Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1 Review (360)

RPG’s are no laughing matter…

Anyone who has scoured the web for a good webcomic dedicated to their love of gaming is sure to be familiar with Penny Arcade. After ten years of cartoon comedy on the web, however, the creators decided it was time to throw themselves into the gaming world and hopefully not become a joke itself.

‘Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1’ doesn’t start off on a brilliant note.

Combat is standard RPG turn-based fare and it is surprisingly easy to win battles

As you rake leaves in your front garden, a gigantic robot (whose name is too rude to include here, needless to say it is related to its strong fetish for fruit…) charges its way through and demolishes your house on its rampage. Before you can even cry about the fact that your beautiful pile of leaves has also been desecrated, detectives Gabe and Tycho arrive at your doorstep to drag you along on their quest to track it down.

As soon as you gain control over your character, your attention is immediately drawn to the graphics. Y’know, for an XBLA game, it’s really polished off and would compete well with a lot of next-gen releases in the shops. Gameplay consists of fresh cartoon graphics and conversation sections move the game into comic format with speech bubbles and dividing lines splitting the screen sticking to the roots of the franchise.

In keeping with the comic origins, PAA throws in random and often quirky attempts at humour, with a lot actually managing to be successful in amusement. A few jokes and unusual quotes do fall flat on their face and can leave the player perplexed, yet these are thankfully outweighed by the positives, never feeling like it has to try to be funny.

When it comes down to the gameplay, however, things begin to slip downhill and into a ditch of mediocrity. Combat is standard RPG turn-based fare and it is surprisingly easy to win battles, even when you’re warned for the difficulty levels stepping up a gear. Characters are also allowed to block attacks before they hit, allowing them to defend an attack from any damage or even counter-attack. Yet mixing this up with gameplay and causing attacks to happen whilst you’re still making decisions for your party sometimes diverts your attention and ultimately leaves you feeling a bit cheated if a block fails.

The game is also very short and linear for a game in its genre. Even though you’re given 6 objectives to complete at one time, you have to tackle them on a repetitive route of killing weak enemies, getting an item and then completing an objective only to repeat the process again. No sub-objectives or optional quests to undertake coupled with the short time span and extortionate price may lead some to feel short changed.

Overall, ‘Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1’ comes across as a valiant attempt to broaden a successful franchise, and in some aspects it pulls it off well with graphic style and comic humour. However the game brings nothing unique or new to the table in terms of gameplay to really give it great credit. If you’re looking for a more edgy yet basic RPG on the market which won’t swallow away your life, this will be perfect. Anyone else should probably give it a miss to avoid disappointment…unless you’re a huge Penny Arcade fan.