PHB Quickie, Reviews, Survival Island

PHB Quickie: Survival (Episode 4) Overview

Hi Gs,

As the episode we’ve all been waiting for, will it fulfill our wildest dreams or come out tainted? Let’s find out! Do be warned, however– there will be spoilers! You can check out the past overviews here.

survival4Overview

This episode is basically the climax of the story, as we finally meet the main antagonist, find out his motives, and end with a chase scene waiting to happen. For the past three episodes the villain has been unnamed, but now we learn who he is. Myron Van Buren is one of the best villains ever to be on Poptropica in my opinion; as one of the most menacing, best designed, and geniusly scripted characters, he’s earned this rank with high flying colors.

Now, as an animal lover, this episode was just gold for me. I know, it may seem strange considering that most of the animals shown in the episode are dead and hanging on walls — but for me, it’s just awesome to see the giant variety of animals drawn in Poptropica form. I honestly love the Poptropica style, and I’ve always adored when Poptropica had animals.

The episodes just keep getting better, and this one is the best out of the four, no doubt. While most people had no trouble completing it, the writing was still very clever. The premise of sneaking around a game hunter’s house with guards around every corner really creates a suspenseful environment.

As for the singular soundtrack that accompanies the quest, its amazing. While it still holds lots of suspense, it also taps into a jungle like vibe. It all fits in perfectly together and does a wonderful job.

What’s really enjoyable about this episode is the buildup for the end. Van Buren keeps hinting that he is a human hunter, but it always is just passed off as a joke. First instance, when an alligator head budges on the wall, Van Buren says he should “have *his* head, haha!” (referring to his taxidermist). At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that he really is a human hunter. Is that too far for Poptropica?

The side characters — Winston and the chef — are both menacing and original. Perhaps it’s that we’ve been out in the wilderness so long that any other human is a great character? Possibly. :p

Overall, I rank this episode 5 out of 5 stars. It’s witty, clever, suspenseful, and satisfying. I don’t know what they can do in the next episode to top it. 😀 If you’re looking for walkthroughs (both written and video), you can find them here.

-HPuterpop

10 thoughts on “PHB Quickie: Survival (Episode 4) Overview”

  1. Hey Puterpop, episode 4 is based off of the short story “The Most Dangerous Game”. Just search it up on google. The story is amazing. The only thing the island has that is different is that the story the man was in a ship wreck. we were in a blimp wreck. Read it! It’s amazing

    1. actually its hard to find. there is a black and white movie on youtube that you can find in parts and multiple version of the written story. what i read for english class was: (summed up quickly): ship wreck. swims to island. helicopter takes him to cabin on nearby island. both professional hunters. the human hunter (forgot his name. general myron or something with m) has a servant named Winston. He feeds him steak (human steak) and wine. he gets sick and in the morning general whatever gives him a pistol and tells him if he can survive for 24 hours he will repair his ship and bring him home. if he doesn’t, he clearly dies. he ends up killing general whatever and his servant and goes back to his life. in the movie he has a girlfriend named whitney and they both survive together. i hope you can find it because it’s really good.

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