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

"When the critics have become the criticized, what does that say for you and I?"

Love them or hate them, there is no denying that Penny Arcade has come a long way for what was once merely just another webcomic among others. While Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik started the strip as a hobby, they've become a significant figure in the industry of video gaming thanks in no small part to their media juggernaut. They've done everything from promotional comics, fan conventions, charities, and scholarships. About the only thing they had staved off from until this point was actually making a game themselves. Teaming up with developer Hothead Games, The Penny Arcade crew finally have placed themselves at the mercy of the critics they themselves have berated for so long by releasing an Adventure RPG for the Xbox Live Arcade. Did they manage to step up to the challenge or was it all just a ton of hot air? Let me communicate with you, dear reader, on just how good Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness Episode One really is (By the way, is it just me or is that the longest title for a video game ever?).

The plot is certainly something unique, to say the least. Pitching their strip's two main characters, Tycho Brahe and Jonathon Gabriel, into 1920's New England is one way to assert that notion. Going beyond that would follow something along the lines of pitting them both against a gigantic Fruit “Fornicator” that smashes your character's house. Left homeless, you team up with the Startling Developments detective agency run by the two in order to seek the mechanical monstrosity and wreak vengeance for your once home that now lies in shambles.

Seeing as Penny Arcade is humor oriented, it would naturally follow that the game must be funny to keep in line with this motif. For the most part, it does a good job of trying to tickle your funny bone. Seeing as Holkins himself wrote the game's dialogue, plot, and descriptions, it is most assuredly a Penny Arcade game at heart. The writing is just as blunt and whimsical as the comics are (“The crab appears to be flipping you off”), but is it gut-bustingly hilarious? Not particularly. A keen reader can quickly see that Holkins is a fish out of water, straining to provide lots of material for a single project as opposed to his usual three-panel formula. Still, it's a noble and admirable effort all things considered and the writing is likely to be better for the next installment with the practice gained from this exercise, hopefully giving this fledgling series a bright future.

One nice thing about the dialogue in particular is the ability for you to make dialogue choices. As with all other literary bits, it makes a decent stab at humor and increases the Adventure genre feeling while allowing you to interject a bit of your personality into the plot. One good example of this is when Gabe berates Tycho for speaking to his niece “like some kind of ass ****(Who forth so thither witting woo).” At this point, you can either join Gabe's bandwagon or you can defend Tycho and his advanced wordplay (When in conversation, people should always use the largest words they know).

The game was designed with an RPG system in mind, but with classic Adventure elements to it. It lends itself well for with this design while keeping the game entertaining. You'll travel over several areas in your hunt for the giant Fruit “Fiend” and other sinister adversaries. Starting off in your little suburban cul-de-sac, you'll explore the disgusting slums and anarchic boardwalk carnival. This fact is the game's biggest weakness, in that there is nowhere else to go. The environments are surprisingly limited and you'll find yourself backtracking a lot in the same areas more so than you'd like. It becomes frustrating both terms of exploration and aesthetic. In short, the lack of diversity in the game's areas makes the progression quickly become stifling.

As the usual tradition of RPG's, you are capable of tweaking your characters by upgrading their weapons and leveling up in combat. While you can't equip a variety of weapons or even any armor, you are given sidequests that culminate in the upgrade of your weapons to visible effects. Disturbingly enough, you obtain these enhancements by grotesque and questionable means. For instance, someone has to dip their hands in piss to obtain their upgrade. Subtle, isn't it?

Item collection is also rather unique, completely censoring out any kind of shop system. Instead, you will come across breakable containers that hold healing, buffing, de-buffing, and offensive gadgets to use in combat. While it makes grinding for money obsolete, it also means you'll have to grind respawning containers to stock up. Still, the useful items pop up rather frequently, easing the sting of this questionable design choice.

The gameplay itself, however, makes up for most of the other faults of the game. After finding a non-random encounter in the overworld, you enter a combat state that plays as a real-time RPG. However, instead of scrolling through menus, the game does things decidedly differently. Each character has a meter that fills up through three tiers as the seconds pass, going more slowly the higher it goes. While you can almost immediately use your items, you'll have to wait longer for the ability to attack normally. An even longer wait is required if you want to perform a character's special attack. If you are patient and wait long enough for two or three characters to fully charge, then you can perform a double or triple team attack respectively, scoring higher damage in a single stroke. This waiting mechanic adds some critical strategy that makes combat all the more engaging instead of spamming moves.

A key feature to the combat, however, is the defensive ability you are given. While waiting for your meter to charge, enemies will attack you. Defending in real time is a key strategy, otherwise your foes will decimate you rather quickly. To do so, you simply pull the R-trigger right as the creature/mime/hobo flashes its attack. It has varying levels defense as reward for precision, providing even counter-attacks if you are capable of perfecting your timing.

You also have a summon system that works similar to the meter-charge, except that it requires much longer to charge and the charge levels for each summon carry over from battle to battle. Unfortunately, there are only three summon characters in the game, but fans of PA will definitely appreciate the extra supporting characters that help you out. I choose not to say who they are for spoiler purposes.

The music is also slightly interesting with its cartoon-ish quality. While the whole soundtrack sounds well made, nothing particularly stands out aside from the ending credits rap, courtesy of the humble Nerdcore conduit, MC Frontalot. Nothing bad, but nobody is going to be clamoring for an OST.

Lastly, the graphics are superb. While the majority of the game is in 3D, the cel-shading effects make the whole game look like a PA strip anyways. The framerate is also very impressive with its smooth flow. The 2D cutscenes also look great, providing animated eye-candy while both advancing the plot and showing off Krahulik's inspired art style.

The first installment of Penny Arcade Adventures is a fun and stylized masterpiece of an Arcade title. It has addictive gameplay, an entertaining and original plot, and a crisp presentation. It manages to pick and choose good parts of the RPG genre (Item upgrades, interactive dialogue, and a memorable cast) while tossing out the bad bits (Random encounters, boring plot, and cliché characters), creating an enjoyable experience. While it runs at a good 6-7 hour adventure, it feels slightly overpriced at a hefty 20 dollars. This larger than proper price point relegates my recommendation mostly to “For the fans,” but if you feel inclined to give it a shot or can find it for cheaper, then On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness is a worthy investment of your time, energy, and money.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/08

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