If you’ve ever fancied a game of poker but struggled to scare up some competition, perhaps a few of geek culture’s best-known characters would fancy trying their hand during their downtime.
That’s the premise of Telltale Games’ latest release - Poker Night 2. Combining all the action of Texas Hold’em with all the witty dialog and iconic gestures you’ve come to expect from the key characters of film, TV and game properties such as Sam ‘n’ Max, The Venture Bros. and Evil Dead, you’re guaranteed to enjoy a game of all-out poker with a twist.
Following on from the success of the first game, which saw cult webcartoon favorite Strong Bad, among others, testing their nerve at the table, Poker Night 2 brings together in this unique environment characters from five different pop culture franchises, which must’ve been a headache for the licensing department!
Nonetheless, in Poker Night 2 you’ll find Brock Samson from the American animated seriesThe Venture Bros. as well as Ash from the Evil Dead horror film trilogy, Claptrap from the highly successful Borderlands games, and Sam from the Sam ‘n’ Max series of adventure games which Telltale itself currently owns. Even the dealer comes from video game legend – evil computer GladOS from puzzler Portal is the one shuffling cards while dishing out her trademark putdowns.
And it’s these putdowns which really help to form the environment of the game – as these five cultural icons shoot the breeze while playing cards, using most of their original voice actors, you’ll get a real kick from listening to their conversation as you put together your winning hand. Even as the current generation of console games winds down to make way for the next big thing, you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at this game – in glorious HD with amazing quality graphics and the finest voice talent; the poker itself isn’t too bad either but play here if you fancy winning for real with Ladbrokes Poker.
With such a well-polished and playable product, you’d think that Telltale Games had focused all their energies into producing Poker Night 2 – but like its prequel, this game came about as the result of some extended downtime in the office! And what better way to spend your leisure time than by putting out a quality game of poker that can also get you some sweet unlockables in Borderlands? As the Telltale boss puts it himself: come for the free stuff, stay for the poker!
