Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hold'em Poker Game Review: Poker Night 2

Poker Night 2 is the sequel to Poker Night at the Inventory, Telltale's quirky poker game that pit various video game characters against each other in a high-stakes game of poker.

New characters join the bunch this time, from a wide range of franchises. This time, Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., Ash Williams from The Evil Dead, Claptrap from Borderlands, and Sam from Sam & Max are the poker players. Returning characters include Max from Sam & Max, who provides humor at Sam's side, and Reginald Van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island, who is the host of the Inventory speakeasy where the poker games are held. New characters joining the mix include GLaDOS from Portal, who deals the cards with her usual deadly wit, and Mad Moxxie from Borderlands who serves as the bartender of The Inventory.

This time around, Texas Hold'em poker isn't the only name of the game. Omaha Hold'em poker can also optionally be played. The new poker style is played through as robust of a system as its tried-and-tested brethren. Once again, as was the case with its forerunner, the main draw of the game is the interactions between the characters. There is no multiplayer mode, so the fun comes in hearing all of these characters from vastly different franchises talking with each other. The premise of the inventory is that it is a place where video game characters come on their days off to relax, and these conversations really help nail that concept down.

The unlockables in the first game could only be used outside the game, but this time there are those that can be used in-game as well. Of course, there's still unlockables that can be played outside of the game, in Borderlands 2 in this case, but the Inventory unlockables add a lot to the game itself. There are multiple poker table and chip themes that can be unlocked based on the various series represented. However, the most fun unlockables are those that change the entire internal design of The Inventory to be themed after the various intellectual properties of the game characters. It's a lot of fun to play in an environment themed after Aperture Science, for example, and watch the wit of GlaDOS be unleashed in her natural enviroment.

The music is once again provided by Jared-Emerson Johnson and includes various jazz motifs themed after the properties to which the characters belong. All of the game characters are voiced by their usual voice actors, with Dave Boat once again voicing Max, but, unfortunately Bruce Campbell does not appear as Ash. He is voiced by Danny Webster, who does an admirable job. He doesn't hit the rich tones of Campbell's voice but he provides the character's sarcastic wit well and works as an Army of Darkness-era Ash that hasn't yet gained the undertones in his voice that he would reach with age.

Poker Night 2 is an improvement upon its predecessor in every way. From the new addition of Omaha Hold'em alongside the usual Texas Hold'Em to the table, chip, and building unlockables, poker has never been better in a Telltale game. The franchises are a lot more varied this time around and the addition of non-poker playing characters such as Mad Moxxie and GlaDOS are a very welcome addition. The music remains top-notch and the voice work is just as good as you would expect from the usual voices of these characters. The one unfortunate loss is that the legendary Bruce Campbell does not play the role of Ash Williams, but Danny Webster does a fine job providing the sarcastic snark to a young thirty-something version of the character. If you can track it down, it's well worth a play.

Final Verdict:

4 out of  4

Monkey Island

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Return to Monkey Island review coming soon

Sam & Max

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual review coming soon

Telltale poker games

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Texas Hold'em Poker Game Review: Poker Night at the Inventory

Poker Night at the Inventory was part of Telltale's short lived Pilot Program wherein crazy concepts were given a pilot episode and the fan and critical reaction would determine whether another episode would be ordered.

It is a spiritual sequel to Telltale Texas Hold'em, except rather than the original characters of that game features such video game characters as Max from Sam & Max, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, Tycho from Penny Arcade, and The Heavy from Team Fortress 2. The player plays against these four and is simply referred to as "The Player".

The setting is The Inventory, a speakeasy where video game characters go to relax when not in their respective games. The host of of The Inventory, Reginald Van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island, is the person who brings the player to the table to play high-stakes poker with the rest of the characters.

Like Telltale Texas Hold'em before it, Poker Night at the Inventory contains a solid Texas hold'em framework, but the real fun comes from the conversations with the various characters at the table. Each of the characters use their respective voice actors, although Dave Boat puts in a very suitable performance as Max, and Tycho receives a voice for the first time thanks to Andrew Chaikin.

