Nearly ten years after their first comic strip, Penny Arcade was brought to life as an action-adventure RPG game filled with nods to fans of the strip.  Hothead games worked closely with Penny Arcade's creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik to bring together a true look inside the world of Penny Arcade's insane antics.

          Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode One, is the beginning of an adventure that is slated to run across 4 episodes.  While the title itself may be a mouthful, it's very easy to settle in with this game for a few hours and get better acquainted with your favorite Penny Arcade characters.  I think it's worth noting that just like the comic strips, Penny Arcade Episode 1 is indeed rated for a mature audience. The fowl language and cruel jokes flow freely in this game.

          You begin your adventure by creating your own character. The options here are pretty limited, but the feature is still nice to have available. In all reality having the limited options are nice for me because I tend to get overwhelmed with games that allow too much character customization, often spending hours to get past all of that mess and into the real game play. It's a pretty standard affair giving you options for hair, sex, clothing, skin tones, etc. just enough to make your very own Penny Arcade character come to life.

          The game itself starts off with a giant robot tearing through your neighborhood destroying your house and leaving you homeless. Your goal is simple enough, seek revenge against the offending robot and attempt to find a home while doing so. You quickly meet up with Tycho and Gabe, the main characters of Penny Arcade, to do battle against evil robots, hobos, and mimes everywhere.

          The tutorial is simple and to the point. The game play itself is extremely easy, relying on a similar principle as the Active Time Battle system developed by Squaresoft but with a few extra twists to allow it to stand on it's own two feet. The only real confusing factor during the battle is that they designate the 'O' button as the main attack instead of the 'X' button, which is more common. Once you get over that hurdle though, the battle flows simple enough.

          You start off with a basic garden rake, Tycho has a machine gun, and Gabe uses his fist to punch things. You can upgrade to stronger more deadlier weapons through out the game. Even though your level caps out at 15, you still become a pretty powerful team by the end of the game.  There are also a lot of helpful items that allow you to heal, buff, debuff, and of course deal out some spectacular damage.

          There are no voices in Episode one besides the narrator who is extremely good, and I hope to hear him in other future video game roles. As of right now, the narrator's role is unknown. However it has been hinted at during the game that he may be an integral character sometime in the future episodes. There are many forums speculating as to what his role may be.  As far as I can tell no one has even been able to track down who contributes the narrator's voice, a mystery we all hope to solve soon!

          The music is excellent albeit the track list is short. Because of this the music does tend to teeter on the edge of being annoying at certain times, but overall I found it to be a great addition to setting the mood of the game.  You can collect the music tracks hidden in the game and listen to them whenever you wish. You can also collect sketch and concept art pieces hidden through out the game. If you collect all 12 you receive a bonus comic strip, a nice reward for your devotion.

          While mainly a 3-D game, the cut-scenes play out more like a 2-D comic book.  Anyone who has played Folklore will be familiar with the style. I thought it fit perfectly and added that neat little extra link between the game and the actual Penny Arcade comic strip. There was some tearing during cut scenes, but overall the graphics were pretty good. They didn't push any boundaries in that regard, and they pretty much played it safe when it came to the graphics. However everything is sharp and colorful, and emulates the comic strip very well. You truly feel like you are inside of a Penny Arcade comic.

          Unfortunately there are some things that can use some improvement.  When it comes to the main story the plot is thin, and in certain places wears into nothing.  It was hard at times to stay on track, and the story seemed almost too big for itself. Any twist or turn seems nothing more than an attempt to sell future episodes of the game just so you can determine who the new character that was poorly introduced is. Luckily this downfall is made up with interesting characters, a great sense of humor and ease of game play.

          Another possible downfall is the price. At $15, the game immediately tries to sell gamers on the fact that it is worth more than the $10 titles running rampant on the PSN. After all, the old saying 'you get what you pay for' is prevalent in our minds. The truth is, that there are many more outstanding games on the PSN that will give you MANY more hours of value and entertainment than this one. This game will barely last you more than 5 hours the first time through, and there really are no reasons to play through more than once unless you weren't able to grab all of the trophies on your first pass.

          Personally, I enjoy the fact that we as gamers get to help support smaller companies with our purchases. So for me, the extra $5 isn't too big of a deal. But when comparing with other titles with a lower price tag, it's easy for people to completely overlook this title. Especially when Wipeout HD (a full game) is only $5 more. Hopefully we will see a price drop in the future, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a bundle deal with the other episodes as well.

          Put it altogether and you have a very unique experience with sharp visuals, a mediocre storyline, and a little bit of a steep price.  If you have $15 and a Saturday to kill, or even just a die hard Penny Arcade fan, I definitely suggest picking this up.  It will keep you entertained through out the day.  Just don't expect to be turning it back on once you've completed it unless you missed a trophy....or two.