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What happens when a fan of video games makes a video game? Actually, you get something worth playing or at least you do this time.

Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the creators of the web comic Penny Arcade, are perhaps two of the most influential gamers of our time. The comic skewers video game culture as well as anything that might touch the nerd continuum. Love them or hate them, these two men have put together one of the largest fan-based conventions for games, PAX, and they started a charity to provide toy’s to children’s hospitals, Child’s Play.  When they announced that they were working on a serialized game for PC and Xbox Live, the idea was met with mixed emotion. Could the comedy and style that made Penny Arcade a fan favorite translate over to the digital realm? 

He’s More of a Fruit Lover

As expected, Penny Arcade Adventures is enjoyable, funny, and served with a double scoop of irreverence. While raking the leaves of your lawn ones day, because that’s what the mysterious voice asked you to do, a giant fruit… oh… fancier steps on your house, crushing the insides as well as all your stuff, and continues on it’s marry way. It is then that you spot two striking yet familiar gentlemen in pursuit of this sizable fruit… ah… enthusiast. These fine gentlemen are none other than Gabe and Tycho, paranormal detectives in the hunt for the escaping you-know-what. It is then up to you to fight mines, collect clues, and make friends with hobos.

Taking the characters of the web comic and throwing them into a new steam-punk painted environment works for the game by keeping the comic cannon safe. While there are only a couple of people to talk to in the game, they sure have a lot of things to say. Working down these talking trees can often produce new items or quests to take. And yes, I laughed a little during some of the conversations. The developers at Hothead must have stolen Capcom’s font since it’s nearly unreadable on a standard television. A bit of squinting is required but you get the gist of what you need to do to move on.

Get Ready to F….

A quick exclamation sends our heroes flying into turn-based action. All the characters take a quick roll for initiative, a throw back to the D&D games. Penny Arcade Adventures combines traditional commands of an RPG with an active time battle system akin to the Final Fantasy series. Items take less than a second to pop-up before attack and super attack charge up. There’s no mana system or action point needed for each of the character’s special attacks. Once an action is taken, the timer starts all over again. Oncoming attacks can be defended with the pull of the left trigger. A properly timed pull can even trigger a counterattack. Battle consists of switching between characters, blocking at the right time, and using the right moves in battle. It’s this fast and fluid mechanic that will have you burning through the game quicker than most RPG’s.

While the action is quick, Penny Arcade Adventures starts to run out of new Fruit… um… Fornicators. The handful of enemies in the game can make the battles repetitive as you roll through the same strategy again and again. Having only four areas to battle through doesn’t help the situation either. More variety of characters or changing the weakness of the average adversaries would have made the battles seem less repetitive.

Rolling with D20’s

Instead of focusing on what Penny Arcade Adventures brings to the fold out gaming table, many people will probably single out what’s not on the table. Beyond making your character, there’s little customization. There are no new weapons, only upgrades for the ones you have. There’s little movement out of the linear progression that the game sets out. Some of the story points may seem too non sequitur to fit in the game, but as long as you keep moving forward, you’ll find that model of a Ferris wheel for the urinologist hobo to pee on. No seriously, it’s in there. Just play the game.

Despite some of the items lacking in this first try at RPG’ing, it’s some of the other missing components that I found most inquisitive. There are no shops, no money, and practically no grinding. Most of the items you find, from health bandages to strength potions, come from bashing in crates and trashcans with your rake.   I found my pockets nearly bulging with health and attacking potions. After a particularly nasty battle, I found myself smashing nearly everything in site searching for a couple of bandages. Dishing out a little agro on crates may give you something, but it’s not always what you want.

Nerdcore Meets Casual

The fine gents of Penny Arcade should be proud at streamlining the RPG process and producing something I never thought possible – the quick turn-based game. Of course, this also works against their cause where five or so hours of gameplay can get you to the end of said game. With a culture of fans that can stare at a screen for hours on end, five hours at twenty bucks in not a deal that they may have in mind when picking up this title. Penny Arcade Adventures delivers everything you would expect from the guys who made the web comic. You’ll laugh. You’ll roll for initiative. Perhaps, you’ll finally grow as a person.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is a great intro into the episodic gaming world. While it stumbles ever so often, intriguing gameplay and design makes us sorry to see it end so quickly. If there’s anything that could push this game over the top, it’s variety and more of the same. Hopefully the second episode will provide a little more or cost a little less.

Review by: Rob Manuel