Sadly, all great things must eventually come to an end. We again must say goodbye to Sam & Max. Fortunately, they intend to take this season out with a bang. Did you that our detective duo ran out of weird places to go? Hah. You were wrong! In this episode, Sam & Max go to Hell. Yup, fire and brimstone Hell. What’s new, Beelzebub? Find out after the cut!

Besides the lovely beaches and ample sporting opportunities, why on earth would Sam and Max go to Hell? To save Bosco, of course. The paranoid convenience store owner has died prematurely, and the freelance police take issue with that. Naturally, their first inclination is to hop on a train to Hell (which has a stop right below their street). In and out, grab Bosco’s soul, and maybe say hello to a few old friends. Actually, they’ll meet a lot of old friends in Hell. Turns out that the freelance police are personally responsible for a number of recent immigrations. There is even a monument dedicated to the guys. Seriously, statues and plaques, the whole works. As you might have guessed, a few of their old foes make appearances as well. Luckily, most of them don’t seem to be harboring any secret (or open) grudges. I’m kind of amazed. I’d probably be a little pissed if I met the people who killed me. Then again, I’m not Hugh Bliss (small favors, eh?).

Of course, what should be an easy task goes horribly awry, and before you know it, Sam and Max will even have to save Satan. Save the devil? Yup, a far more insidious force will reveal itself as the true villain before all is said and done. Telltale really knows how to wrap up a season. Comedies usually don’t have twists that blow me away, but both Sam & Max seasons have left me gasping. I actually had to pause the game and fire off an e-mail after the big reveal. Seriously, not spoiling it here, but it’s brilliant. Each episode’s plot connects together, and the big picture is revealed over the course of this episode, and it’s all done in a nice, natural way. You’ll just sort of sit there, flabbergasted, as the realization dawns on you. Suddenly, all of those weird lines from before that you thought were just oddball one-liners stand revealed as the foreshadowing that they were all along.

The plot is great, I’m sure you get that by now. How’s the gameplay? Things are pretty much business as usual in that department. Of course, business as usual for these guys means some deliciously clever puzzles. If you’ve been playing all along, things haven’t changed for Beelzebub. Telltale has pretty much nailed down the difficulty. A couple of stumpers will make you sweat, but the hint system will prod you in the right direction if you get too stuck.

Overall, What’s New, Beelzebub? isn’t quite as strong of an episode as the Chariots of the Dogs, but it is one hell of a season finale (pardon the pun, por favor). It says something about the strength of a franchise if I’m still craving more after five solid months of episodes, and that is certainly the case here. I’ll just have to content myself with the Wii release of Season One until the inevitable third season. Kudos to Telltale for producing two entire seasons of episodic content without a single delay. Even more kudos for consistently putting out content that is hilarious, well-written, and fun to play. I know that I say this every time that I write a review, but it still remains true. Sam & Max is the best thing to happen to adventure gaming in years. Every episode contains some of the best writing in the business, insanely clever puzzles, and top-notch production values. Even better, the games will run on just about any system. Even my work laptop runs these episodes without any problems. You have no excuse, go download the free episode and dive in. You can thank me in the comments.

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