Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 2 Review
Penny Arcade's second episode into their adventure into video games was exactly what I expected this time around. I got to play a short game that was slightly over priced on XBOX LIVE ARCADE, where the language once again hurt the overall game, and the content was lacking in parts.
The graphics are the cartoony and look crisp. You'll have to redesign your character once you start but the look you can give him is about the same from the first episode. The enemy models are different from the last episode, but they are on par with what you'd expect from a Penny Arcade Comic.
The controls are going to give you fits for a bit in some areas and in others they're going to make you want to cry. I would really like to be able to control the camera ever so slightly as some of the angles that your given don't look exactly right. The part that you can get use to is the controls when you are trying to look at a item cluttered room, you'll start to love the bumper buttons, also the button presses for special attacks because with a HD TV you sometimes have to anticipate the timing.
Overall the game is simply the second in the series, there's not much improvement, and once you're done you're going to be asking yourself "that was it?". I'm still a fan of the comic, but the game doesn't really do it for me, especially with the price tag compared to the amount of content. If there was one thing I would say is that if you are going to have only 3 to 4 areas to explore, and you know that a veteran player can glide through this game that you either need to give people more or you need to drop the price.
There are times in the game where you can see the battles you face as a nifty way to extend game play, but not everyone is going to fall for that. The battles, especially if you are trying to block and counter attack on a HD TV will leave you in tears. This game is about timing and sometimes that is exactly what is missing. I'd really like to give this game a high grade because it comes from a fellow web comic, but there's not enough to make me openly tell everyone to go out and get it. This game gets exactly what episode one got, a 6.9 out of 10.
