Poke Me In The Night

This week I'm gonna talk about Poker Night at the Inventory 2, one of my favorite telltale games. If you're unfamiliar with the Poker Night series here's some back story: The games always take place in a hidden back alley poker room and bar kept secret and known only to a certain group of high rollers and members. Each game contains a different cast of pop culture characters from various genres including movies, television, and gaming; all playing poker together and you tag along as the silent protagonist. One of the main reasons to play this game is because of the interactions between the characters. Telltale are amazing at writing interesting dialogue, quips and references, traits which come through nicely in Poker Night 2.

The game itself was a huge tie in with Borderlands 2 and Team Fortress 2, featuring unique unlocks for both games which obtained by slowly forcing the other characters to throw up items from their respective universes to sweeten the pot. The poker gameplay itself is nothing to write home about but you're opponents are nothing to laugh at, between Glad0s from Portal as the dealer, Ash from the Evil Dead franchise Sam from Sam and Max Claptrap the mascot from Borderlands and last but not least Brock "Fucking" Samson from one of my favorite shows, The Venture Bros. Sidenote: if you aren't all ready watching Venture Bros you should be, the show is amazing and one of the best written shows on television. 

As I said before, the main reason to play is the interactions between you and the other characters. There are a ton of unique reactions and stories that come out over the course of a hand, and I often find myself playing just to see what they have to say to each other. The characters themselves are well written and all voiced by their original actors so the game feels as if they all hopped out of their respective universe or live in the same crazy cross over universe only super nerds could dream into existence.

The game also allows you to unlock new card tables and chips and various other aesthetic options all themed around the various characters. If you are looking for a good time sink, I couldn't recommend any more highly. Poker Night 2 itself is worth hours of enjoyment and at a five dollar price tag it's more than worth it to pick it up or slap on your steam wishlist and wait for a summer sale to roll around. Which by the way may or may not be tomorrow...just something to keep in mind.