Second Opinion - Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One

Penny Arcade, the world's first gaming webcomic, is kinda popular. Through its relentlessly professional update schedule over the course of 13-14 years, it has remained consistently funny and has even expanded itself with a charity and convention. Among the many games created around the series, one of them was a video game, this one specifically, developed by Hothead Games and released in 2008. While originally intended as a four-part episodic adventure, the studio decided to move on to other projects after only two were produced, leaving the remaining episodes in jeopardy until its cancellation. But with Zeboyd Games finally launching an official third episode after four years, I returned to OTRSPOD, in what must be at least my fifth playthrough, and still found myself laughing.

The story is excellently written. While it starts with a simple tale of revenge, and a new home, with the help of  Gabe and Tycho, it eventually involves elements of the Cthulu mythos and Penny Arcade series to form a unique atmosphere that manages to have an identity all on its own. The webcomic's style of humor is also brilliantly displayed in both the dialogue and descriptions of whatever is in the game world, allowing your experience to be a never-ending stream of laughter. Penny Arcade's unique style also resonates within the overall visuals, which are stylized to resemble Mike Krahulik's art style in 2008. This translates very well in 3D and the 2D interstitials are amazing in motion. In this sense, through making no missteps in preserving a signature style, Penny Arcade Adventures is right on the mark.

In terms of combat, this is where I had mixed feelings. Don't get me wrong, I liked the combat system; It mixes really well with the game's RPG standing, using real time combat in the vein of Final Fantasy while also using contextual button presses to carry out each character's top level attacks. My only problem was balancing against the enemies. True I played the game this time on Insane Mode (again), but it gets a little tiresome when they can get in at least two attacks before you can do anything about it aside from blocking quickly enough, even if they don't have a speed buff in use. This is especially prevalent with the penultimate boss, who might as well be broken for his incredible speed, almost non-existent blocking window, and having one abused attack initiate a strength debuff if not blocked properly. Fortunately this challenge is not insurmountable provided you have enough items at your disposal, which can be found in the world with relative ease if you know where exactly to look.

An early example of combat (click for better view)

When all is said and done, Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One is a very good downloadable title. Its humor is excellent, the style is utilized to its fullest and the combat is very solid. Combine that with an excellent story and quest design and you've got an adventure just waiting to be taken. Fans of Penny Arcade will definitely enjoy it, but even newcomers will be pleasantly surprised and end up having a good time.

Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 1: It's About Time

On December 22, 2010, Telltale Games released Back to the Future: The Game as part of a licensing deal with Universal. While I had some interest in the game, I felt it would be a better idea to see the films it was based on first. After doing so, I purchased this game and played through Episode 1, entitled, It's About Time. After completing it within a couple hours, which is pretty short for an episodic Point-and-Click game, I can say that Telltale has a good grasp on how to handle the license. It definitely helps that the original creators have some involvement in keeping it like the movies.

This game takes place in 1986, following the third movie, beginning with a scene reminiscent of the first movie. This turns out to be a dream which Marty McFly wakes up from. He then heads over to Doc Brown's house and tries to stop his possessions from being sold in a government auction, as he has been missing for a few months. However, the DeLorean shows up and Marty uses it to go back to 1931, where Doc Brown is in jail after commiting arson on a speakeasy. However, he would be shot to death on the courthouse steps by Kid Tannen the following day. The rest of the plot involves Marty having to enlist the aid of 1931, teenage, Doc Brown to bust him out and prevent his death.

During the game, fans of the franchise will come across many references to the films, such as mentions and sightings of books by Jules Verne and Marty having to use the name of a fictional character as a pseudonym, including a Clint Eastwood character as a choice. There is also continual use of the mythology gags throughout the series, such as Strickland's "slacker" catchphrase and a Tannen always getting covered in manure through encountering Marty. These provide great fanservice for the game, as well as a good source of humor.

The story was written and executed just like it really was another film in the franchise. This is aided by a great voice cast, including Cristopher Lloyd as Doc Brown and a good substitute Marty McFly in AJ LoCascio, who has almost as much energy in the role as Michael J. Fox. Telltale's composer, Jared Emerson-Johnson, wrote music that complements the events at hand. It also helps that they were able to use some of the music from Back to the Future.

The graphics of this game were also very stylized, giving it the feel of an animated series. This isn't really a bad thing, as I got used to them fairly quickly. However, I did encounter a graphical glitch once where the flames from a rocket-powered drill, after blowing up, were suspended by themselves on the sidewalk. At the same time, the game was also choppy when I first started playing it, but it smoothed itself out about five or ten minutes into the game. Other than that, there weren't any problems.

The gameplay was pretty easy to pick up, as it is a Point-and-Click Adventure Game. Still, the interface was very simple to use and the puzzles were pretty straight-forward, but I will admit that I used the Hint button a couple of times. Players who have also retained knowledge of the movies will have an easier time with a lot of the puzzles that require exploitation of such knowledge, including a puzzle where you need to get Marty's Grandfather, Arthur McFly's, hat back from Kid Tannen by distracting him with a "look over there."

As one who purchased the full season off Telltale's store for $25, I can say that so far it has been worth the money. The simple gameplay and fantastic story kept me playing and wanting to see what would happen next. The game ends in a standard cliffhanger, but it is one I can't wait to see get resolved in the coming months. This game is a great purchase so far, but I would reccomend it more to existing fans, as they would get more enjoyment out of this.