Publisher: Hothead Games
Developer: Hothead Games
System: XBLA
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ryan Asher

It’s the same stuff, different day for your main protagonist as Episode 2 of Penny Arcade Adventures begins, but this time it’s not a skyscraper-sized robot thrashing your pad. It’s your old buds Gabe and Tycho barreling recklessly into it with their truck. Cue the start of another random, hilarious and sometimes socially awkward misadventure starring the fine duo from Penny Arcade.

After the formalities of your now destroyed home are discussed between the duo and your character, who you can import from the first episode, you’re off to Anne Clair’s for mission details. If it’s the blood of evildoers you crave, no worries; it isn’t long before you’re outside the local loony house cracking the skulls of loitering crazies. The characters feel the need for change when it comes to their various instruments of death. Sure, Gabe still utilizes his fists to dish out his brand of hilarious justice, but Tycho has transitioned to the shotgun and you’ve moved on from the rake…to a hoe.

Sadly, the change in weaponry is probably the biggest alteration between the new episode and the original. This isn’t exactly a surprise, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you didn’t love the first episode, this one won’t do anything for you, either. It’s also becoming more evident that the gameplay is going to grow quite stale by the time the fourth iteration hits digital shelves unless the developers make some improvements.

On the other side of the coin, the humorous exchanges and witty remarks also return. The multitude of smirks and laughs that will escape your lips more than make up for the mediocre gameplay elements. As I said in the original review, the game is worth playing just to see what Gabe is going to say or do next. However, because of the language of this game, use discretion when playing around minors, or allowing your little ones to play. The number of F bombs dropped throughout Episode 2 might even make the short version of The Big Lebowski blush.

When you’re not sitting through the comic strip-inspired cutscenes, you’re exploring several different areas looking for a good fight. When you find one, of which there are plenty, you’ll feel very comfortable in the battle sequences if you have played the original, as the basics are the same as in Episode One. An item counter fills first, followed by an attack counter and a special-attack counter. If two or three of your characters have their special-attack counter filled at the same time, you have the option to perform a special team attack that can be awesomely devastating. Otherwise you have up to three individual special attacks, which, when initiated, prompt you to play a special mini-game involving button presses for maximum damage. You also have new support characters at your side. One of which is a well-dressed monkey robot that dishes out a special kind of pain to your foes. On the defensive side, blocking is again instrumental to your survival. Aside from reducing the damage you receive or providing opportunities for counterattack, well-timed blocks add to a hit counter that increases the damage you do on offense.

You also throw down in far more interesting environments in this go-round. You escape from an eerie, crookedly run crazy house, thump the elites in a wealthy neighborhood (complete with a machine that turns almost everything to gold), and crash the party at the World’s Fair for the finale. It’s not enough to bring this second adventure out of the mediocre range, but it’s a good enough laugher for its price range. If you found some enjoyment in its predecessor, you’ll want to sign up for Episode 2.