by Ian Peek

Created on: February 03, 2007   Last Updated: May 18, 2007

Video games aren't designed to be funny, they're designed to be entertaining... But with humour being one of the best ways to be entertained, and the breadth of the gaming experience ever-expanding it's only natural that humour should play it's own part. Where should you look to find it?

I remember in my youth buying a game called "Zack McCracken and the alien mind-benders", largely for the reason that the packaging had a glowing review quote proclaiming it to be "the funniest video-game ever". Before you all rush out to dig up this lost gem I should probably point out that it never was actually that funny. It had a reverence for the comedy of the Marx brothers, the odd good gag, but nothing to trouble any of great moments of comedy. It did open my eyes to the idea of humour in games though, and has made me look out for it a little more actively ever since.

That game was on my old Amiga 500, it was a graphic adventure, and it was similar to games like "The Adventure of Monkey Island" which came after it, and greatly exceeded it in terms of both humour and gameplay. I remember Monkey Island well, for teaching me that the deciding factor in the battles of duelling pirates was not anything to do with swordsmanship, but in fact lay in the insults and put-down retorts taking place while they fought (they just 'wave the swords around a bit for effect' while they duel). This wasn't just a funny thing in a video game. The one-liners and victory-route via sharp responses to opponents shaped my way of reacting to comments made towards me in real life ever since! A revelation. Genius. And a good display of a video games influence which lead the gamer away from violence rather than towards it.

There are other neat bits of dialogue and set-pieces from Monkey Island which were genuinely amusing, sometimes laugh out-loud funny. One example which sticks in mind was combining one of the typical "walk to" commands in graphical adventures (for moving the character around the environment) with "the sun" in the background; resulting in the character (Guybrush Threepwood) turning to face the gamesplayer and address them directly, "Walk to the sun?", "Oh yeah!", "I'll just get on that right now shall I?", -"Idiot."

Beyond that I think every graphic adventure since had to make a fair attempt at humour in its script and that became one of the winning features of the genre, but not having played them since my Amiga days, I don't know what else is out there. Can anyone else comment on Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle or Grim Fandango?

I also think testimony must be paid to the radio in Grand Theft Auto, which, way before the licensed tracklistings of the recent 3D editions put a winning stamp on the series and added a defining character the graphics alone couldn't bring it back then.

"Ratchet & Clank" and "Jak & Daxter" have some winning dialogue & likeable character interactions across the series (more in the former), but the slightly more contrived efforts behind the humour make them only worthy of mention rather than crowning glory.

The humour in "Timesplitters 3 - future perfect" has a more natural feel to it and makes it a superior contender. Throwaway background lines like, "Shoot anything with teeth bigger than its face!" and various bemused reactions to the lead character (Vortez)'s hammy, "Time to split" catchphrase cracked me up at times.

ButI think the real winner has to be Monkey Island, chiefly based on grounds of the legacy it left; I hear the recent re-makes aren't really that funny.

Aint that always the way?

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