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Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two Review for Xbox 360

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two Review for Xbox 360

The Biggest Fruit: Juiced

The highly popular Penny Arcade webcomic has been making readers laugh for many years, with its sarcastic brand of humor revolving around all things geeky and gaming. Earlier this year, PA co-creators Jerry “Tycho” Holkins and Mike “Gabe” Krahulik tread on new ground, by unleashing their first episodic video game in the four-part series loosely based on characters and themes found in the comic. The outrageous, lengthily named Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One was a delightfully twisted entry into the ongoing saga of the realm of New Arcadia. Fans of the series will be very pleased with how things progress in Episode 2.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two screenshot

This month marks the 10 year anniversary of Penny Arcade’s premiere debut, and it’s good to see the comic and its various peripheral ventures still going strong. With the recent launch of the second episode in the Penny Arcade Adventures, what better way to celebrate? Hothead Game’s stylish implementation of the Holkins and Krahulik’s malevolently hilarious design aptly caters to fans of the comic, tabletop role-playing games, video games, and gamer culture alike. For those with even a passing interest in such subjects, Episode 2 will not disappoint.

In the series, the town of New Arcadia, set in a quirky, 1920s steam-punk-inspired universe, is beset by the unholy plans of four evil gods and their assorted, ridiculous minions. Each episode revolves around the haphazard exploits of the Startling Developments Detective Agency – comprised of Tycho and Gabe themselves – which you hesitantly join to do battle against the forces of darkness, discover clues to unravel pieces of the heinous plot, and eventually face off against each of the malicious deities in turn. If you don’t have a character leftover to import from the previous episode, you can create one from scratch by picking from a selection of body types and minute details. As before, it’s pretty amazing to see how the game then magically incorporates your character’s image into the comic-book cutscenes and the actual gameplay itself.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two screenshot

Previously, the story kicked off with an enormous, steam-powered Fruit F*cker crushing your home, which leads into your introduction with the SDDA. The gloriously bizarre ensuing series of cases drop you into a wild journey through dangerous territory infested with vile hobos, satanic mimes, swarms of mini Fruit F*ckers, and worse. This leads up to an epic face off against the demonic mime-Cthulu – always a good time. Episode Two picks up another branching chapter in the story that stands alone pretty solidly for new players but also incorporates some tidbits and nods from the previous adventure. Rejoining Tycho and Gabe, your new quest begins following a massive baited attack of Fruit F*ckers. This pulp-spewing assault eventually leads to clues that shine some light on their origin, but to get there you’ll plod through the local sanitarium, an unruly scientific convention of epic proportions, and the hoity-toity lands of the rich, among other locales and the unspoken dangers they contain.

Krahulik and Holkins provide the story and much of the artwork for the game. Expect to run across much of the same flavor of content found in the comic, only on a more grandiose, story-driven level. The story is still riddled with witty gamer humor and numerous nods to favorite PA jokes and characters. Despite the omnipresent scatology and the frequent profanity spewing from every aspect of the design, the tale itself is highly intelligent and engaging. On the visual front, the cel-shaded art direction continues to impress, and the new areas and foes are intriguingly detailed. It’s good to see the team recycled only the necessary graphical content from the past episode and focused more on bringing many new areas and adversaries to the forefront.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two screenshot

The crux of Episode 2’s gameplay is largely unchanged. Its point-and-click exploration aspect have some very minor puzzle elements and fetch quests to dabble in – much of the fun still comes from clicking on anything not bolted down to pick up the expansive medley of humorous tidbits and comments littering the game. The series’ RPG elements – you’ll level-up, gain experience, upgrade your equipment, and learn new attacks – are essentially the same this time around, but they’ve somehow managed to grow on me more in this episode.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two screenshot

Combat encounters crop up frequently, whenever you venture too close to foes on the map. Being able to see the battle coming is handy at times and irritating at others. Further along in the game, there are moments when you’ll have fought through an entire area only to backtrack your way out and have to face more of the same opponents. The strategic, turn-based combat has you rolling for initiative and taking turns selecting attacks to unleash on the unruly bunch of enemies you’ll face. This too is the same, but a few minor adjustments actually go a long way towards making combat a little less tedious.

For starters, each character’s choice of weaponry is different. Your old garden rake has been replaced with a hoe, Gabe’s knuckles are now adorned with blades, and Tycho wields a shotgun. Each can be upgraded to more badass variants. The revamped mini-games required to pull off special attacks are definitely improved. They’re similar to the original in last game, but a slight redesign makes them less unwieldy. Support characters from the comic and a few new to the game provide helpful assistance in the form of unique and sometimes disturbing assaults.

The different gameplay components in and of themselves are reasonably good, but their value and enjoyment multiplies greatly when considered as a whole package wrapped in the entertainingly warped alternative reality the PA duo and Hothead have concocted. The series premiere set the ball rolling nicely, but Episode Two picks up the uproarious humor and killer story and runs with it. Fans will find plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and the masterfully implemented battle at the end of this installment tops everything we’ve seen in the series so far. Penny Arcade Adventures continues to grow and improve, and we can’t wait to see what comes next. Two gods down; two more to go.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
The game excellently captures the style of the comic, while taking on its own dark vibe that’s quite pleasing. 3.9 Control
Subtle improvements to the combat system make it less unwieldy. 4.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Plenty of atmospheric music and sound effects to help drive the mood of the adventure. 3.8 Play Value
This episode is superior in ways. A reasonably short length keeps things from dragging on past their welcome, and the top-notch comedic delivery and storytelling propels the game forward. 4.3 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Hilarious, over-the-top dialogue written by Jerry Holkins in a style that will be familiar to Penny Arcade fans.
  • Progressively unravel the game’s mysteries through classic adventure gameplay.
  • Battle an array of zany enemies with the RPG combat system.
  • An interactive Penny Arcade comic: customize the look and dress of your character and explore the unusual world of New Arcadia.
  • Gabe, Tycho, Annarchy, The Fruit F*cker 2000, and many favorite Penny Arcade characters, plus new characters designed by Mike Krahulik.
  • Set in a steam-punk meets pulp horror meets H.P. Lovecraft alternate Penny Arcade universe.

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