By Adam Smith on June 14th, 2012 at 7:30 pm.
The temptation to write ‘Episode 3 Unexpectedly Launches on June 25′ was strong, particularly after that potato sack business started to chip away at the collective consciousness of the internet. I’m not cruel though. Not that cruel.
Zeboyd, of Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII, have brought forward the release of their continuation of Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3, a retro-style RPG take on the webcomic’s comedy monsterbash. Expect references aplenty, like that Deeper Crow pictured above, and hopefully a much more satisfying experience than in Hothead’s previous episodes. I’ve had a grand old time with Zeboyd’s work in the past and I already prefer the visuals to the 3D bobbleheads of yesteryear’s installments. Buy on Steam in the first week and get free Cthulhu.
14/06/2012 at 19:35 RandomNext says:
Somehow I did enjoy Episode 1 and 2, even though they were not really challenging.
Still looking forward to this one, looks quite promising.
14/06/2012 at 19:37 El_Spartin says:
If it’s anything like CSTW it should be good. That game was awesome.
14/06/2012 at 19:45 yutt says:
The story, which was the best part of the first 2 episodes, is still being written by Jerry Holkins. The Zeboyd team is undoubtedly more capable of making an enjoyable game experience than Hothead was. The previous two games really felt like low-budget rent-a-coder games, though I did enjoy them.
This looks to be a properly designed yester-year classic.
I wish they’d remake the first two in this style. :/
14/06/2012 at 19:49 Koozer says:
25 June*
14/06/2012 at 20:15 Inigo says:
At least the 3D games had a consistent artstyle. Now we have FF sprites fighting an MSpaint doodle in what appears to be a blurry screenshot of a wall from Hexen. I’m all for games using pixel art for tradition’s sake, but this looks godawful.
14/06/2012 at 20:58 Chesterton says:
My thoughts as well.
14/06/2012 at 21:48 zeroskill says:
Evolved from the grammer-nazi, the artstyle-nazi, a new breed of internet-angryman, has come to teach us a lesson about how games should look in their opinion.
15/06/2012 at 02:30 brkl says:
RPS comments should never mention any opinions regarding any games.
15/06/2012 at 09:54 jrodman says:
And how!
14/06/2012 at 20:22 Big Murray says:
Dare I ask if the dickwolves are an enemy …?
14/06/2012 at 20:36 Randomer says:
I hope not. I think we’d all like to get that behind us.
14/06/2012 at 20:48 shaydeeadi says:
I’d rather not have a dickwolf behind me thank you very much.
14/06/2012 at 21:01 Robert Boyd says:
There are a lot of enemies in the game that make cameos from the comic but no dickwolves.
14/06/2012 at 20:42 Ravelle says:
I’m on my way in episode 2 and really enjoying it, can’t wait for episode 3.
14/06/2012 at 20:46 lordfrikk says:
I probably totally missed it but why does the third installment look completely different than the previous ones?
14/06/2012 at 20:57 Robert Boyd says:
The reason why RS3 looks completely different from the past games is because it’s made by a different developer. Zeboyd Games is a two-man team; Hothead Games is a drastically bigger company.
14/06/2012 at 21:10 Ravelle says:
Seboyd Games specelize in 8-bit looking games, but hey you’re playing the PA games for the brilliant writing right?
15/06/2012 at 14:21 Milky1985 says:
Retro looking games i would say.
Breath of death was 8 bit looking, cthulu 16 bit looking, this is looking like 16bit again.
And a intsa buy cause i enjoyed 1 and 2 and the breath of death game.
14/06/2012 at 21:57 lordfrikk says:
Did the original developer went bankrupt or something?
14/06/2012 at 22:08 Xocrates says:
No, they’re still in business.
I’m under the impression that the reason for the change is either the first two games weren’t particularly successful and/or Hothead preferred to do other games.
15/06/2012 at 14:37 Rehykja says:
I believe it was the latter.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-14-why-penny-arcade-adventures-ended
14/06/2012 at 22:16 Morph says:
I enjoyed the first 2 even though I’m not a massive Penny Arcade fan, so I’ll be checking this one out I think.
14/06/2012 at 23:33 malkav11 says:
I thought the first game (haven’t played the second yet) was quite good and captured the Penny Arcade art style excellently. I have high hopes for this installment as well, but the art obviously isn’t going to be quite as faithful.
15/06/2012 at 10:40 13tales says:
I found the art was noticeably weaker in the second game. During development, my impression was that Mike Krahulik (Gabe) was supervising the 2D art pretty heavily (it was outsourced, but drawn in his style). I’m not sure if he had less oversight, or what, but the 2d portraits etc. in Ep2 are distinctly worse. It’s most noticeable when assets made for episode 1 are onscreen alongside them.
14/06/2012 at 23:41 wuwul says:
Is this the status of gaming today?
Either games which are high-budget and highly polished but lack flavor and innovation, or inane crap like this which sounds cool for a second until you look closer?
Bah!
14/06/2012 at 23:54 Ringwraith says:
It might help if you said exactly what’s so bad about it.
15/06/2012 at 04:03 trugstomp says:
I found the first game dull and tedious. I manged about half an hour before giving up. If this is any good, hopefully the first two games aren’t required to be played to continue and understand the plot.
15/06/2012 at 04:33 Kleppy says:
Nothing gets my fun juices flowing (ew) more than a goddamn JRPG. Good game PA, good game.