Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1
“Four gods wait on the windowsill
Where once eight gods did war and will
And if the gods themselves may die
What does that say for you and I?”
So begins a story of orange-abusing mechanoids, mimes, dirty hobos and all manner of evil beasties that inhabit New Arcadia in the first of (at least) four episodic games from the creators of the Penny Arcade web comic. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 is NOT, as a matter of fact, the longest video game title in history. It is however a fine example of what point and click adventure games should be like. Turn based action, some RPG elements, item collection and best of all, humor. There’s no doubt that I’ve enjoyed me some Sam and Max: Hit the Road or Full Throttle, but I’ve never gone out specifically looking for this style of gameplay. If more titles produced the value that ‘Precipice’ does, I might just rethink things.
Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, better know as Gabe and Tycho, are the minds behind the title from Hothead Games. Gabe’s artwork will be immediately apparent to fans of the comic, particularly because it stars the familiar characters from the strip in an alternate 1930’s-ish universe. Players begin by creating an in-game persona using a handful of body types, facial features and clothing. An ominous disembodied voice greets you and in true PA fashion, immediately tells you to ignore him. Shortly thereafter your house is crushed by a giant (familiar to fans) robot, and you take off in pursuit armed with a garden rake. Ally with Gabe and Tycho down the road, founders of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, who are also on the trail of the mechanical home wrecker, and your team is set to uncover much more sinister plots.
Combat is a loose RPG style, but exploration is point and click right out of Monkey Island. When a fight occurs, you’ll choose a team member, choose to use a supporting item like dynamite or a healing tonic or choose to land a simple attack. Finally, choose which enemy to attack and continue on in that fashion. A short time is required before each action type can be repeated. As each character levels up, special attacks are gained, but are executed just like the basic attacks, making gameplay incredibly simple to pick up. Additionally, you can block or even counter enemy attacks with a single, well timed button press. Some attacks trigger mini-games that rely on timing, speed or accuracy (pattern matching or button mashing) to hit enemies with the strongest possible damage. Other mini-games during exploration will yield you important story-furthering items. Sam and Max anyone?
‘Precipice’ isn’t especially long or particularly challenging. In fact, you’ll probably complete the episode in around 6 hours, but at $20 you can skip dinner and movie one week and get more laughs than you would from Beverly Hills freakin Chihuahua. The draw here, particularly for fans of the strip, is the writing. ‘Precipice’ is genuinely funny, whether it be from the text based character conversations and reactions, or simply the signs and posters found throughout the 3 (and a half) stages of gameplay. Wit and sarcasm come in Costco bulk here and frankly, I wouldn’t expect any less.
It’s not for everyone though. The strip caters to a gaming audience: internet savvy PC and console players that are in no short supply of their own cynical commentary. Likewise, the game will appeal to this not-so-subculture and certainly to fans of the strip itself, myself included. Still, ‘Precipice’ brings back the intelligent wit and simple gameplay many of us old-school adventure gamers grew up with. I for one certainly look forward to the second episode. If you’re on the fence, grab the free demo from Xbox Live or Steam (PS3 forthcoming). It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it is gut-busting and certainly does its job: leaving you wanting more.
