Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness

Title

Developer
Publisher
Genre
ESRB Rating
Demo Release Date
Full Release Date
Platforms

Official Website
Demo Download Size
Review Date

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness
Hothead Games
?
Adventure RPG
Mature
21st May 2008
21st May 2008 Buy Now
Linux, Mac, PC (Reviewed), Xbox 360
http://www.rainslick.com
208MB
25th June 2008

What did I think before playing?
I like the Penny Arcade web comic, but can the pair that are so quick to criticize other games make one themselves?

What is included?
The first section of the first level, which is basically a tutorial. You will get an idea of the gameplay and see the kind of items you can unlock, such as movies, (the cut scenes,) and soundtracks. There is also the option to upgrade to buy and upgrade to the full title.

What did I think afterwards?
I noticed a PDF manual was installed so I took a look at that first. That gave me the impression this was going to be a point-and-click, but I wasn't impressed by some of the terminology used, ("slide gauge" and "initiative".) Very gamer centric, but then I suppose that is the niche audience for this title.
Starting the game you get the option to unlock the full title, but the button did nothing for me, (I was expecting my browser to pop up, but waiting for a minute didn't reveal anything.) Ignoring that I start the game, (and now notice my browser start up in the background...)
To give the player a little more ownership of the action you are presented with a character creation screen after the short intro. Admittedly the assets to choose from are limited, but it is cool to see your digital self animated in the comic style 2D during cut scenes, as well as 3D while playing, (that's mine in the image above.) The art style matches the comics wonderfully, as does the writing. It is the typical holier-than-thou from Tycho and unashamed violence from Gabe that we all know and love, intermixed with a surprising amount of swearing in a humorous way. The narrator is excellently voice-acted too.
After playing, my web browser had indeed started up and was sitting and waiting for me to buy a license for the full game.
There are obviously going to be similarities between this and the Sam & Max demo I tried earlier, (not least of which the character attitudes,) but I think the gameplay and presentation differences mean fans of this type of game could happily play through both.

Would I buy the full game?
Yes, it seems entertaining, but no because as with Sam & Max I don't get a sense of how long this episode will take to play through, so I can't decide if the value is $20 or not. At least This demo lasts a little longer than Sam & Max's.

Demo Pros
Great presentation, ability to unlock the full game easily, enough of a game to enjoy.

Demo Cons
No sense of how big the game is.

Demo Rating 7 / 10

Thoughts after playing the full game?
If I play the full game I will put comments here about whether I feel the demo was representative of the final product and if I am happy with the purchase.

Sales Figures
If I can find sales information about a game after it has been released I'll add that here. It may be useful to track demos to sales performance.