on the rain-slick precipice of darkness
June 1st, 2008 by herichon
Some of you may know that I sometimes lean toward a more liberal interpretation of copyright laws, particularly in the matter of PC games. On the other hand I always do make an effort to reward the folks who are doing really good work; those are the games I buy at least one copy of (sometimes I buy them repeatedly, in fact) and encourage everyone else to buy as well.
So today I’m encouraging everyone to go buy a copy of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. You’ve probably heard about this already, it’s the Penny Arcade adventure game, for PC/Mac/Linux/XBox Live Arcade. (Yes Alex, there’s a native Linux port, that’s reason enough for you to buy it right?)
I’ve been playing it off and on for a couple of days now. They’re doing the episodic thing, probably inspired by the Sam & Max adventures, and when I downloaded the demo that’s pretty much what I expected from it, and to some degree that’s pretty much what it is, but – wow. There’s a degree of polish that the PA guys have put into this thing that really blows me away. I didn’t even start playing the demo, I went right to the site and bought a serial code, I wanted to make sure they got paid for this one.
Adventure games are already a dying breed, and they need all the help we can muster to keep them alive and viable. And on top of that – Penny Arcade! C’mon! So if you’ve got a computer or XBox 360 and a few hours to enjoy what’s essentially a huge, shiny, interactive Penny Arcade comic, do yourself (and Gabe and Tycho) a favor and grab a copy of this one.
If you’re still on the fence, check the comments on this post for a minor spoiler (like, first five minutes of gameplay) that will demonstrate the sheer awesomeness that you can expect if you get it.
So, in the first five minutes of gameplay, your character’s house is destroyed by a 100-FOOT-TALL DEMONIC ROBOT FRUIT-FUCKER.
If that’s not enough sheer awesomeness for you, well then, I’m sorry, but you’re on the wrong damn website.
I love the fruit-fucker. Wondering if the crazy DVD player makes an appearance.
I’ll definitely check it out soon. If they do, in-fact, have a working Linux client for the game I’ll buy it on principle. I would have done the same for Unreal Tournament 3, but 8 months later and still no client. I’m pretty sure that M$ is tea^H^H^Hmoney-bagging Epic right now. Maybe they should call it Unreal Tournament Forever (Linux Edition).
I have read great reviews of the game though, and I am overdue for a good adventure game. And anything that doesn’t require me to reboot is going to get much more of my attention. (Case in (counter-)point: Bioshock and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
)
[ another minor SPOILER ALERT ]
I haven’t run across Div yet, but there are some indications that he’ll make an appearance in the second episode.
[ end another minor SPOILER ALERT ]