Let's get one thing out of the way now - I will assume that if you are reading this review of Episode 5 of the Sam & Max series that you already have some passing knowledge of the previous episodes. I still won't pull a 'Vader is Luke's father' moment that some people who hadn't seen Empire before Jedi trailers started airing experienced (sorry if I just shocked you and welcome to 1980!), but I will likely drop some names and recurring themes and other minor references throughout. It won't ruin the experience any more than my having said that Bosco would become a recurring character would have ruined the first episode for you. Please also forgive the repetition, which is necessary for getting readers who are new to the series up to speed - if you've read it all before then skip straight to the game quote further down!

For the full history of Sam & Max, check out our review of Episode 1 - but in a nutshell, the LucasArts game Sam & Max Hit the Road from 1993 was a great mixture of adventure and humor, and has become a deservedly classic milestone in gaming history. After a false start for a series revival by LucasArts and a passionate Internet campaign by the fans, TellTale Games (creators of the excellent Bone series) gained ownership of the license and got straight to work, crafting a series using their adventure builder to tell stories through a point-and-click adventure interface featuring full 3D animation. The move to episodic content was a concern, but true to their word TellTale continue to release new episodes on a regular basis, and in some ways it's better to be forced to spread the experience out rather than wolf it down in one go.

The Sam & Max games use the TellTale tool that the company has developed and perfected over the years. The emphasis is on storytelling rather than delivering buzzword compliant technology, so expect loads of dialog and options, rather than the latest version of pixel shader models. This is actually a good thing, because so many games focus on delivering a great looking experience that they fail to deliver a great gaming experience. The TellTale Tool aims to do some of both - the game certainly is great looking, but in a 3D comic book style. This means that the world looks much like something out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit; everything looks real but exaggerated. The 3D styling makes everything look modern and the characters are all nicely animated, to the point where lip-syncing matched the dialog. The goal isn't realism so much as believability - I mean, how real do you expect a detective dog and his psychotic lagomorph sidekick to be?! The realism is injected into the dialog - the voice acting is superb and gets better with each passing episode! The voice actors really bring a wonderful passion and humor to their characters that makes each of them leap out of the screen and adds tremendous depth to already great stories - and the timing and delivery of the humor is spot on throughout.

The storytelling is where things really shine - the interface just begs you to click things, talk to people and try all sorts of crazy things. Quite simply, this is one of the nicest interfaces I have ever used in an adventure game. Everything is easily accessible - options and game saves are quickly located in a screen-level drop down and the inventory system is an ever-present box in the lower corner of the screen. Little things help - saves are done nearly instantly, with each one providing a clear caption and image to illustrate exactly where you were when you saved. Interacting with items is equally easy; the mouse-capture range is adequate for discerning small objects close to each other and you simply click on things to interact. This allows you to talk, flip switches, pick up items and so on - and to use an item in your inventory on another item by simply choosing the item from the box and then clicking on the desired object to interact with. It is incredibly intuitive and friendly - and allows you to focus on laughing!

"Some portions of Reality 2.0 are incomplete ... just like in the other Reality."

Just when you thought Sam & Max had warped reality as far as it could go, along comes Sam & Max Season 1, Episode 5: Reality 2.0! Computers everywhere are going crazy and it's up to Sam and President Max (who has conveniently been running the country from the pair's Freelance Police office) to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it. Pretty quickly they uncover yet another evil hypnosis plot at work (like the last case, and the three before that, as Sam notices) - this one involving virtual reality and the Internet. Of course, as Sybil notices, they're Luddites and need help with just about everything.

This episode unfolds largely in the same manner as the previous four, but with a whole new twist - you need to infiltrate the 'new' Reality 2.0, which is a wild combination of just about every popular social networking buzzword out there - Sam & Max are in a videogame featuring Sam & Max in a videogame! This provides a great new landscape for familiar territory, with puzzles that can bridge two sets of reality, since some items behave differently depending on which reality you're in. There are plenty of puzzles, most of which are fairly straightforward but add a twist by occasionally occurring across two planes of reality. The second reality really adds a tremendous amount - as does the very interesting ending!

When I started this game something cool happened - someone asked me about the reference to the LucasArts cancellation date in the office. I clicked on it a couple of times and discovered something - new responses. In fact, many of the old jokes have gotten a bit of a refresh in this episode as well, so interacting with everything once again has value. Aside from that, everything remains top notch - the visual styling is superb in both worlds, the voice acting and characterizations just keep getting better and there seem to be more incidental items to click on in every episode.

Sam & Max Season 1, Episode 5: Reality 2.0 is about the same length as Episode 4, but the impact of getting to click on everything a bunch of times again adds to the experience. This isn't the funniest episode - that was Abe Lincoln Must Die! - but I would call it the most fun. It is silly and the Internet references are spread across the past fifteen years or more, making it at once naive and relevant while keeping the emphasis on fun, Fun, FUN throughout. Reality 2.0 fires up a very tightly scripted thrill ride that will have you laughing and clicking your way through to the very colorful end. Now what was that color mnemonic again? Ah yes, Roy G. Biv!

Reviewed by Michael Anderson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).