Sam And Max Freelance Police (PC, 2002)

Sam & Max Freelance Police

Nothing says fun quite like a six-foot anthropomorphic dog and his spastic midget rabbit. That was the premise of Sam and Max, comic book characters created by Steve Purcell that act as private investigators or "freelance police" that drive around in a 1960 DeSoto Adventurer solving mysteries. The duo has earned quite a loyal following over the years, which is probably why Lucas Arts released Sam and Max Hit the Road in 1993.

The computer game used the SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) game engine and featured not only an enticing interface but also a truly funny script laced with satirical caricatures of American society (Purcell himself helped write and design the game). Hit the Road became a fan favorite and is widely considered one of the best comedy games ever. In 2002, nearly 10 years later, Lucas Arts finally announced the development of a long-awaited follow-up to Hit the Road.

Sam and Max Freelancer Police was schedule for release in the spring of 2004. Things were looking good, too. Sam and Max fans were buzzing, and Lucas Arts had released a very funny trailer for E3 and screenshots of the nearly completed game. But weeks before the game's launch, Lucas Arts cancelled the title because of "current marketplace realities" and "underlying economic conditions." Fans were incensed and took action, circulating a petition to Lucas Arts and launching support Websites such as www.savesamadmax.com. While rumors circulated for a few months that the company had reconsidered its decision, Freelance Police remained cancelled.

Not only did fans revolt, but some of the games developers did, too. A few game designers left Lucas Arts and started their own development house, dubbed Telltale Games. While Telltale, as well as rival publisher Bad Brain Entertainment, attempted to acquire the rights to the unfinished game so Freelance Police could be completed, Lucas Arts reportedly broke off the negotiations. Thus, it's likely all material for the title was dumped and erased.

Still, Telltale decided to make a new game from scratch with Purcell. In fact, Game Tap announced at E3 this year that the new Sam and Max game will be released as episodic content via its network (again, a pretty funny trailer was released at the show). So while Freelance Police may have died, Sam and Max will return.

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