Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 3 - Lair of the Leviathan

If You Are surmised that the second episode of the Tales of Monkey Island series, Siege of Spinner Cay, was essentially the same as the first but with a less boring jungle section. The third offering, which represents the halfway point in this series, is about as different to Siege as you could possibly get.

Visually less vibrant than the previous two episodes, Lair of the Leviathan takes place inside the guts of a giant manatee. But don't let that put you off. The strength of Monkey Island has always been about narrative and characters and this is where Lair excels.

Residing within the belly of the beast is a crew of lethargic pirates who seem to have absorbed the sea cow's sluggish approach to life. Their hapless existence is beautifully portrayed, none more so than the character of Santino. This eye patch-wearing skeleton - who's been dead, for a long, long time - never utters a single word, yet somehow manages to give the impression that he's about to deliver a monologue of epic proportions at any moment Such is Santino's wisdom that whenever the crew vote on anything one of the pirates, the ichor-swilling Moose, always votes the same as his calcified companion.

When it comes to puzzles there's no change in difficulty from the first two episodes. The hint system means you're never stuck for long and solutions tend to be of the logical, rather than fiendish, variety. When it comes down to it, it's fair to say Tales of Monkey Island is improving as an cartoon pirate adventure, but still has a way to go as a adventure game. Still, when you've got characters this good who cares?