Sam & Max Episode Three: Night of the Raving Dead

Night Of The Raving Dead takes you - and I shit you not - to a German dance club, hosted by a 'fruity' vampire. That's not UK 'fruity', which involves pinching girls' bums in the bus queue in the '60s, but American 'fruity', which is the same but gay. Fashion victim zombies have been captivated by the effete style of Stuttgart's premier fruity freestyle emo MC, Gunther. To beat him you have to solve two three-pronged puzzles. Although the puzzles are less tangential than in episode 2.02, there was one moment when I dismissed a solution to a door-opening puzzle beeause it didn't make sense, only to try it in desperation after 30 minutes of non-progress. It worked, which is probably the sign of a bad puzzle.

What might be a problem to some players might also be the reason you enjoy Raving Dead the most: the injokes and self-references come as thick and fast as arterial spray. If Max's presidency, Midtown Cowboys, and Prismatology mean nothing to you, you'd be well advised to head straight back to season 1 episode 1.

Sam & Max might be showing a few chinks in its charming armour, and in short episodes like this, one duff puzzle can leave you feeling robbed. But as usual the scripts and the jokes carry you through and make even that sensation enjoyable. This may be Sam and Max at their most entertaining, but it's not their most logically coherent outing. Being funny isn't always a get-out-of-jail-free card.