The conversations are a lot more fun than its predecessor as they benefit from the lore of each intellectual property represented. It is a real joy to have the characters speak to each other, and it is especially fun for fans of the characters, as they will often reference characters and situations from their respective franchises. The excellent performances from the voice actors really help as well, as they all keep you invested in the game and really do make it feel like a bunch of game characters just having some fun on their day off.

Texas Telltale Hold'em used excellent jazz music by the band led by Jerry Logas, the father of one of the developers of the game, Heather Logas. The music of Poker Night at the Inventory is provided by the stalwart composer that is used by Telltale in most of their games, Jared Emerson-Johnson. He provides a really jazzy soundtrack that includes a new theme for The Inventory as well as jazzified versions of songs from the franchises represented. The jazz remix of the office theme in Telltale's Sam & Max games is especially enjoyable.

Poker Night at the Inventory is a worthy spiritual successor of Telltale Texas Hold'em. The music and voice acting is spot-on, with Dave Boat and Andrew Chaikin especially shining in their new roles as Max and Tycho, respectively. The Heavy, Max, Tycho, and Strong Bad bring great conversations that help make up for the fact that it is one-player only. This is one of the few times where a multiplayer mode would actually hinder the game, as it wouldn't be nearly as fun to play the game without hearing the character conversations. 

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Homestar Runner

Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People: Episode 5 review

Halloween Hide & Seek review

Monkey Island

Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 5 review

Poker Night 2 review

Sam & Max

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 5 review

Poker Night 2 review

Telltale poker games

Telltale Texas Hold'em review

Poker Night 2 review

Texas Hold'em Poker Game Review: Telltale Texas Hold'Em

When I first played this game, I didn’t know Poker well, so I was never able to win.  When Poker Night at the Inventory came out, I forced myself to learn Poker and now I can play Telltale Texas Hold’Em well enough to hear a lot of the comments in one play through, and I actually managed to win a few times.  I was actually pleasantly surprised that it’s still fun to play, considering it was Telltale’s first product and it was initially only meant as a test of the Telltale Tool.

The game does have it's shortcomings, mostly due to the fact it was Telltale's first project, and also because of it's age.  First of all, I noticed audio problems.  Some of the lines of speech would crackle at the end of the sentence, and some lines seemed to cut off prematurely.  Although, the latter is barely noticable, and the former doesn’t happen too often.  Also, There isn’t an option in the menu to change your screen resolution.  I personally didn’t mind this, but I know some might, especially with a widescreen monitor as the image stretches to fit the screen.

It also shows it’s age graphically.  The parts of the characters that are supposed to be rounded are somewhat jagged, especially on Harry’s and Boris Krinkle’s bald heads.  I don’t mind this personally, since I’ve never worried about graphics in games.  I’ve always believed in graphic design over graphic pizazz, and the design of the characters in this game is fittingly cartoony and charming. Beside the fact, the “jaggies” are nowhere near as bad, as say something from the late 90’s or early 2000’s like Escape from Monkey Island. However, if you’re the kind that worries about that kind of thing, you can tell it’s an older game (it was released in 2005).

The good parts of this game, however, far outweigh the bad.  The main selling point of this game is that it's really funny.  I read the rules for the first time, and was pleasantly surprised at how hilarious they are.  I’m glad that Telltale put humor into something that would otherwise be tedious.  One sentence in the rules actually made me chuckle out loud.  Another funny thing I noticed was that Poker Night at the Inventory make a reference to it’s spiritual predecessor through Telltale Texas Hold’Ems rules section.

