Poker Night 2 deals up fun and rewards
Poker Night 2 has been consuming my evenings since its release last week. Seriously, I have been logging many more hours in this game than I feel comfortable plainly stating. One might say that I have gone “all in” on this particular game, but only if one happened to have a terrible sense of humor. Luckily, I have such a sense of humor and so does Poker Night 2. I didn’t think that I could love a poker game this much, but the cast of characters has sold me 100% on this title and make it absolutely worth playing if you care about any of them.
Poker Night 2?
Yeah, most people I mentioned the game to didn’t get why it would have such a drab title. It’s the sequel to the 2010 game, Poker Night at the Inventory from Telltale Games. The original Poker Night let you sit down to play a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament with four iconic characters: Max (Sam & Max), Stongbad (Homestar Runner), The Heavy (Team Fortress 2), and Tycho Brahe (Penny Arcade). Over the course of the game you would be treated to riotously funny dialogue and be given the chance to win personal items from each of the other players. Doing so would unlock aesthetic items for use in Team Fortress 2 as a bit of a bonus on top of the already enjoyable experience of playing Poker Night at the Inventory.
How do you make an experience that trumps the original? You up the ante with another impressive set of characters. Poker Night 2 features Brock Sampson (Venture Brothers), CL4P-TP aka Claptrap (Borderlands), Ash Williams (Evil Dead), Sam (Sam & Max), and adds GLaDOS (Portal) as the dealer for the merry band of misfits. From there you add Omaha Hold ‘Em to the game options and add Borderlands 2 as well as Team Fortress 2 items to the unlocks. Then you add a set of three random challenges to complete before opening up the ability to play for the items that provide the unlocks. Far more predictable than having an opponent randomly ante an item at the beginning of play and hoping that you’re the one to take him out.
Still just a poker game?
More or less, but the level of humor has been ramped up significantly. Besides the amazing characters and their voice talent, there have been some modifications to the way that unlocking new themed felts, chips, and decks impact the game. Firstly, the character belonging to the new theme changes their appearance (see the Borderlands theme picture to the left) to be dressed in a more fancy fashion. Secondly, the first player eliminated from the tournament is removed from the table in a themed way. For example, with the Borderlands theme players are shot with a rocket launcher by Steve the bandit (heyooo!). With the Venture Brothers theme, they’re poorly teleported away with one of Rusty’s inventions. It adds another level of fun to an already entertaining game.
My recommendation: just buy it already!
Poker Night 2 is abso-fucking-lutely hilarious. No poker game has any business being this damn good. Character banter is spot on and really well written. Sure they’re going to make fun of you endlessly, but that’s part of the charm. The bounty challenges give you fun goals to shoot for like stealing a hand at the river. If you really want to have fun, try watching for everyone’s tells and figuring out what they mean. Or maybe I just have a weird idea of fun. Regardless, if you like any of the characters involved, it’s well worth the $5 to pick it up on Steam.
