8/10
For PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Poker Night 2 is exactly what it sounds like, a poker game, but poker has never been as much fun as Telltale Games makes it.
Poker Night 2 by Telltale Games is the sequel to 2010’s Poker Night at the Inventory. The premise is simple: you play poker with some of the funniest pop culture icons of recent years. Apart from just winning money, there are also challenges and unlockables to add flavor to your experience.
The opponent roster consists of Ash from Army of Darkness, Sam from the Sam & Max games, Claptrap from Borderlands 2, GLaDOS from Portal and Brock Samson from The Venture Bros.
The dialogue and character interactions are the real meat of the game
Characters talk to one another, breaking the fourth wall as they discuss their previous television or video game careers, insult one another and even ask one another for honest advice, such as how to track down a set of vintage trading cards.
Players participate in Texas Hold’em or Omaha Hold’em with no special gimmicks or tricks. There are also added challenges that players can try to reach, such as winning two tournaments in a row or winning with a specific card combination. Winning challenges unlocks tokens and unlockables for other games like PS3 themes or Team Fortress 2 hats.
The tokens can also be used to buy in-game items like drinks for the characters, new decks, chips and table felts. These unlockables affect the game by changing the background and the character dialogue.
Poker Night 2 is an excellent example of how to take a simple idea and making it new. Hilarious dialogue, unlockables and challenges give plenty reason to keep coming back to this game.
