Telltale Games is back with another entry in the only true episodic gaming series, Half Life 2. Oh wait, I meant Sam & Max. The freelance police will take on their most ambitious case yet. Luckily for us, it’s also their best case yet. Read on, as the crime fighting duo take on the Internet itself.

After facing off with a giant Abe Lincoln statue in the last episode, the freelance police could probably use a little R&R. Well, that’s just too bad. This time, Sam and Max have to face the worst foe imaginable – the Internet! The Internet is using a group on antiquated computers (including a Pong machine) and an MMORPG to conquer the world. Always ready to help, the duo set forth to.. destroy the Internet!

As you can probably imagine, this is easily the funniest Sam & Max episode yet. I’ve probably said that about every episode, but Telltale manages to outdo themselves every time. This time, it’s probably because the jokes are targeted directly at me. I mean, I’m a writer on a geeky blog. This episode hit all of the right spots. Beyond the obvious MMO-related humor, this episode is just full of videogame references. There’s a sequence where Sam shouts, “Itsa me, Sam!” before jumping into the air to grab some oversized gold coins. The C.O.P.S, the before-mentioned society of old computers, were also a hilarious addition. You have got to love a self-help group consisting of a Pong box, and arcade machine, a speaker phone, and an 80’s computer. Long-time gamers will also get a huge kick out of an Interactive Fiction sequence later on in the episode and the occasional RPG-style fights.

As you would probably expect, the production values continue to live up to the high standards set by the earlier episodes. The voice acting is the up there with the best that the medium has to offer. Reality 2.0 also features more of the clever music that this franchise is known for. Fans of the “song and dance” numbers in episodes three and four won’t be disappointed.

Even the graphics look nicer this time. The core engine remains unchanged, and the common street areas from the previous episodes are the same as always. However, some clever art direction in the new areas sets this episode apart. Telltale even included some clever visual humor this time, such as a “firewall” that you have to pass through.

This episode is one of the longest, but it does feel slightly shorter than episode four. If you’ve enjoyed the previous episodes, this won’t really bother you. I think that they got the length just right. It feels like a complete episode, they didn’t stretch it too long. The pacing feels more natural than the last episode’s, where it occasionally felt like they were trying too hard to make it longer. The difficulty level remains fairly consistent with that of the rest of the season. It isn’t a hard game; I actually thought this was one of the easier episodes.

Fans of the series will absolutely love this episode, and it won’t do anything to convert the haters. If you’ve been holding out, go ahead and purchase the entire season. It’s cheaper than most retail games and you will get a boxed copy once the entire season is over. There’s no reason not to check it out. For less than the price of a DVD or a movie ticket, you’ll get a few awesome hours of entertainment.

Score – 9/10

“Reality 2.0” will be released on GameTap on March 29th. The game will be directly available from Telltale Games’ website on April 12th. GameTap is $9.95 per month for unlimited access to this and all of the other titles on the service. Each individual episode will be available for $8.95, or $34.95 for the entire season.

Telltale Games
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