Sam & Max: Episode 4 - Abe Lincoln Must Die!

After Last Month's little disappointment, with Episode 3 barely covering its skeletal structure with the dressing gown of distraction, it's a relief to see Episode 4 concealing its point-and-click dignity, and getting back to the solid fun of the first two chapters. The most immediate relief is that you don't start the story in the same office, surrounded by the same clickable jokes; this time, you've crashed into the White House.

You'll be heading back to your home street soon enough, of course, but even that's done better this time. Cultist magician Hugh Bliss has set up a new stall, and career-hopping Sybil is now running a dating service. The relevance of her new occupation hits you later on in the game, and when it does it's with pleasure, rather than with the obvious and strained relevance of 'professional witnessing' in the previous episode's mob-led story. The one-liners are better, too; the phrase ''crazier than a caffeine-addled dingo in an Adelaide maternity ward" has to win some kind of award for stopping perfectly short of tortured.

It feels like someone at Telltale noticed the balloon was deflating, and brought out a comically oversized pump. Some of the puzzles may feel a little recycled; the ketchup pump provided solutions in episodes Two and Three, and the 'reading from a cue card' trick from Situation: Comedy is here, too. But that said, Lincoln's longer, more engaging, and a better adventure than The Mole, The Mob And The Meatbail, even if it doesn't quite tip the hilarity see-saw when up against Situation: Comedy. Bring on the climax!