Sam & Max Episode 204: Chariots of the Dogs

Satisfying, surprising, hilarious and fun. It's the best Sam and Max episode ever, and it climactically delivers on what the episodic format always promised.

The longest episode of the season, and perhaps the longest episode of the entire series.

Chariots of the Dogs continues on in the same clever, funny, and endearing way as past cases, and it's one of the better entries in the series.

I'd say Chariots of the Dogs might be the best episode in the new Sam&Max series yet. The environment is fresh, puzzles are challenging and logical and simply put toying with the time muchine works just great. As for me this time nearly all of the jokes hit the spot. Hail Sam and Max! [June 2008]

Chariots of the Dogs is great on so many levels, from its fantastic time traveling plotline to all of its great pop-culture references.

I'm shocked that 10 episodes in, Telltale's still finding gimmicks to keep this stuff fresh.

If you've been following Sam and Max's adventures, your life won't be complete until you play this episode. [June 2008, p.76]

Unlike some past episodes, I didn’t find myself lost or confused at any time. It appears that Telltale has found its stride and hopefully keeps everything moving well towards an inane and cataclysmic end.

Chariot of the Dogs may be missing the satirical edge of earlier Sam & Max episodes, but the funny certainly won't disappoint long-time fans of the Freelance Police.

Chariots of the Dogs is the highlight of the second season thanks to an excellent and interweaving storyline, which patches up several loose-ends and introducing a few new characters.

Chariots of the Dogs is impressive in its story’s complexity while still retaining a good amount of the trademark Sam & Max humor (although because of the intricacy of tying so many plots neatly together, Chariots of the Dogs isn’t quite as rib-tickling funny as most previous episodes).

Basically, using the time elevator is enormous fun – far more so than clicking on the Desoto, which may pose Telltale with an interesting problem in deciding how to keep the quality rising in future episodes.

This chapter is the best so far of Episode Two. It does a great job of bridging the gap between the first several episodes, and the subsequent second half. The setup is wonderful.

Chariots of the Dogs is definitely my favorite episode this season, and one of the strongest episodes of the entire series.

Even before the credits roll Sam and Max shoot their way into the shop, defeat a laser grid, complete every child’s favorite science project and get abducted by aliens in the process. Just another day for the dog and hyper kinetic rabbity thing!

The value of Season 2 of Sam and Max grows every month, and with the addition of Chariots of the Dogs this season has finally tipped the scales and is a worth purchase for any fan of slap-stick humor adventure games.

The science may be sub-"Torchwood," but puzzle logic is intact. [June 2008, p.79]

For the second time in as many series, the fourth episode is by far the best. [May 2008, p.114]

By far one of the funniest S&M episodes for dialogue. [June 2008, p.89]

Chariots of the Dogs serves as a very serious necessary because it ties together nearly everything from previous episodes. So though it's whacked and nonfunctional in some respects, with its overabundance of portals, time travel quests, and flat jokes, it's particularly relevant to this season's overarching themes. For followers of season two, it's a must-play, even if it isn't the funniest episode.

The lack of map variety hurts Chariots more than a similar paucity has hurt previous episodes, because Chariots is, overall, a bit slow.