Rain-Slick Episode One write-up 23 May, 2008 / Comments: 2
OK, so you want to know if this game is for you or not. Here's a quick summary of opinions (skip them for some other interesting information):
- Gamespot, 7.5: "Penny Arcade Adventures is slick with rain, humor, and all sorts of awesome, but it's for fans of the comic's brand of humor only."
- IGN, 7.8: "It's a smart, fun game that would have been truly great with a wider range of enemies and environments and a touch more depth to the gameplay."
- Destructoid, 9.0: "Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is a hilarious, immersive, and goddamned fun gameplay package."<:MORENEWS:>
- Wired, 7.0: "Penny Arcade Adventures lives up as well as any game could to an overabundance of hype. That is to say, while it does try to bite off a great deal more than it can chew -- and suffers for it -- the game is a solid, clever, hilarious piece of entertainment that will more than please its audience."
- GamesRadar, 8.0: "Of course, the real star of PAA isn’t the gameplay, but the humor. It’s a lot like playing a comic strip, and should be approached as such. Read a few of the strips online before plunking down your $20 - if you like what you see there, the game is worth the price of admission."
- Edge, 4.0: "With the episodic development cycle all but demanding that structure and form be locked down in the first instalment, with content added thereafter, the series' future looks precarious at best." [June 2008, page 90]
I'll ignore the fact that Edge completely missed the point of episodic, I guess.
If you have an Xbox360 and a PC and can't decide which game you want, the only major difference is that the PC version is a point-n-click while the Xbox one is a traditional hold-the-button-to-move. Wired also points out that the artwork looks better on a computer monitor than on a TV screen.
I should also note that this appears to be the first of at least four episodes, which might (or might not) continue. I'm not sure, because it's never entirely stated, but Tycho Brahe/Jerry Holkins's tone in his interview with Joystiq gives off that impression, and his opinion on game development, which games influenced Rain-Slick and about his mad musikal skillz. Gabe and Tycho have also written-up their general impressions on the launch.
And thus ends the longest post on Mixnmojo to be ever conceived. Someone call Guinness. I'm gonna be rich.