Strong Bad spoofs as a detective in another great episode
Strong Bad has had a rather great start to the episodic platform, each episode funnier and better than the last, has it reached its peak or does it still have more side-splitting moments to offer?
Well luckily it’s the latter. This time round, the episode is more of a mock episode. Fans of the Homestar Runner cartoons will know what Dangeresque 3 is and most have been waiting years for it, so to please the fans they decided to dedicate a whole episode to it. You can still watch Dangeresque 1 and 2 on the official website of Homestar Runner.
The whole episode is full of terribly bad effects, but it’s entirely on purpose to show the shoddiness of the “movie”, it follows Dangeresque as he prepares to solve one last case with his soon to be retired partner, Renaldo. Of course, it keeps close to any detective film, mocking it as a whole. Think of it as a Strong Bad version of The Naked Gun and you’ll be close to understanding what I’m getting at.
The plot is full of hilarious moments with cast members you’ll know from past episodes playing parts of Dangeresque’s past enemies and one playing his Dad who just mumbles on about things that make no sense at all, it’s all incredibly random…which is the game’s strong point. The game still takes place in the main areas that you would expect, with a few new ones included…although one area is reused as different countries for you to travel to, made with some variations to the background to symbolise what country you are in. It’s kinda funny that they reused it that many times and it plays well into the puzzles as you go on.
This episode probably has more areas to go to than any previous one, although like I said…some are reused and most you would have seen already, just with some alterations. Puzzles this time are fairly simple and the game lasts a few hours, which isn’t as lengthy as the last episode or Strong Badia, but it still made me laugh more than the last episode did, which is a huge bonus…for me anyway.
I won’t go into detail about the plot as I hate to ruin it for anyone who is about to get it or is in the middle of playing it, its simple stuff but full of gags that get me every time. The bad camera work, the sets that fall apart, the terrible props and stunt doubles are just priceless to watch. There’s a particularly funny part where you are in a car and The Cheat is moving a bush back and forth to make it look like you are driving, it’s about a good example as any of how bad the effects can get.
Visually, the game is the same as always…which is a good thing, no dips in performance or load times…it all runs very smoothly and character animations is fluid enough. Voice-acting is great as always, this time with some great one-liners like “Not dangerous….Dangeresque”, “Looks like we’re gonna have to jump!” and “Perducci!!!!” The script is just damn hilarious and ingenious; the next episode looks interesting although it turns out to never be what we expect. At the preview clip of Dangerseque 3 I didn’t think it’d be that good, but I was wrong…it turned out to be even better than Baddest of the Bands.
The Verdict
I’ve given this episode a little bit less than Baddest of the Bands because of its overall length, but it’s still the best in the series so far. It’s going to be a hell of a finale next month!
