Zombies, talking statue heads, Santa — what else can the duo of Sam & Max go through during season two? Thankfully, the folks at Telltale Games crafted an excellent and hilarious story for Episode 204: Chariots of the Dogs, which involve everything including time-traveling, the mysterious secret behind T.H.E.M. and of course, a smorgasbord of past characters throughout the entire series. Even though we’re just one episode away from the season finale, due for release on April 11th, Chariots of the Dogs is easily a high-point in the second season.
What begins as a simple investigation of Bosco’s disappearance opens up a journey through the past, present and future of various Sam & Max locales, including a look at the early upbringings of the duo as “kids” to trips down memory lane of a few episodes from season one.
Props to the writers because the story successfully and hilariously interweaves all of these different aspects in the series into an entertaining story. It’s pretty ridiculous to try to explain, but seeing future versions of Sam & Max certainly got me laughing along with interacting with, well, yourself.
I can’t help to compare Chariots of the Dogs to the DVD release of Futurama: Bender’s Big Score. While the latter overly relied on series-established reference jokes, this episode combined the best of the both worlds; there are jokes for series-seasoned veterans along with plenty of jokes any person can find hilarious. In addition, this episode, much like the Futurama DVD, answered a few lingering questions; for example why a certain arcade machine is so angry. Unfortunately, a few characters are shelved, namely Sybil, Stinky and only a brief appearance of Flint Paper, but a few new characters are introduced, such as the original Grandpa Stinky, along with the revelation of T.H.E.M., which is outright hilarious.
On the music/audio department, Jared Emerson-Johnson clearly succeeds again with an excellent soundtrack. Along with appropriately themed tunes, a new take on the duo’s office theme is definitely one of the highlight tracks. Also voice-acting is, of course, 100% spot-on.
One of the ongoing faults of the series is the rehash or lack of just new areas to explore. While the same can be said for Chariots of the Dogs, many of the rehashed areas are populated with radically different items and things to gawk and chat about. Heck, wandering around the futuristic version of the duo’s office, along with trotting around the past versions of Bosco’s and Stinky’s, are a treat. If you’re this far in and haven’t learned to click on everything, then Chariots of the Dogs won’t appease you.
Chariots of the Dogs ends with your usual cliffhanger, leaving people clamoring for more. You’ll be devoting a few more hours to this episode than usual, so you’ll get more bang for your buck. I felt the lack of mini-games enhanced this episode, and a little more puzzle solving made it longer since you have to interact with more things and people. In the end, the episode was a blast to play through and is a testament to the second season.
