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Posted on: May 22, 2008
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 1
WORDS BY: Ryan McCaffrey
For tons of reasons, Penny Arcade Adventures is not your average Arcade game. Rated Mature for good reasons like strong language and adult content, it’s a stark contrast to the family-friendly puzzlers that pepper the service, and its comic-book look belies its extreme NSFW nature. On a technical level, it has retail-quality production values and as much gameplay meat as many DVD-based games, and it’s the first episodic game on Arcade. And it also costs an XBLA-record-high 20 bucks.
So it’s best not to think of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness as just an Arcade game. We think it’s better labeled as a retail game whose distribution method happens to be digital. And it’s also one of the service’s shiniest gems.
Set in a fictional 1920s steampunk-era town called New Arcadia, Penny Arcade Adventures first tasks you with creating a custom character, whose home is quickly stomped by a fruit-loving 50-foot-tall robot. Connecting with the storm-chasing Gabe and Tycho from the thrice-weekly webcomic, you’ll party up and seek out the mechanical monstrosity, getting to know the quirky duo rather well in the process as you solve the mystery behind the casa-crushing invader.
At its heart, Penny Arcade Adventures is an adventure game the likes of which has not yet been seen in the Xbox 360 era and was rarely heard from during the original-Xbox days. Though you won’t be combining items to solve puzzles in the traditional point-and-click sense, you’ll engage in plenty of dialogue-tree conversations with people ranging from slightly odd to truly insane, such as a “urologist” who has been canvassing one of New Arcadia’s three neighborhoods with his own golden showers.
It’s this off-kilter writing, in fact, that is Penny Arcade Adventures’ strongest suit and brings us nostalgically close to the LucasArts-penned adventure-game glory days of the ’90s. Web-comic author and Penny Arcade Adventures scriptwriter Jerry “Tycho” Holkins possesses an obvious respect for those classics, and nearly everything in the world can be examined. Your reward for poking at every nook and cranny is always some kind of goofy description that’s sure to elicit at least a chuckle. (Even smashing a box that proves to be empty, for instance, yields the message “Empty…just like your soul” or “Empty…but better than a poke in the eye.”) Visual gags abound, too, such as bloodthirsty clowns that flip you off just before succumbing to death and gorgeous animated cel-shaded cutscenes that depict, for example, an enraged Gabe beating an inanimate fortuneteller to death.
And then there’s the combat, which is more role-playing than adventure. Though not real-time, the game’s battle system is time-based in its turns, meaning your attacks have a cool-down period before you can use them again. Special attacks — whose damage potential is set by a few different time-the-button-press-properly mini-games — take far longer to ready, while your high-damage-dealing support characters can be called upon only once every few encounters. The difficulty and pacing ramp up smoothly but never prove overwhelming or tedious.
Finally, while you’re certain to get more enjoyment out of Penny Arcade Adventures if you’re already a Penny Arcade fan, it’s hardly a prerequisite. Oh, and don’t sweat the price. Sure, you’ve been conditioned to expect $10 as the default cost of original Arcade releases, but again, this isn’t your traditional Arcade offering. Twenty bucks is a perfectly reasonable sum when you consider how many retail Xbox 360 games offer the same quantity of content…and we’ll bet you didn’t laugh half as much playing any of those as you will playing this.
On Xbox Live Arcade
8.5
- Funny dialogue and item descriptions.
- Engaging combat system.
- The game doesn’t always highlight what you want to click on.
- Will the masses freak out at the price?
Thu, 05/29/2008 - 00:33
Posted by Spybreak
I have to agree with cartoonstrip and his points. The combat is great for people that love old school JRPGs. I don't, that and the price and even though the jokes were funny and the art style was cool this turned me off. One episode and rumored to be four episodes, that's 80 bucks. Plus I never buy games at the $60 price point anyways unless its Gears 2 which I'll grab on day one. Another thing is digital pricing never drops like if the game were on the real world shelves. Biggest selling point for me when it comes to games is replay value and I don't see any here. I might have paid 80 bucks for the LE of Mass Effect but I got 5 playthroughs out of that game.
Mon, 05/26/2008 - 15:52
Posted by samiam28
I don't understand why people are getting so ticked off b/c of the price of this game. Yeah its $20 but the game is a lot better than some $60 games, which I think justifies it's price.
Sun, 05/25/2008 - 04:20
Posted by ATC_1982
So far I enjoy the game, concepts, and visuals. Not much can be said after getting the hang of it. I hope none of the other episodes will be 20 dollars. At least bring them down to 1200 points at least. I wonder if you all could do exclusive gamer pics on the AUG OXM disc.
Thu, 05/22/2008 - 21:55
Posted by Dan OXM
I think the price is justified if the content is of high quality. Eight hours ain't nothin' to sneeze at. I think most people beat Gun in the same amount of time, and I don't say that as an insult to Gun at all. If eight to ten hours of gameplay is what you're going to get, I'd like to pay $20 instead of $60 for it!
Thu, 05/22/2008 - 15:51
Posted by cart00nstrip
Well, I tried the trial version, and while it DID make me giggle quite regularly, and I found the story and presentation to be quite top-notch, I have to say I pretty much HATED the combat, even when I finally got it to work well. The whole waiting for your attacks to recharge mechanic is just plain stupid:
00
Yes, I realize the only weapon I have is a rake. Nope, there is no need for me to reload it or anything. Yeah, I'm just gonna stand here for another minute or so before hitting you over the head with it again. Certainly, feel free to hit me as many times as you want while I stand here, waiting to hit you...
00
Finally, a combat mechanic that takes turn-based tediousness to the next level! I loves me some old-school JRPGs, but these battles were just plain dull and annoying; and they were only the first few in the game! I can't imagine having to deal with them for the duration, especially for THREE MORE EPISODES!
00
Sure did make me giggle, tho'...
gt: cart00nstrip
Thu, 05/22/2008 - 09:35
Posted by Grognard66
I think it would be wise for MS to have a third category for downloadable games to reduce the sticker shock aspect of this.
Arcade should remain focused on retro and smaller, focused types of games. They already have a second category for X-box Originals so why not add a third category for games like this and Tomb Raider: Anniversary? That could also avoid the entire silly file size restriction so if anything is over 150 megs it automatically gets bumped in the Downloadable Games category without file size restriction.
Thu, 05/22/2008 - 04:29
Posted by revampedknight
i did pick this game up and it was a well justified purchase the game is like the review says it has the production values better than most games so to me 20$(1600 points) is really a fair price
Wed, 05/21/2008 - 20:08
Posted by Daze Of War
I plan on picking this up. The price doesn't bother me at all. The only reason people are freking out on the price is because it's released on the XBLA. If this was released on a disc in the stores I bet it wouldn't be a problem.
What are people going to say about all the future games since MS raised the MB limit to 350mb now on the XBLa. Since they can make bigger games they may start costing more.
Wed, 05/21/2008 - 15:57
Posted by NYVideoGameFreak
To Answer your Question Yes i am freaking out about the price. I really want this game but i am not going to put out 1600 points toward it. :(