The first episode of the Tales of Monkey Island series won’t astonish. Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal is an adventure game that is being developed by Telltale Games which was announced at E3 2009. The story begins aboard Elaine Marley-Threepwood’s ship, which has been captured by LeChuck off the coast of the legendary Rock of Gelato. Elaine’s tied up in a not-unexpected display of deviousness on the part of the zombie/demon/ghost pirate. LeChuck’s right in the middle of performing some voodoo rite involving several captured monkeys when Guybrush Threepwood’s ship appears on the horizon. Our hero has appeared in the nick of time, and has gathered nearly all of the necessary ingredients to forge a sword powerful enough to defeat LeChuck: The Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu.

The saga begins with a heated battle involving the brave but often bumbling Mighty Pirate Guybrush, his beloved wife Elaine, and their nemesis, the demon pirate LeChuck. When the showdown goes up in flames, Guybrush finds himself marooned on a strange island with winds that always blow inward. How will our hero manage to escape this meteorological anomaly? What has become of LeChuck and Elaine? And what’s the story with the infectious voodoo pox that’s spreading across the Caribbean, causing Guybrush and other pirates to act like unruly hooligans? These are just some of the many questions posed in this first chapter of one of the most rollicking and rip-roaring entertainment experiences this summer.

For a long-time Monkey Island fan, ‘Launch of the Screaming Narwhal’ will scratch the itch to return to the Carribbean and scratch it good.If the player is clever enough, Guybrush will win the confidence of Melee’s established pirates and soon find himself blown by the winds of fate toward Monkey Island.