There's something that's always appealed to me about characters crossing over into other properties. I was there when the Flintstones met the Jetsons, and marveled when the Mystery Gang teamed up with Batman and Robin...and the Harlem Globe Trotters. That's why the original Poker Night at the Inventory, and its sequel, Poker Night 2 appealed to me. Watching characters like Brock Sampson of the Venture Brothers mix it up with Borderland's Claptrap and Sam and Max it a lot of fun - at least for a while, as you'll be muting the TV soon after the jokes start repeating themselves. There's simply not enough creative content in Poker Night 2 to make it a worthwhile purchase, and there are plenty of cheaper poker games on the market.

"...you're also playing for real in-game prizes..."

The premise of Poker Night 2 is simple - a bunch of fan favorite characters come together to take a break from their respective games and shows to play a game of poker or two. Poker Night 2 features Brock Sampson from Adult Swim's Venture Brothers, Ashe from Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, Claptrap from Borderlands and Sam and Max from...Sam and Max. You, as the player get the lucky fifth seat for a night, and your goal is to claim as much cash and prizes as possible. What's great about Poker Night 2 is that you're not just playing for fake money, you're also playing for real in-game prizes, like Borderlands 2 weapons and items.

What Poker Night 2 gets right is with it's personality and fan service. The majority of the characters are voiced by their real-world counter-parts (Ash is not Bruce Campbell), and the different visual styles blend well together here. There's also a number of cool nods and additions to the game that fans will appreciate. Glados from Portal is the game's moderator and commentator and Mad Moxxie from Borderlands is the bartender. Each character also has a fair number of in-jokes that nod back to the original properties. You're bound to laugh at the character's interactions, especially when Glados is involved. Well, at least you will at first.

"...it won't be long before you start muting the TV."

While Poker Night 2 has great writing and a great tone, it's also very limited, and it won't be long before you start muting the TV during most of the character interactions. It also doesn't help that the game doesn't let you skip the cut scenes, so you'll be forced to sit through them each and every time. Suddenly Glados wasn't as funny and I instantly wanted to fold and go do something else...anything else really.

That's not to say though that Poker Night 2 isn't a fun game. Those who like Poker, but aren't willing to bet real online money and just want to have a lot of fun will get a lot of enjoyment out of Telltale's latest. That being said though, there's still a lot cheaper games on the market if you're just looking for a simple poker game.

If you're a fan of the characters coming into Poker Night 2 - you're going to want a seat at the table, watching all of these characters interact is true fun. At least it is for the fist few hours, until the jokes start getting recycled and you start muting the TV. As far as a poker game, it fits the mold, but there are much more in-depth and much cheaper poker games on the market. Come to play, but don't be surprised if you fold before long.