All the characters are lovingly drawn and the whole game has the real feel of a comic book. Cut scenes are in the form of text boxes that pop up, adding to the feel - which also avoids ruining any of those preconceived ideas you had about what Gabe and Tycho’s voices might sound like.
The combat is probably the only area of the game that doesn’t fulfil all our expectations. Basically it's straight from a turn-based RPG. Your hardy group (you, Tycho and Gabe) have to battle the opposing team of robots, or whatever else the game throws at you. The first strike chance is given to one of the players by rolling a 20-sided dice, and then you are able to perform an attack. The trick with the attacks is that the longer you leave a character without using any of his attacks, the higher his attack bars fill and the more moves you have access to. If all three player's bars fill to max you can combine their attacks in one super attack, although the downside to this is you leave yourself open to attack from the enemy while you wait for the bars to fill.
Only one player can attack at a time, but you can undertake an attack at any time, therefore there are no real ‘turns’. When you are being attacked you have the chance to defend and even counter-attack by timing a block (right trigger). This is difficult at first, but as you learn the enemies moves you get a knack for it. There are also a large range of objects you can use to reduce defence, increase attack, increase speed and the like, as well as a range of bombs that you can throw at your enemies.
The weapons at your disposal include your rake, Tycho’s machine-gun and Gabe’s fists. Your team will also be fortified with a number of characters throughout the game who will act as support. Their attacks are very deadly, however they have a much longer recharge time than the attacks of your main characters. They include one hilariously named cat (Thomas Kemper), who on occasion coughs up a super powerful fur-ball which decimates any enemies, but it is very rare.
The combat is fun for the most part, but it does become a bit hairy when there are a number of enemies to battle. You will find yourself struggling to attack, defend and use your inventory of items at the same time, and in this area the game simply feels a little too fast paced. It is very playable still, but it feels as though all the items that were implemented with such care, are not as useful as they might have been considering the speed at which they must be deployed.
Overall, the game works really well, and is a breath of fresh air in the Xbox LIVE Arcade. It's a solid game and while 1600 MS Points is a bit steep, it's well worth it. It's a bit unfortunate that the combat becomes too hectic, and I wonder to what extent this can be rectified for further episodes, but in any case the game still offers a very entertaining story line, plenty of hours of game-play, and fantastic humour packed in throughout.
