Sam & Max 301: The Penal Zone

Sam & Max 301: The Penal Zone is the premiere episode of the third season of the animated series Sam & Max, titled Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse. Max discovers a gadget that leads to a glimpse of the future at the beginning of the game. In the vision, Sam and Max vanquish a malicious space gorilla by sending him to a location known as the “Penal Zone.” After the idea comes to a close, the gorilla’s spaceship lands on the street, and he acts as if he is willing to barter his highly sophisticated technology for an artifact Max discovered. Sam and Max are the only ones aware of his plans, and they must stop him…

The most important new component is Max’s ability to use his psychic abilities, which may be accessed by clicking an icon in the top right corner of the screen. Next, the perspective shifts to the first person and Max can select and employ one of these abilities. In addition to the tutorial, there are two other options: one lets you teleport to a known phone (mainly done to save time walking), and the other enables you to forecast the future. A brief video that depicts the not-too-distant future is played whenever the final power is used on a person or an item. This almost always ends with a clue that is more or less evident in the puzzle. During the episode, Sam and Max are given access to a “crime computer,” which requires them to input two pieces of evidence connected to reveal a new location.

The remainder of the game is played in a manner that is analogous to that of previous seasons: the player navigates around the levels, gathers objects, and applies those items to the solution of puzzles. The player can choose merely the topic of a dialogue, as opposed to the entire sentence, using a ring menu similar to the one found in Mass Effect. Instead of using the point-and-click interface used in most adventure games, players direct Sam’s movements not by pointing and clicking but by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the mouse in the appropriate direction (or by using the keys on the keyboard). One click of the mouse button is required to interact with a person, item, or other player.

Similar to the Tales of Monkey Island series, the game’s initial release did not have the option to purchase individual episodes. Users were obliged to buy all five episodes together as a bundle because they are distributed one at a time once each month.