Sam & Max Episode 101: Culture Shock

 PC
  • Publisher: GameTap
  • Release Date: Oct 18, 2006
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 41
  3. Negative: 5 out of 41

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  1. NickG.
    Dec 10, 2006
    9
    This is a great puzzle-type adventure game. The puzzles are amusing and can be logically worked out, the humor is entertaining, and the graphics are pretty decent. My only complaint is short the game is even for just being a single episode in the series. It can easily be beat in a day.
  2. JacobP.
    Nov 12, 2007
    10
    Excellent game, it lives up to the expectations fans have had since the original game in '93. A must have.
  3. GolovA
    Jun 19, 2018
    8
    A Great game, but unfortunately fell under the radar.

    To those who has never played the original (Classic), this might seem a bit strange. The writing is dense, and the wordplay of jokes might be overwhelming and complex – some of the humor truly is designed for a written medium, not a video game. However, with each episode, the linguistic complexity of dialogues subsides, bringing it    A Great game, but unfortunately fell under the radar.

    To those who has never played the original (Classic), this might seem a bit strange. The writing is dense, and the wordplay of jokes might be overwhelming and complex – some of the humor truly is designed for a written medium, not a video game. However, with each episode, the linguistic complexity of dialogues subsides, bringing it closer to the level of the target audience – video gamers. And even though I love and appreciate the advance depth, intelligence, and wit behind satiric constructs of the series, dumbing it down as the Season progresses helps to bring in the audience (alas, perhaps, too late).

    Nonetheless.

    Solid Adventure – puzzles range from easy to medium, voice acting is exemplary, plot of the First Season is fun and fit the mood of the protagonist duo Sam and Max (and the lore, of course), characters are lovable and well developed. Some of the music gets pretty annoying and repetitive – staying, in fact, unchanged, from episode to episode – but that’s a minor price to pay for a great Adventure.

    Absolutely and Highly Recommend.

    You might also enjoy and/or appreciate the inspiration behind Edna and Harvey.    … Expand
  4. PhilP.
    Jan 2, 2007
    9
    Could have been a little longer but it took me about as long to beat as Half-Life 2 episode 1 took, and at like half the price, I say it is well worth it. I missed this kind of adventure puzzle game play, I am glad tell tale picked it up - I have already paid for the entire "season" and am eagerly awaiting the next episode.
  5. braeden
    Dec 27, 2014
    9
    This one is a bit tricky to pin down since it's the first episode. It's so long a ago I played the original game it's hard to make any meaningful comparison between them. I do however get some added nostalgic value out of this just because it's Sam & Max game and mostly very well made one also.

    As stand-alone game it gets many things right. Dialog is funny, the environment and    This one is a bit tricky to pin down since it's the first episode. It's so long a ago I played the original game it's hard to make any meaningful comparison between them. I do however get some added nostalgic value out of this just because it's Sam & Max game and mostly very well made one also.

    As stand-alone game it gets many things right. Dialog is funny, the environment and characters are wacky (although maybe somewhat less so than in the original game) and most puzzles can be solved without resorting to walkthrough every five minutes. Items are also used sparingly and are typically easy to find. There's really no puzzles where you have to guess which two of your 50 items need to be combined or situations where you can't find some critical item since you clicked wrong pixel.

    This is the longest of the three first episodes (haven't played the rest yet). Mostly because you spend a bit more time on exploring and learning stuff. Still, it can easily be played in one evening. Story-wise this might be the weakest of the three, but it doesn't really matter at this point.    … Expand
  6. Totemic
    Nov 30, 2019
    9
    An excellent first impression for the series, has some really funny dialogue all the way through, and really clever but not overly complicated puzzles. Suffers from not having enough locales to visit in my opinion, but not from being too short, I think the length is fine for one episode.

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Best PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. CPUGamer
    86
    I was pleased to find that SME1 contains all of the humor, atmosphere, and genuine fun of the previous game.
    Read full review
  2. GamingTrend
    90
    A game worthy of the name Sam & Max. Even better is the fact that we'll be getting more every month for the next six months! I'll say it again, Sam & Max: Culture Shock is a must-buy.
    Read full review
  3. PC Gameworld
    65
    It’s good to see Sam & Max back in action, but the fun is over all too quickly. Let’s hope the plot improves in the next episode.
    Read full review
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