Customer Reviews

Penny Arcade Episode 2 [Online Game Code]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Episode two builds on the successful gameplay of episode one and introduces new characters and a broader game environment. It's also slightly cheaper. Episode two stands on its own, but is even more enjoyable if you've played episode one first.

The first thing you need to know is that this is episodic gaming, which I'm not a fan of. With episodic gaming companies seem to make a decent first game and try to hook people on the story so they'll have to buy any mediocre "chapters" (5-6 hours to finish each), at higher prices than we would accept in a single product. Worst of all, it seems like most of the time the company folds part way through and the story is never resolved anyway. Big surprise...this game was supposed to be four chapters but the last two were canceled. The people behind the comic are apparently going to finish story on their website, but the bit I saw was text only and incomplete.

I might be more of a fan if I were familiar with the comic strip, but I came into this game having never seen it before. The "humor" was rarely anything that would make me even crack a smile. That's not to say the dialog was bad; I quite enjoyed it. I just personally didn't find it funny. There were amusing bits like a pie store called "Mediocre Pies" and then its arch rival "Super Pies" which is kind of cute, but that's about it.

That said, though it has its faults there's a lot to like here. If you ever played Leisure Suit Larry on the PS2 or some of the Monkey Island games you have a general idea. It's a 3D point and click adventure (on PC, systems are controller controlled) where you can visit two small locals and two tiny locals while doing quests and fighting bad guys. The quests are pretty easy if you click on everything and talk to everybody. The combat is a RPG style semi-turn-based format with two attack levels and some "minigames" involved to execute the higher level attacks. You have some supporting characters and various items you can use in battle.

The character editor lets you change your appearance both in game and in the comic dialogs. Overall, the graphics are nothing stunning. It's obviously not, and never claims to be, some breath taking beauty. The graphics are good enough to watch while you're having fun playing it and that's what really counts. While it kind of feels like an exceptionally elaborate and fleshed out free flash game, the important thing is that it's fun and not very expensive. If you're a fan of Penny Arade, it's probably a no brainer to buy. If not, maybe look at some gameplay video online but you'll still probably like it.