The characters were great.  Boris Krinkle had some great lines.  I also enjoyed Grandma Shakey’s comments about being sadder than when her Nth dead husband died and X (X being everything from something unbelievably small to something catastrophically big).  I also found Harry Weinhead’s fourth wall breaking comment was funny too, as I love jokes like that.  Ted Theodore Dudebrough (you have to love the Bill & Ted reference) was basically a mellow Max (from Sam & Max), with a touch of Strong Bad (from Homestar Runner), which was great.  Like Ted, Max would usually follow your crazy bets even if he had bad cards.  Ted also said some pretty random stuff and he used some pop culture in funny ways.

The music is also wonderful.  It’s an upbeat Jazz score.  Jerry Logas and the Pier 23 Reunion Band did an excellent job with the soundtrack.  The voices are also surprisingly done well, considering this was before Bay Area Sound handled Telltale’s games.

While the facial animation was just average, the animation of the characters themselves was great considering this was Telltale’s first product (and was only originally intended as an internal test project).   Boris Krinkle, especially, had a lot of fun movement in his arms.  And I especially liked one particular animation involving Boris and Ted.  It was a great little piece of animation, and I enjoyed watching it every time.

Despite it’s age (and it’s lack of graphic options), it’s still fun to play, as it seems to play the same as Poker Night at the Inventory.  It’s also still funny, and like Poker Night at the Inventory after it, it will take you many plays before you hear all of the dialog. Telltale Texas Hold'Em is well worth buying if you can get it during a sale when it's around $5US, especially if you haven't yet played Poker Night at the Inventory. Even if you have played Poker Night, you may still find some fun with the game as there are a lot of good jokes here.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Telltale Texas Hold'Em Sequel Coming?

Telltale has a new poker and card game survey up. When you complete the survey, you are given the full Telltale Texas Hold'Em game for free. What's more, the survey seems to point towards Telltale creating a sequel to that game, which is their first and so far only casual game. A recent interview on Edge stated that Telltale is looking towards moving to casual gaming portals in order to increase interest in their brand. I'd love to see this come to fruition. My mom loves Pogo, and so do I, so an online multiplayer card game from Telltale would be right up both of our alleys.

Telltale is 5 Years Old!

Telltale is celebrating their fifth anniversary, and they are celebrating the occasion by offering any of their downloadable games (Telltale Texas Hold'Em, Out from Boneville, The Great Cow Race, or any single episode from Sam & Max Season One or Two, or Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People) for $5 instead of the usual $8.95. If you are a Telltale customer, you can visit this page to get a coupon code. You can give that code to friends so they can get a game for $5 too. What's more, for everyone that uses your code, you will get $1 in store credit to use at Telltale's Store.

If you aren't a Telltale customer, or you're feeling generous, you can Use My Code to get your $5 game and let me get $1 in the process. :)

Telltale has also reached another milestone to coincide with their anniversary. This press release states that Telltale has sold over one million episodes of their games across all distribution channels since the company began! Congratulations Telltale! Here's to 5 more years, and many millions more sales and games on more consoles, computers, and distribution channels to come. :)

Halloween!

Today is Halloween, which is a magical day for Telltale related stuff. First, we have the yearly tradition of Telltale's Dave Grossman and his Pumpkin House of Horrors. I look forward to his new pumpkin every Halloween, and this year's is one of my favorites. :)

Next, we have the winners of Telltale's annual Halloween Contest. There's quite a few neat fan-made goodies to oogle this year, and best of all: even the losers went home winners. Telltale is giving everyone who entered one of their downloadable games for free (Telltale Texas Hold’em or any episode of Sam & Max, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People, or Bone)!

And finally, The Brothers Chaps have posted this years latest Homestar Runner Halloween Cartoon. The costumes are always great, and are much better than my feeble attempts above. :)

Bone games now available on Steam

For those of you who have yet to experience the games based on Jeff Smith's Bone comics, there is now one more option for you to get the game. Both games in the series, Out From Boneville and The Great Cow Race, are now available on Steam.

The episodes can be bought individually for $8.99 each, or in a double pack for $14.99. They can also be found in the Telltale Everything Pack, which features the Bone games, both seasons of Sam and Max, and Telltale Texas Hold'em for $69.99.