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With comic books, cartoons and computer games gracing their résumé, Sam and Max have a lot to brag about. Unfortunately, with Hit the Road being their last 2D adventure video game, the anthropomorphic dog and rabbit comic duo have been MIA since the early nineties. The dwindling interest in point-and-click adventure games shortly after its release was the final nail in the coffin for Sam and Max: Freelance Police. Fortunately, TellTale Games is here to resurrect the franchise with a “six episode season” in a wave of episodic content done right.

Sam, Max, dry wit and a band of memorable and funny interactive NPC’s (including a paranoid clerk and fake-psychiatrist) populate the world of the Freelance Police, which has made the transition to full 3D rendering. A static camera follows the player controlled Sam in a familiar batch of areas that fans of Hit the Road will recognize, with plenty of throw-backs to the series’ past. While Culture Shock is clever and funny throughout its 2 – 2.5 hour entirety (remember that there’s six of these things), the puzzles and crime-solving consist entirely of some of the least entertaining gameplay mechanics ever.

The snail’s pace of Sam’s leisurely stroll, lack of action and serious amount of dialogue is enough to keep most folks away, but hearing the hilarious hijinks and the 30’s groove-noir soundtrack will likely change any hater’s tone in a heartbeat. Literally each line spoken and every single action performed in Sam and Max is funny, ranging from chuckle-worthy to gut-busting-hysterical-guffawing. Still, most people would be more interested to watch this as the lengthened sitcom it is, since the gameplay consists entirely of clicking and listening/reading the dialogue and little else. Some puzzle solving will have you using items at appropriate times, but the action is shown through animated cut-scenes. Limited driving segments are also click based, but that isn’t to say they aren’t as entertaining as the rest of the game. One situation I found myself in had Sam cappin’ the tail-lights of an unlikely perp with his revolver – that makes Dirty Harry feel the need to compensate – and giving the sap a ten thousand dollar ticket. Still, the shooting is limited and the action scenes few and far between.

Dropping bowling balls and rats out windows, dealing with hypnosis induced hallucinations and trying to stop a former child star gone mad occupy the majority of this dialogue heavy adventure that, though slow paced, is endlessly entertaining.While it consists of a serious amount of talking between the wannabe-cops and the lovable town occupants, Sam and Max is still somehow fun. However, by the end of its two hour run though, you’ll be ready to put it to rest. Trial-and-error dialogue trees will irk the impatient and hearing the same four responses becomes irritating, so I can’t imagine length would benefit Sam and Max, so the episodic method of delivery has me interested to play more later. Solving puzzles is often frustrating, though the answer is always right in front of you, and completing objectives really makes you feel smarter than you probably are.

Cliff-hanger ending aside, you’ll want to come back for “Episode Two” as soon as possible, even if you’re exhausted from all the chat in the first episode. Culture Shock is hilarious, entertaining and nostalgic to boot. It’s a wonder these kind of games went anywhere, aside from their slow pacing not mixing well with the action gamer, which isn’t any different these days. With any luck, TellTale can take the first step in to reviving the long lost and much beloved adventure games. If Sam and Max: Freelance Police – Culture Shock is any indication, they’re on a fast rise to the top again.

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