The Curse of Monkey Island is an Graphic adventure developed and published by LucasArts, and the third game in the Monkey Island series. It was released in 1997 and followed the successful games The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. The game is the twelfth and last LucasArts game to use the SCUMM engine, which was extensively upgraded for its last outing before being replaced by the GrimE engine for the next game in the series, Escape From Monkey Island. The Curse of Monkey Island is the first Monkey Island game to include voice acting as opposed to text subtitles, and has a more cartoon-ish graphic style than the earlier games.
The Memoirs of Guybrush Threepwood
Excerpt from "The Memoirs of Guybrush Threepwood: The Monkey Island Years":
- "I've sailed the seas from Trinidad to Tortuga and I've never seen anything like it! The engagement ring I gave Elaine has a terrible pirate curse on it. LeChuck is behind it, I'm sure. I should have known that nothing good could come out of that evil zombie's treasures. And if that's not bad enough, the clairvoyant I met in the mangrove swamp told me that if I am to break the curse and save Elaine, I will have to die!"
Gameplay
The Curse of Monkey Island is a point-and-click adventure game. The SCUMM engine was also used in this Monkey Island installment but it was upgraded to a "verb coin" (modeled after Full Throttle), an interface that consisted in a coin-shaped menu, with three icons: a hand, a skull and a parrot, basically representing actions related to hands, eyes and mouth, respectively. These icons implied the actions Guybrush would perform with an object. The hand icon would usually mean actions such as picking something up, operating a mechanism or hitting someone, the skull icon was most used for examining or looking at objects and the parrot icon was used to issue Guybrush commands such as talking to someone or opening a bottle with his teeth. The inventory and actions were thus visible on click, rather than on the bottom of the screen as previous point-and-click games by Lucasarts.
The player controlled a white 'X' cursor with the mouse, that turned red whenever landing onto an object (or person) with which Guybrush could interact. Holding left click over an object, whether in or outside the inventory, would bring up the coin menu, while right clicking it would perform the most obvious action with this particular object. Right clicking a door, for example, made Guybrush attempt to open it, while right clicking a person meant talking to him or her.
Plot
After the vague and surreal ending of Monkey Island 2, Guybrush Threepwood is inexplicably found on the sea in a floating bumper car with two helium balloons. Guybrush is trying to recall in his captain's log how he ended up in this dire situation and his escape from the Big Whoop Carnival where he was trapped for an undisclosed period of time. He eventually approaches Plunder Island, which is governed by Elaine Marley and is currently under siege by the Zombie Pirate LeChuck himself. After a lengthy exchange where LeChuck is rebuffed in his attempts to woo Elaine, both notice Guybrush, and he is quickly recaptured by LeChuck. While seeking a way out, Guybrush fires an unrestrained cannon (causing LeChuck to comically blast himself to smithereens with a voodoo cannonball), finds a diamond ring in LeChuck's treasure hold, and escapes the ship whilst sinking it. He then reunites with his love, Elaine Marley, and officially proposes to her, offering her the diamond ring he found on LeChuck's ship. Unbeknownst to him is the fact that the ring is cursed, which Wally humorously points out, and Elaine gets turned into a gold statue a short while after she puts it on. Guybrush must then retrieve the statue, which is stolen almost immediately, and return her to human form.
The Voodoo Lady tells Guybrush that he must travel to Blood Island to find a certain uncursed diamond ring to break the spell. In doing so, he must get a crew, a ship, the statue of Elaine, and a map as nobody knows where Blood Island is anymore. In his attempts to get a crew, Guybrush hastily informs a captain named René Rottingham about his plan to go to Blood Island, which piques his curiosity. The map also presents a problem as the only known map is tattooed to the back of Palido Domingo, who is tanning on an exclusive beach and does not cooperate in his quest. Guybrush must also find out where the statue of Elaine is hidden. After various competitions, Guybrush manages to do all of the errands, as well as gather a crew, consisting of Cutthroat Bill, Haggis McMutton, and Edward Van Helgen, to join him on a voyage to Blood Island.
While sailing to Blood Island, the crew is distracted by sightseeing whilst Captain Rottingham boards the ship and duels Guybrush. Rottingham easily wins and takes the map to Blood Island. By fighting other pirates, Guybrush learns various insults and defeats Rottingham, reclaiming the map. However, a terrible storm results in Guybrush's ship crashing into Blood Island, the golden statue of Elaine being launched inland, and the crew deciding to mutiny; leaving Guybrush on his own again. On Blood Island, Guybrush meets Griswold Goodsoup and other locals, including the cannibals from Monkey Island, and even has to feign death (at least twice) in order to complete his quest. Guybrush then removes the cursed ring from Elaine's finger, gambles with smugglers to acquire an uncursed diamond, and returns Elaine to normal. The two share a moment together before LeChuck's skeletal army seizes them.
After a lengthy conversation with LeChuck, who has reintegrated himself as a pyrokinetic demon-pirate, Guybrush is transformed into a child and left to roam the Big Whoop amusement park. Using a hangover cure discovered on Blood Island, he becomes an adult again and gets on the Rollercoaster of Death to confront LeChuck. In an unseen cinematic, Elaine reroutes the tracks, causing Guybrush to go through the same sections of the ride over and over, avoiding the lava. LeChuck chases Guybrush over and over, tormenting him with his fiery powers. Regardless, Guybrush manages to gather up various items for a makeshift explosives barrel. He then blows pepper at LeChuck to make him sneeze and set off an avalanche, thus freezing and burying LeChuck under his own theme park. Some time later, Guybrush and Elaine are seen sailing off on a ship just married, as various friends he met on his adventures wave them goodbye.
Chapters
Chapter 1: The Demise of the Zombie Pirate LeChuck
Chapter 2: The Curse Gets Worse
Chapter 3: Three Sheets to the Wind
Chapter 4: The Bartender, the Thieves, His Aunt, and Her Lover
Chapter 5: Kiss of the Spider Monkey
Chapter 6: Guybrush Kicks Butt Once Again
Locations
Trivia
Sources
- http://www.worldofmi.com/thegames/monkey3/index.php#Excerpt%20from%20Memoirs
- Game Script
- The Pirate Curse of Monkey Island Design Document: File:1995 08 29 Curse of Monkey Island.compressed.pdf
| Monkey Island Games |
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The Secret of Monkey Island (special edition) • Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (special edition)• The Curse of Monkey Island • Escape from Monkey Island • Tales of Monkey Island • Return to Monkey Island |
