This is a very good and way underrated adventure game from Lucas Arts. It is often dismissed because of its awkward keyboard and mouse controls, but it was really designed to be played with a gamepad. Escape from Monkey Island features a good story full of clever satire, some well designed puzzles, and lots of memorable new and returning characters. It does have some frustrating parts, but the rest of the game more than makes up for that, so if you have a gamepad laying around, I hightly recommend giving this game a try. It is a worthy addition to the Monkey Island series :)
This is a great game made even better with updated graphics and some quality of life features. The story is excellent, with an intriguing mystery, atmosphere, and memorable and likeable characters. The puzzle design mostly excellent with logical solutions that fit the story well and provide a good challenge without being frustrating. The voice acting is mostly good, but the music is absolutely amazing. I highly recommend this game. The only negatives are a few glitchy animations here and there, and the charaters do not always blend well into the backgrounds.
Released in 1989 toward the end of Sierra's text parser days, Codename: ICEMAN has gained a rather notorious reputation over the years for being the hardest game in all of that company's adventure game catalog, and boy does it live up to that reputation. Like other adventure games developed at Sierra, ICEMAN has that trademark mix of puzzles and story with action sequences, random deaths, and the dreaded dead ends; but unlike most other Sierra games, it lacks much of the charm that would redeem it for its more annoying elements. If you have played any of the entries in lead designer Jim Wall's other series, Police Quest, you will be familiar with this game's focus on realism and procedure over the fantasy and high adventure that more often marks the genre. It is in this dedication to accuracy in Naval code and Submarine navigation and warfare that ICEMAN gives its best ideas, but this is also where it stumbles in forgetting to just be a game and be fun to play. You play as Naval Officer Johnny Westland, soaking up the sun in Tahiti while on leave, but his vacation ends abruptly when he is selected for a dangerous rescue that will put your puzzle solving and submarine piloting skills to the test. Against the backdrop of a major oil crisis and the resulting conflict between the world's two biggest military powers, the stakes are high and the time is short. From here the story has some interesting twists and turns and will probably keep our attention through the rest of game; motivation that you will need to get passed some of the frustrating controls and unforgiving dead ends. Apart from the puzzles, the game has plenty of action sequences and mini games, but the mechanics focus too much and randomness and chance to really be enjoyable. I feel like there would be a great game lurking under the surface here if the execution had been more fair and logical. While I wouldn't call it fun, it can be a rewarding challenge to anyone willing to save and reload a whole lot.
