The boys of the Startling Developments Detective Agency are back for even more comic hijinks and apocalyptic adventures. Following on directly from Episode One, this second episode of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is by no means a major departure or overhaul for the budding franchise. Instead, Episode Two takes the formula established by its predecessor and polishes it to an impressive sheen.

Starting Episode Two, players have the option of simply continuing with their character from Episode One. In this way, the transition from the first episode to the second is seamless, and drives home the point that these are episodes of a single game, rather than separate and distinct games in and of themselves. Naturally, players also have the option of creating a new character from scratch, or adjusting the appearance of their existing character.

At the start of the game, our hero has just begun to settle into a new “house” after the devastation and upheaval he experienced during Episode One. Just as it looks as if his domestic life is back on track, Tycho and Gabe unceremoniously crash (quite literally) into his life again. It seems that since the events of the first episode, they have been busy tracking the giant robot, and once again request the help of our hero. Thus a new tale begins, as tumultuous and surreal as the first one, with a plot that twists its way among feuding scientists, insane inventors, unethical psychiatrists, militant mental health patients, violent young lovers, giant man-made oranges, the idle rich, and robotic monkeys.

The story here is as endearing as that of the first episode, and will once again instantly appeal to fans of the webcomic. Some of the flaws from Episode One have unfortunately carried over to this instalment as well. The crudeness and profanity can still occasionally come across as forced and unnecessary, although on average it seems somewhat less gratuitous this time around. Episode Two will also not appeal to those gamers who are not devout fans of the webcomic. Furthermore, potential players need to note that as this is the second instalment in an episodically-delivered game, having played Episode One first in pretty much essential.

In terms of the overall design approach, Episode Two doesn’t really deviate from the course set by Episode One. The game is still an Adventure/RPG hybrid, with pretty much the same character creation and battle systems of the previous game. This time around, however, the adventure elements enjoy a bit more time in centre stage. Game progression is still facilitated primarily by means of fetch quests, but a concerted effort was clearly put into making these more interesting and engaging, and a lot less straight-forward. This lends the game some more pronounced puzzle elements than what were found in Episode One. The end result is a game that feels more focussed and more involving, and one which succeeds at being an old-fashioned adventure game a little more persuasively than its predecessor did.

One of the biggest flaws of Episode One was that it took just a little too long to really get going, with the game’s first hour being a bit slow and tedious. Fortunately this has been remedied in the follow-up, with a very brief intro taking players straight to the meat of the game. New players still have the option of playing through a slow tutorial section, but as stated above, gamers should really start with Episode One before tackling the newer instalment.

The combat system has also seen some improvements. The interface has been spruced up to now give text prompts that help players get the timing right for blocks and counter-attacks. In Episode One, the prompts were far more subtle and less noticeable, and this often made combat timing quite challenging. Secondly, Episode Two comes with multiple difficulty settings. The difficulty only really affects the combat, and thus players can now avoid some of the awkward difficulty spikes that sometimes arose in Episode One. The game world is littered with collectables that can only be gotten on the hardest difficulty mode, and this lends the game some welcome long-term replay value. Lastly, each player character has a new set of attacks, and players have access to new supporting characters, so the combat will still feel fresh to those who have played Episode One.

Episode Two has the same great visual presentation as Episode One. This time around, however, it seems that more effort was put into the game’s soundtrack, with the game music coming across as more impressive than that of the first episode.

All things considered, Penny Arcade Adventures Episode Two represents a marked improvement over the first game. It builds upon the strengths of Episode One, and compensates for many of its flaws. The result is that it stands as a stronger and more enjoyable adventure experience, even if it’s still not completely advisable to players who aren’t fans of the webcomic. It introduces some interesting new directions to the series, and after the eight hours or so that most gamers will take to complete it, they will find themselves really looking forward to the next episode.

Pros: Has most of the strengths of the first episode, and addresses some of its faults as well; a stronger focus on adventure gaming elements; refined combat mechanics.

Cons: Still only enjoyable to fans of the webcomic; crudeness and profanity can still sometimes come across as forced.

Purchase: