The once stained, pockmarked walls have been given a lick of vibrant paint, framed art hangs everywhere, and new clientele demand more ornate meals. The odd broken pane of glass in a window suggests plenty of pirate misbehaviour still takes place, but the Scumm Bar is not the tattered dive it once was.

But let your eyes linger just a little longer, and it's apparent the original scene has been entirely reskinned. The overall composition is unchanged, right down to where people are seated.

Visit this game's version of the Scumm bar, and at a glance everything appears the same. Much of Return to Monkey Island is built from settings that have undergone a subtle revolution. This is a game constructed from the familiar as much as the new, of course. Deliberately absurd name aside, Locke is stern and cool to the bone, and endures Guybrush at best, delivering all kinds of opportunities for laughs as she dismisses the protagonist's puns about 'locks' of hair, or extinguishes his enthusiasm for treasure hunting as he is bewildered by a map lacking any X to mark a spot. Or there's Mêlée's town's new locksmith, Locke Smith. Highlights include the oddly charismatic Putra, undead galley chef to LeChuck, who serves both rasping sass and all manner of delightfully gross food gag set-ups as she gradually develops an affection for Guybrush. Even voodoo is no longer in favour, with younger generations favouring 'dark magic' in its place.Ī great many of Return to Monkey Island's best moments come from the new characters, who are almost universally brilliant. The old guard of established sea dogs now exist on the fringes, replaced by youthful upstarts eager to reset the rulebook. All that is the same, but with the passage of time new figures have risen to power, upsetting the traditions and conventions of Guybrush's world.

Download return to monkey island review