Return to Monkey Island announced, with original creator at the helm
Devolver Digital has announced a new entry in the legendary Monkey Island series, and it’s bringing back creator Ron Gilbert to write and direct it.
The new Return to Monkey Island will pick up directly after the events of 1991’s Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. That means the plot of this game will disregard the events of 1997’s The Curse of Monkey Island and the titles that followed—all fine point-and-click adventures in their own right, but games made without the original developers’ involvement.
One holdover from those later titles, however, will be the voice of the game’s main character, Guybrush Threepwood. Actor Dominic Armato will be returning to once again lend his voice to the self-proclaimed “mighty pirate.”
Alongside the announcement, Devolver and Gilbert’s studio, Terrible Toybox, released a brief teaser trailer featuring skeletons on a dock, apparently highlighting the new cartoony art style.
At the moment, details on the project are scarce, but IGN did uncover a 2013 blog post from Gilbert where he outlined what he’d do on a new Monkey Island game. At least one confirmed element of the new game—that it’s a direct sequel to LeChuck’s Revenge that ignores later entries—is mentioned here, so the rest of Gilbert’s wishlist may provide some indication of what’s in store.
Assuming Gilbert’s thinking hasn’t changed, Return to Monkey Island could have full voice acting, an inventory system, and “hardcore” puzzles that will stump many players, in the tradition of the LucasArts classics.
Either way, we shouldn’t have to wait too long. Devolver says Return to Monkey Island will release this year. No platforms have been announced, but PC at least would seem to be a shoo-in.
