Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 1: The Penal Zone PlayStation 3
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 1: The Penal Zone Image
Metascore
81 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics What's this?

User Score
5.4 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: Sam is a six-foot dog in a baggy suit sporting a trombone-sized .44 hand-cannon. Max is three feet of pure unleashed id with a saw blade grin and the impulsive nature of the average piranha. Together they patrol the sticky streets of a fantastical New York City, righting wrongs, pummeling perps, and ridding the urban landscape of the shifty legions of "self-propelled gutter trash" that litter their streets. Sam and Max got their start in comics in 1987, courtesy of cartoonist Steve Purcell. They have appeared in many formats over the years, including two seasons of an episodic graphic adventure game series; an award-winning animated series in 1998; an online web comic in 2006, for which Purcell was awarded an Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic; and The 20th Anniversary Edition of the Surfin' the Highway comic anthology which was nominated for a Eisner Award in 2009. … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. 1UP
    100
    It's a bigger, better-looking adventure that moves the series forward in some surprising and substantial ways, and it remains one of the few legitimately funny games out there.
  2. PSM3 Magazine UK
    86
    Great value, if stubbornly old school and a little obscure. [June 2010, p.98]
    All this publication's reviews
  3. PALGN
    85
    The Penal Zone is as charming and laugh-out loud funny as any entry in the Sam & Max franchise; intricate puzzles and sharp writing making it a smart download for any adventure game aficionado. Good job, little buddy.
  4. IGN
    72
    As an introduction to the season, The Penal Zone does a good job of setting the stage for more zaniness to come. Unfortunately, the story elements here are a bit thin but at least the episode focuses on one truly interesting new character in the cast.

See all 21 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 1 out of 2
  1. Tmbv93
    10
    It's very rare that I come across a game that is truly funny. I mean truly funny as in the same amounts of laughs per minute one would expect from an episode of Family Guy or South Park. The tasks, the jokes and the tools make this one of the smartest and most enjoyable games I've ever tried. Minor technical problems aside, this was absolutely fantastic.… Expand
  2. Reviewer
    1
    There are very few things that are good in this game. The humor is sometimes good, and the answers to the countless number of puzzles you will encounter are SOMETIMES interesting (other times stupid.) There are many things bad about this game. The story is horrible. There are many load time that are way to long. The graphics are terrible. The music is annoying. Most of the time the answers to the puzzles DON'T MAKE LOGICAL SENSE.… Expand

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