Metareview -- Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One (PC/360)

Never heard of Edge, looks like they are a British mag. Guess our pals across the pond just don't get the subtltey or nuance of America's sophisticated humor ;-)

I finished it today and I would rate it at a 8 or 8.5. There were a few minor graphical problems, but besides that I thought the game was very well done, the writing was great, the story was pretty good and the combat was very fun, reminded me of paper mario.

I like Penny Arcade, but $20 an episode is not worth it for me.

Got the 360 version yesterday, finished it today. Took me about 7-9 hours total.

I can safely say that, like this one, Episode Two will be a day one purchase for me as well.

The game is funny and it's fun. Plays like a Final Fantasy game (on the 360 version) and the combat was simple, but satisfying that didn't get stale.

And the art and writing, awesome. It was all just awesome.

$20, or 1600 MS Points, is a good deal, IMO, for this game. I don't care if all four episodes total it to $80.

I give it an A in my book.

i like penny arcade but,
...wait, no i don't.

Penny Arcade is so-so...sometimes it is good for a chuckle. I tried the demo and rather liked it but I have too much to play right now, with GTA IV alone taking up a huge chunk of my time. I might pick this up sometime in the future but not right now.

I laughed at HAZE and it didn't get good scores like this.

Look at it this way,
Like Penny Arcade? 8/10
Don't know about penny arcade? 7/10
Hate Penny Arcade? -10/10

Hey is it not on PSN? Ooo, burn.
I need to get this game.

OXM's review is a bit shaky.

"Twenty bucks is a perfectly reasonable sum when you consider how many retail Xbox 360 games offer the same quantity of content...and we'll bet you didn't laugh half as much playing any of those as you will playing this."

Many retail Xbox 360 games have the same amount of content because they have fully featured online play. This downloadable game does not have fully featured online play and therefore cannot be compared to retail games along the same criteria. I still believe that $20 is too much to pay for a downloadable game.

I just completed it and I gotta say for 20 bucks (13€ that is -the reason I got it) it's a good game. A little short and it has some pretty annoying flaws but it's fun to play nonetheless. Mainly I bought it because I like supporting stuff like that and those guys made the effort to make this for Linux (my platform) and since this is so rare these days I thought I would reward them with a little money. I'm not sure if I'll get the second episode though since the story is fun but not really something that would get me addicted like for example Half-Life2 and it's episodes.

How nice of Microsoft to up the minimum size of an XBLA game ...
Unfortunately they also raised the maximum coin for Arcade games ...

As for Penny Arcade - Obviously it total garbage because it got a lower review than Haze which just tickled all of you nimrods pink ...

Way to be an arsonist inciting flame wars all over the place by posting the lowest reviews of a PS3 exclusive (Haze) and posting mostly favorable reviews for an XBLA game (Penny Arcade) when the majority of the reviews were anything but positive ...

At least you guys are consistent - I will give you that much ...

"to a very respectable 80 (where Penny Arcade's own Gabe slots it, as a matter of fact)."

As if Gabe is going to rate it any lower than the highest possible number he can before people just accuse him of flat-out shilling his game.

I thought it rocked. 80-85 is pretty appropriate, since there are a few issues. Namely, the pathfinding sucks balls and the game is way too easy. If you only play games for the challenge (as opposed to the experience), then you will quickly become bored with this game.

Some positives to counteract the negatives: the combat rocks. If you liked old-school RPGs, specifically Chrono Trigger, you will immediately identify with this game's combat system. Throw in a little Paper Mario timed-button press stuff and it stays entertaining throughout the whole game. That said, they'll definitely need to vary it up a little for the next episode, because at the end you'll find yourself wishing there was more you could do. In fact, if this episode simplified the RPG formula, I'd like to see the next one re-complexify it. Give me swappable equipment and stuff.

Another positive is the story, although it's only a positive if you're OK with quirky (and often dark) humor. Basically, as others have said, if you like PA you'll like their game. They do a terrific job of making your character part of the "party"; that is, Gabe and Tycho never overshadow you, but they never feel useless either.

I should note, however, that I played the PC version. The demo for the 360 version was nearly unplayable on my TV because the text was so small. This is on a standard-def CRT TV too, so I can only imagine how bad it is for people with high-def TVs.

I am enjoying it, just like something that was enjoyable. But it's not really the second coming (third? fourth...let's say eighth, because even though you sucked, Putt Putt ruled the school) of Ron Gilbert that I was hoping for. The incidental humor is a little soft (really? Sinister mailboxes?)

I mean, I totally bought it, but I was hopng for a rebirth of the adevenutre genre, not a seq

I am enjoying it, just like something that was enjoyable. But it's not really the second coming (third? fourth...let's say eighth, because even though you sucked, Putt Putt ruled the school) of Ron Gilbert that I was hoping for. The incidental humor is a little soft (really? Sinister mailboxes?)

I mean, I totally bought it, but I was hopng for a rebirth of the adevenutre genre, not a seq

I am enjoying it, just like something that was enjoyable. But it's not really the second coming (third? fourth...let's say eighth, because even though you sucked, Putt Putt ruled the school) of Ron Gilbert that I was hoping for. The incidental humor is a little soft (really? Sinister mailboxes?)

I mean, I totally bought it, but I was hopng for a rebirth of the adevenutre genre, not a seq

I am enjoying it, just like something that was enjoyable. But it's not really the second coming (third? fourth...let's say eighth, because even though you sucked, Putt Putt ruled the school) of Ron Gilbert that I was hoping for. The incidental humor is a little soft (really? Sinister mailboxes?)

I mean, I totally bought it, but I was hopng for a rebirth of the adevenutre genre, not a seq

I am enjoying it, just like something that was enjoyable. But it's not really the second coming (third? fourth...let's say eighth, because even though you sucked, Putt Putt ruled the school) of Ron Gilbert that I was hoping for. The incidental humor is a little soft (really? Sinister mailboxes?)

I mean, I totally bought it, but I was hopng for a rebirth of the adevenutre genre, not a seq

I do not know how the multiple postings happened. I blame the man

"a very respectable 80 (where Penny Arcade's own Gabe slots it, as a matter of fact)."


I wrote a review too of my PC game. Sure, it only has 5 seconds of gameplay, and sure it erases your OS, but I still give it 11/10

I find the game hilarious and very entertaining. I'll likely play through it a few more times (much like I did Portal) and hopefully get absolutely everything when I finish. (I was missing 6 collectibles at the end of my first run...)

Much like Yatzee's review of Psychonauts there is a list of awesome:
- stew made of delicious hobo hocks
- a man who's life goal is to urinate on a 1/64 scale ferris wheel
- evil barbershop quartets

I challenge those who haven't played it and criticize that if you were to play through it, it's quite enjoyable. Solid B+.

?ll be getting this for the PC. Just gotta make this dude even reacher, lets make him more reacher than BG!!!!

Edge is a very well respected magazine in the UK. They've only given seven (or is it eight now as I know GTAIV got 10?) 10/10s in about 150 editions.

So it didn't score too well? Colour me surprised. Edge is pretty much the best gaming magazine and for them to score it low speaks volumes of a shoddy game.

Soz ard Penny Arcade. Soz ard.