There are a few games that throw characters from different series’ into a multiplayer fighting arena, but only Telltale Games‘ Poker Night series makes them sit down and look each other in the eye.
Poker Night 2 launches today on the Xbox 360 LIVE Arcade, and will follow soon on PlayStation Network and Steam. A trailer for the launch has also been released.
The game features characters such as Sam from the Sam & Max games, Claptrap from the Borderlands games, Ash Williams from the Evil Dead movies, and Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. TV series as poker players. Portal villain GLaDOS fills in as the dealer.
Playing the game can unlock what the Telltale is calling “Bounty Unlocks.” These Poker Night rewards will unlock content in other games, such as Borderlands 2 skins, Team Fortress 2 items, and, depending on the system, Xbox Avatar or PlayStation 3 theme unlocks.
Telltale is coming off the wild success of The Walking Dead adventure game, which made many best-of-2012 lists. In comparison, Poker Night 2 should be a welcome reprieve from the stress of braving the zombie apocalypse. Though it’s not likely to top best-of lists for 2013, it may be a nice diversion during the lean summer months of gaming.