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

"You should buy this game quickly, like...bam."

I'm going to get one thing out of the way right off the bat. If you're reading this review to find out if the game is good, I can tell you right now that it is. It's excellent even. I'll even explain why it's so good so you have reasons to buy it. So if someone asks you, 'Hi why are you buying this game?' You can just list off all the things written here and amaze them with your knowledge. So, let's begin!

Story 5/10

This...wasn't so good. There was no real story at all to be frank. It starts with a robot destroying your house and for no real reason you end up fighting a god. I don't know exactly where the plot deviated from hunting down the robot but boy did it go off track. That's not to say it's BAD it just seems disjointed. That doesn't stop it from being insanely funny though.

Music 8/10

A lot of the music is outstanding for such a 'newbish' game, if you will. Music loses two points because the carnival music is really, really bad. Other than that though it all fits nicely with the surroundings, what's going on, what events are happening etc.

It's worth noting that there is barely any voice acting in this game. The small parts of dialogue are done by the narrator at the start of the game and at the start of a new area and they are all, RIDICULOUSLY funny. I guess that's what happens when you make a webcomic based around humour.

All the rest of the dialogue is told via speech bubbles, which, is completely fine. Better to have text that people can put voices to rather than put voices to it yourself and having them suck, such is the case in a lot of games.

Graphics 10/10

These aren't the 'realistic' graphics you're all so used to seeing. Games like Far Cry and Crysis which used to wreck your computer in order to get the same experience you could receive by looking out the damn window, have been replaced in this game for something far better.

A 3D cartoonish feel. Oh yes, it is a sweet trade-off. To play through this game is a wonder on the eyes. You don't marvel at the realism of it all like you did in Crysis, you marvel at how damn FINE it all looks. Every damn character is designed brilliantly, there's JUST the right amount of shading and the environments always just look...well...perfect.

Of course, it does get a bit gory in battles with rib cages flying everywhere and people EXPLODING. So remember, it's not real blood. And if it is, they probably deserve it.

Humour 10/10

I gave this it's own portion because there is so much of it. In almost every single dialogue presented, movie shown or action taken there is humour everywhere. A highlight of the game for me was finding out that my street had been taken over my mimes. MIMES. That alone made me laugh. The situations presented to you are so amazingly separated from reality and yet all seem to fit into the crazy universe Penny Arcade have created.

Gameplay 9/10

During the tutorial I was crushed. I thought that Penny Arcade was going to be a point and click adventure, the kind of game that I despise with all my being. However, after finishing the game, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

See, Penny Arcade (I'm not using the full name, it's too damn long) has a rather iffy battle system. Others complain that it's complicated and too much is always going on, but I thought it was rather unique and well thought out. It's a lot like Final Fantasy's ATB. You know the kind, where you have to wait for your bar to fill before you could select an action?

Well Penny Arcade takes this, dumbs it down slightly and adds awesome. What happens is you have three characters. Tyco, Gabe (Creators of Penny Arcade) and yourself. Each character has items, standard move or special move up for selection. However each of these has a timer on it. Beat with me it's sort of complicated. Especially if I don't explain it right.

Basically what happens is that all selections will start out grey. Over a short period of time the item selection will become available. After a slightly longer period of time the standard attack will become available, and after a medium amount of time (though sometimes it feels like forever) the special attack option will become available. Upon using one of these options the timer resets on all of them and you must wait until you can use that character's selections again.

Having three characters you need to juggle the selections between the three of them which means that at no point during the battle can you just spam attack or go and get a drink. The cool thing about the battle system is that it's so balanced. Special attacks have no limit but take a long time to charge up, while items have a short timer but have a limited amount of uses for each item. (Just like every game really)

At the same time you will be attempting to avoid the enemies attacks. If your familiar with Mario and Luigi superstar saga's battle system you'll know what I'm talking about.

Basically, when an enemy attacks you their HP gauge will flash, this is an indication for you to press spacebar at the right moment for one of several effect. Either you will:
a) Dodge the attack entirely and launch a counter attack. (Pretty much a free attack)
b) Protect yourself from the attack severely reducing its damage
c) Semi-protect yourself from the attack lowering it's damage by a small portion or
d) Fail miserably and have the full brunt of the attack hit you.

It's a really fun battle system and one that you can really get into. Also worth mentioning is that after every battle you are reset to full health and dead party members still receive experience. If that isn't a recipe for something awesome then I don't know what IS.

Oh, also, the main character wields a RAKE throughout the whole game. It sounds lame, and the game recognises that it's lame but it does a decent amount of damage for a garden tool.

Lastability 6/10

While you'll be playing for a while say...six to eight hours. It's short enough that people will complain about its length. But you need to look at it in perspective. It's part ONE of several parts. It is extremely cheap and it's not like you are paying eighty bucks for an eight hour game.

Rent or Buy?

Uh? Buy? Duh? This game is a LOT better than a lot of other games out on the market right now. You can see the effort that has been made to create this game and that should be commended. So for God's sake go out and buy it. Unless you're not loved. But you're loved aren't you?

Overall Score 9/10 - So close to perfect but length lets it down...and the carnival music.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/08

Game Release: Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (US, 05/21/08)