So, Penny Arcade decided to make a video game. This thing has actually gotten quite a bit of press, so I assume most of you have heard about it. The goal was to make some steampunk/dark comedy action/RPG, and the full version is available to purchase. Lacking the funds to get it right now, I played the demo.
These are my thoughts.
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New Arcadia, 1922
Tycho Brahe and Johnathan "Gabe" Gabriel are a pair of hotshot paranormal detectives solving capers and crimes and other weird bits of business in New Arcadia, using their wits, fists, tommy guns, and clever dialogue.
You do not play as them.
Instead you are some guy--you can create your very Penny-Arcadish character using a variety of faces, heads, hair, hats and clothes and then set on a strange and perilous adventure, starting out with your lawn being criticized by some unseeable, unnamed narrator and leading to your house being stepped on by a gigantic robot.
That's about all the plot that is allowed in the demo--you jump into the action and wander through a suburban neighborhood battling Fruit Fuckers (little robot juice makers who, um, fuck fruit.) with your rake and the help of a local cat. You do eventually meet up with Tycho and Gabe, and they join your party for much hilarity and excitement all around.
The game itself has a pretty simple system--you point and click and drag the mouse to move places, a-la Diablo, and in battle you roll initiative and select various attacks to strike fear into the heart of your fruit-fucking nemeses. The battle system is similar, to a degree, to Paper Mario, as your special attacks all involve special little timed button presses--either stopping a dial at the right times or tapping a button for awhile or stuff like that. The entire system is wonderfully simple, which is how I like my PC games.
Combat is fun, but simplistic, but the real charm is the game itself. The cel-shaded graphics make you feel as though your living inside an actual Penny Arcade strip, and the art-style is very reminiscient of Gabe's normal artwork. The story is played out in comic-style dialogue and funny voice-overs, and the whole thing is really quite hilarious, especially once Tycho and Gabe are introduced, because it's really like reading Penny Arcade ALL THE TIME.
The demo is short, but the hilarious punch-to-the-gut dialogue, the simple but fun combat, and the general off-kilter uniqueness of the game itself makes me all the more hungry to get the full version. I'll post a link to the website for you to test for yourself, but all indications show that this game is definitely worth the twenty-dollar price tag.
http://www.rainslick.com/
These are my thoughts.
---
New Arcadia, 1922
Tycho Brahe and Johnathan "Gabe" Gabriel are a pair of hotshot paranormal detectives solving capers and crimes and other weird bits of business in New Arcadia, using their wits, fists, tommy guns, and clever dialogue.
You do not play as them.
Instead you are some guy--you can create your very Penny-Arcadish character using a variety of faces, heads, hair, hats and clothes and then set on a strange and perilous adventure, starting out with your lawn being criticized by some unseeable, unnamed narrator and leading to your house being stepped on by a gigantic robot.
That's about all the plot that is allowed in the demo--you jump into the action and wander through a suburban neighborhood battling Fruit Fuckers (little robot juice makers who, um, fuck fruit.) with your rake and the help of a local cat. You do eventually meet up with Tycho and Gabe, and they join your party for much hilarity and excitement all around.
The game itself has a pretty simple system--you point and click and drag the mouse to move places, a-la Diablo, and in battle you roll initiative and select various attacks to strike fear into the heart of your fruit-fucking nemeses. The battle system is similar, to a degree, to Paper Mario, as your special attacks all involve special little timed button presses--either stopping a dial at the right times or tapping a button for awhile or stuff like that. The entire system is wonderfully simple, which is how I like my PC games.
Combat is fun, but simplistic, but the real charm is the game itself. The cel-shaded graphics make you feel as though your living inside an actual Penny Arcade strip, and the art-style is very reminiscient of Gabe's normal artwork. The story is played out in comic-style dialogue and funny voice-overs, and the whole thing is really quite hilarious, especially once Tycho and Gabe are introduced, because it's really like reading Penny Arcade ALL THE TIME.
The demo is short, but the hilarious punch-to-the-gut dialogue, the simple but fun combat, and the general off-kilter uniqueness of the game itself makes me all the more hungry to get the full version. I'll post a link to the website for you to test for yourself, but all indications show that this game is definitely worth the twenty-dollar price tag.
http://www.rainslick.com/
