I remember reading in a blog I like to frequent that inside every gaming critic there is a game designer trying to get out. I confess that I had my dreams of programming quickly shattered by learning how much work is entailed. And it can be frustrating trying to figure how a section does not work. The reason I mention this is because the guys at Penny-Arcade have satirized videogames for years. They are trying to continue the old art of satire and bring various issues to light. It just so happens that their target audience is gamers. More than two years ago they attempted to enter the gaming industry as designers and have, to date, created two games. This review is all about their second game, Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two for PlayStation Network.

Episode Two picks up a few months after the first one left off. After taking down the big bad boss at the end of the first episode, our hero returns to his plot of land and attempts to rebuild during the 1920s in New Arcadia. Unfortunately, life does not go as planned as his house is quickly destroyed once again. This time, Gabe and Tycho themselves do the dirty deed. This all starts one of the most absurd and surreal adventures ever told.

If you are familiar with the first episode, then you already know how things roll. If not, well, the game plays out like a Penny Arcade comic. The story is usually told instead of shown. Thankfully, the writing is strong enough to carry the weight. Its humor is just like its Web comic counterpart; the humor ranges from simple slapstick to bathroom humor to high-brow college-level thinking. It is constantly mocking everything, whether it’s the subtle ways we cling to the ways of insane asylums, the method and gameplay of videogames, science and its community, dog battles and more. Nothing is off limits to its biting sense of satire, and it’s rare for a line not to elicit some sort of smirk.

Gameplay is, essentially, the same as before as well. You create your avatar, go out and explore, fight bad guys, solve a few cases, and watch the plot unfold. You run around the map, investigate hotspots and fight. While the game still has you running around solving people’s problems, it’s much more straightforward. You do not have to hunt and peck for various things, especially since you naturally pick them up during the course of the game. And far more important is the simple fact that you do not have to adjust your avatar’s position to look at hotspots close together. Instead, you can rotate through them by simply pressing the L1 and R1 buttons.

Combat is exactly as it was before. Combat consists of its own actively charging turn-based system. You wait for the characters’ meters to charge up, issue orders and properly time blocking. It’s fast-paced, and leveling is rarely an issue because there are so many enemies to destroy. Items are constantly being thrown at you, so you never have to worry about not having enough support or attack items to help keep things flowing smoothly.

Graphically, Episode Two runs off the same engine as its older sibling. Everything is just as cartoony as before, with over-the-top animations and comic-book feel. Water pulses out of one fountain, while gold coins spring from another. A woman’s fur scarf comes to life to attack the party. Psychotic asylum members scream and scratch folks. The main difference from Episode One is how smoothly the game runs. Yes, the loading times are longer, and it pays off. It’s a nicer looking game overall.

Sound wise, things are rather solid. There are the screams of asylum members, injections from pseudo-doctors, slaps from a garden hoe, tap dancing spiders, shotgun blasts and blunt punches. Music is of the typical combat music. It isn’t bad; I just wish there were tracks to hear. Voice acting is also absent, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.

Overall, there is no denying the leaps and bounds in improvements that make Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness: Episode Two a stronger game than its predecessor. The amount of care put into this game is present on almost every level. In other words, if you were stuck between getting either of the two episodes, this is the one to get. But it is hard to deny that the experience is enhanced by taking the two games as a whole.

So here’s the million dollar question: Who is this game for? As funny as the game is, it pokes fun at everyone. While fans of the Web comic are probably going to get the most out of the experience, this game is for those looking for something new and at the same time familiar. You can find Episode Two for about $15 as a bundle on PSN, or you can buy the games for about $5 each off Steam. No matter how you paint it, it is a good deal. Now I can only hope that Episode Three escapes development purgatory.