Couple Gaming

First of all.. isn’t that the best title ever? I mean, if you’re going to take a web cartoon with the dark humor that we have all come to know and love and turn it into an episodic game, one that is likely going to be torn apart by every review site and game company PA has ripped apart, it really requires that kind of a title.

If you don’t know Penny Arcade, you probably should start before you play. It’s not that you need to know any of the last 10 years of comics, or the characters and their interactions, but you won’t have the amazement that some of us have when Tycho & Gabe helped us through the hard times, showed us to be different, explained lifes mysteries, On top of that, to understand that they run Childs Play, a company that raises money, via various means, to buy games & consoles for childrens hospitals.

OK, back on track…

PA: E1 allows you to create your own 60s cartoon character, who is then swept up into saving the town from robot fruit-fuckers, hobos, barbershop quartets, and mimes.  That alone is rather humorous, but the writing and response choices are worth the gameplay alone.  My daughter and I were both laughing until tears streamed down our cheeks during one fabulous response (ok, we may have been on sugar highs, but still) and it got a guffaw out of Ymiris & I a number of times.  The writing is obviously the same as Penny-Arcade.com, so if the above comics do turn you off, you will want to look closely at the game play to see if it is something you are looking for.

The gameplay follows a turn-based RPG, complete with nerdy dice roll, and “ok, this character do this now, and wait for this character and that one” continuity, which overall we neglect here at CoupleGaming, mostly because brainiac or fast-paced games seem to be our forte.  That being said, after this game I feel I may be greatly neglecting a genre.  This game shows some of the best parts of TBGs:  a need to plan ahead, as well as reflexes based on past experience with specific characters.   (Yes, you do need to remember to block or you are going to keep dying *cough* Squidpunch *cough*)

The length of the game, about 8 hours of gameplay if you take your time, makes it worth the $20, and the acheivements aren’t too difficult, nor too redundant.   Ymiris & I both played through it, some of it with our 8-year old watching (but don’t be mistaken, you should play through it and then decide if it is suitable for your child), and enjoyed it for the most part.  Your spouses playing style may kill ya’ (BLOCK! OK now your green is up. .Do Green! DO IT!! Use your Orange! Why haven’t you used your Invisible Box? What?? The Cat?? Are you serious?!?!1!1) but it’s a good paced learning curve for your non-gaming spouse to give it a try (before you).

As I stated before, you do not have to know Penny-Arcade to enjoy this game; Ymiris played this entire game and enjoyed a lot of the quips and characters, but I’m fairly sure I enjoyed the nuances and the writing style, knowing what I was in for.

So.. Yes.. I suggest PAE1 for all couple gamers.. it’s on DLCA for XBOX 360 as well as downloadable for the PC (so I am told).

Now to sit back and wait for PAE2…