Poker Night At The Inventory: No lady gaga.
By sweep 41 Comments
It's like that level from Modern Warfare 2, except way more interesting.
The beef with Poker Night At The Inventory is that it is:
- A cheap excuse to get new items in TF2 and
- A shitty poker game because it has no multiplayer.
I will admit, I shared these concerns.
Fortunately, on both counts, the point has been slightly missed. Sure, there are items for TF2, but you have to unlock them by winning them off the other players. The opportunity to do so is rare, and your opponents are well versed in the art of poker.As for the lack of multiplayer... the game doesn't need it. If you want a multiplayer poker game then there are many done to a better, more concise, quality. Poker Night At The Inventory is... something completely different.
What's important about Poker Night At The Inventory is that it's basically a scam.
It's almost as though someone (somewhere) thought "Hey, we should get together all these awesome characters and make them talk about nonsense." The card game is provided merely as a platform to allow this scenario to exist. And it works. There's a wonderful dynamic between each of the slightly surreal personalities, and as a group they operate spectacularly. The poker feels almost secondary to the mere voyeuristic nature of the entire clusterfucking spectacle. Upon being knocked out of the game the player is even offered the choice of continuing to watch the match knowing that the true entertainment value of this product is in observing and appreciating the dialogue between it's assorted cast members. This is just as well, as my poker face is absolutely terrible:
In this sense, you win every time.
Indeed, the penalty for being knocked out of a game is that you... start a new game with all your money returned. The dismissive nature of your victories and losses may make the game feel slightly underwhelming, but demonstrates proof that the nature of the game is in it's characters rather than it's competitiveness. I often found myself losing track of the game, hypnotised by Max's inane gabbling, or Tycho's enthusiasm for bestiality.
The cast will often turn to you and acknowledge your moves, and I don't think I will ever get bored of the assorted gasps whenever you go All In. Poker Night At The Inventory makes the player feel less like a ghostly observer or shallow avatar, and more like an actual entity that has been accepted into whatever universe allows this shit to exist.
It's a lot of fun. It is worth both your time and money.
Thanks For Reading
Love Sweep