Words: TnM Chris

If you haven’t seen the webcomic Penny Arcade, check it out now. These boys critisice, satyrise and idolise the computer gaming industry to such a fine degree that it becomes an education in taking the mickey.

The guys have become synonymous with the industry to the point of creating their own massive convention called Penny Arcade Expo (or Pax) and raising vast amounts of money for their own children’s charity, Child’s Play. Their reviews as well as their comics are held in massive regard by the major game developers, but they face the turnabout: for the first time, they have made their own game.

On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is the full title of the new game, which I will now refer to as Precipice. Set in an old fashioned city with strong 1920s and Victorian stylings, Precipice is an RPG of the turn-based family. The game is heavily set on the comic and it’s characters, so we have an art based setup with comic book cutscenes, which can look a little cheap but certainly looks better than trying to pull of realistic graphics with a small budget. The characters Gabe and Tycho (alter-egos of the comic writers Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins) make an appearance as party members, extending the role they play on the comic itself: one who is linguistically armed, intelligent and makes high brow puns, one who is a pizza eating everyman and makes rude and anatomical jokes.

In the middle we have your player character who can be customised to come degree. The story begins with your house being crushed by a gargantuan steam-and-unholyness driven robot who comic readers will instantly recognise; The Fruit Fucker. This mechanical juicer takes every last bit of goodness from the fruit and gives you the sweetest, most sinful OJ you ever tasted. In the setting of the game, it is a giant mystery to be unravveled as you battle it’s tiny counterparts, hobos, mimes and barbershop quartets. The RPG system soon comes into parody as your character arms himself with a rake and your friends take fists and a tommy-gun. The usual rpg upgrade system also comes under fire; for example, the fists can become brass knuckles, which become brass knuckles with spikey bits.

In gameplay terms the system is a little clunky but any shortcomings are clearly down to the budget rather than any lack of effort. Some nuances of the system such as item use and status effects are a not well implemented and this can lead to you soon treating the game as a novelty item, which in respects it is. Do not let this put you off however- it may be a parody and a joke game, but that does not mean the quality of the parodies and jokes are lacking.
Like the comic the game features humour from both ends of the spectrum. For the high brow we have Cthulhu rip offs and grammar puns, for the toilet humour we have... well, the Fruit Fuckers for a start. Banter in combat and out is top quality and you feel like you’re along for the ride on the kind of adventure you and your mates would like to have; it makes for an addictive game and a good game for dropping into now and then too.

The game is an episode and fits the length you would expect well, if a little short. The new episodic gaming vehicle has been praised for it’s flexibility particularly for developers to make sure things are done right, while being criticised for expense or more accurately short changing customers. With this game I feel that we see a new plus point for episodes- they allow for smaller publishers to make games on a tight budget and test the water. PA could have made a full length game, but it would have been a bigger gamble and not as high quality; this way, we have a great little game and something to look forward too.

4 out of 5  Zs

- Fruit Fuckers

- Trap mimes in invisible boxes

- Great dialogue

- Value for money

http://penny-arcade.com/

http://www.rainslick.com/