Quick Review of Penny Arcade Game

Now that it has been in general circulation for a while, Kotaku has a nice simple review of the good, the bad, and the ugly in the new Penny Arcade game, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. "When you've been making fun of the video game industry as long as Penny Arcade's Jerry 'Tycho' Holkins and Mike 'Gabe' Krahulik have been, deciding to create your own game is one ballsy move. You have to know that every review site you've ever trashed and every developer you've viciously sodomized with your barbed wit is watching your every move, desperate to see you stumble so they can get in a few licks."

The Game is Mediocre (At Best)

[morari]

Outside of a few shining moments of wit in the writing, the game offers nothing in the way of real fun. It's sad, and at the same time very surprising. You'd think that after making fun of bad games for years, the Penny Arcade guys would know how to avoid developing one themselves.

Re:which to get

[Skrapion]

It's worth noting that if you buy the PC version, you'll get to reinstall it on Windows, Linux or Mac. If you buy the 360 version, you're stuck on that platform.

On the other hand, you can't increase your Gamerscore or collect achievements with the PC version >:)

Re:The Review

[TheRaven64]

The engine made me realise how impressive Grim Fandango was, with better visuals running on a machine a tenth of the power. The humour was predictable and only occasionally made me actually laugh in the demo, while the gameplay managed to feel tedious in places in spite of the short duration of the demo (and certainly didn't make me want to pay for the full thing).

When you compare it to something like Monkey Island, or Grim Fandango, or even most of the Space Quest series, it didn't come up to anything like the same standard.

Re:which to get

[vux984]

On the other hand, you can't increase your Gamerscore or collect achievements with the PC version >:)

This 'gamerscore'... what is the point?

The higher your score the more of a joke your life is? I've always thought people who cared about gamerscores were like forum rats who cared about their post count... as if being on top was something to be proud of.

Or is there more to it? Can it actually get you anything?

Re:The Game is Mediocre (At Best)

[Otter]

You'd think that after making fun of bad games for years, the Penny Arcade guys would know how to avoid developing one themselves.

There's no reason to think that. Complaining is far easier than doing.

Re:which to get

[Jor-Al]

The great thing about the 360 isn't beating the games, it's showing everyone online that I did.

Re:which to get

[crenshawsgc]

I'm not sure why you're so hostile to the idea of gamerscore. I've never payed attention to anything like that, but I can see how it might be fun. Perhaps the "point" is to enjoy competing with your friends in games which may not have a multiplayer element? It's not for me or you but the concept is essentially sound. Don't hate.

Re:which to get

[provigilman]

It's also fun just for it's own sake. I don't "compete" with my friends, or even try to keep up with general leaderboards. Unlocking achievements is, however, a fun little extra in games, and gives you some thing to look back through after you beat (and/or sell) a game.

With Oblivion, for example, I can look back over all the guild rankings I got and what not. Or in Mass Effect I can look back and see what abilities I unlocked. Or with Gears of War I can remember how hard it was to beat the Berserker on hard (plus, it's got an awesome name: "My love for you is like a truck...")

They can also give you fun objectives to try for in games. There's a great one called "Pacifist" in Geometry Wars. You get it by surviving for 60 seconds without firing a shot...very hard, but also a lot of fun to try and get it. :D

So, while you may find the competitive aspect of it stupid, there's plenty of other reasons that some of us enjoy racking up Gamerscore points and the associated achievements.

Re:My Review

[Fieryphoenix]

Sometimes people post anonymously because they don't have an account. I did, for years. I didn't register until I wanted to submit a story.