might be your most disturbing episode yet, and for some reason I just couldn’t get into that. I enjoy you guys when you’re carefree and cartoony, not unsettling and creepy.

Surplus: Personally I wouldn’t be so harsh on the final segment of the game, I thought it was the one thing that helped lift the episode up and saved it from mediocrity. Which I guess brings me to the main reason I agreed to bring you back in for questioning: I just felt the whole thing was a bit light on story. Sure, there’s the whole thing with the clones, but that just seems like a delaying tactic; it isn’t really fully explored, just acting as an excuse to have a bunch of puzzles until the real story kicks in at the end. It’s the same beef I had with Chapter Four of Tales of Monkey Island, but at least in that game I had a major mid-episode twist to enjoy.

Pendelton: I will concede that there were parts I loved. Bringing back Bluster Blaster, my favorite C.O.P.S. member, was a great idea. The plot was pretty revealing, giving us insights into parts of the story we’ve been wondering about since episode one. And, as usual, I was amused by the various game references including a Team Fortress 2 Blue Team dispenser (!) randomly finding its way into Mama Bosco’s underground facility.

Surplus: I had no worries about whether you were going to continue to produce quality adventuring with this fourth episode and let’s not lose sight of the fact that you’ve succeeded again. The ending was genuinely exciting and I can’t wait to see what the closing episode brings. It’s just that this time the episode seems more workman-like: it does the job but just isn’t as memorable as the previous ones. By now, we’re looking for a little more than workman-like from you, fellas.

Now it’s crunch time, gentlemen. You’ve given us four pretty damn good episodes of adventures, and it’d be a shame to ruin the whole thing with a terrible fifth act. Sure, you have the ability to bring this series to an awesome close. But we gotta tell you, there have been some parts from the last few episodes that worry us. We’ll only have to call you into the station for one last talking to, so be sure to bring your A game for The City That Dares Not Sleep. We don’t want things to get ugly around here now, do we?

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Disclaimer: Telltale Games provided review copies of the game.