LucasArts is reviving the beloved Monkey Island adventure game franchise with not just a remake of the 1990 classic, but a full-blown new series of Monkey Island episodic games.
Everything old is new again, again. Remakes and franchise revivals are par for the course in this industry nowadays, but this latest resurrection of a classic game will probably prick some ears: LucasArts is bringing back adventure game franchise Monkey Island, and it’s doing so with a double shot of the old and the new.
Since we’re afraid of things that are new and different, let’s start with the old. Coming later this summer for Xbox Live Arcade and PC is The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, an upgraded version of the 1990 classic that sports modern graphics (you can switch back to the classic visuals instantly if you want), a re-mastered score and full voice-over for dialogue. New gameplay features include a hint system that’ll supposedly assist players in solving the game’s dastardly puzzles. It’s being developed internally at LucasArts.
Over at Telltale Games, meanwhile, is Tales of Monkey Island, a new episodic series that promises to deliver “a completely new epic storyline and swashbuckling flair” that’ll take place over the course of five monthly episodes. In Tales, Guybrush Threepwood unleashes some sort of “voodoo pox” that threatens to turn everyone in the Carribean into “unruly pirate monsters.” Sounds like fun. Tales of Monkey Island will be available on PC and WiiWare, and will begin “in just a few short weeks.”
“We couldn’t be any more excited about bringing Monkey Island to today’s gamers — both in our special edition of the original classic, and through our collaboration with Telltale on the episodic series,” said LucasArts President Darrell Rodriguez. “We can’t wait for Guybrush Threepwood and LeChuck to return to gamers’ screens.”
