Swords, sand and razor-sharp insults: The Secret of Monkey Island at 30

 


"As Guybrush wanders around Mêlée Island, there are in-jokes galore (the name Threepwood is lifted from a PG Wodehouse story. Monkey Island pushed the adventure envelope, with characters who addressed the player through the monitor: LucasArts wanted to break the fourth wall and scrap the dead ends found in previous adventures. You’re constantly reminded that you’re playing a game: years before Metal Gear Solid had players searching for the Codec frequency on the back of the box, Monkey Island’s “treestump” moment asked credulous players to insert a series of non-existent disks.

Perhaps Monkey Island’s best contribution to culture is insult swordfighting. Whenever Guybrush has to draw his cutlass against an opponent, victory is decided not by button-mashing but by who can deliver the most stinging insult, with retorts written by Orson Scott Card, author of the 1985 sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. Guybrush collects an arsenal of barbs that he can use to trash-talk his enemies into surrender. (“You fight like a dairy farmer”; “How appropriate – you fight like a cow!”)"

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Swords, sand and razor-sharp insults: The Secret of Monkey Island at 30 | Adventure games | The Guardian