It isn't just the precipice that's slick in this combat oriented point-and-click adventure; it's the production values too. The game's comic book art style is beautifully realised, with smartly rendered 3D graphics blending seamlessly with 2D comic strip cut-scenes.

Precipice, as we'll call it for short, is an adventure that doesn't just have graphical style. It's got polished dialogue as well, dripping with genuinely humorous lines that'll have you smirking if not giggling away to yourself. Expect adult humour and much silliness.

For example, the first monsters you encounter are the juicing robots. When given an orange, these odd little fellows extract the fruit's goodness by pumping away at it with a scoop that's positioned between their legs. The resulting image, and their assorted comments ("Drink my juice! It's ****ing nutritious!") are highly amusing. Having said that, if crass humour isn't your thing, maybe not...

Anyhow, back on track. Precipice is an adventure, although it's more about fighting than solving puzzles. Yes, there are clues to decipher and some thinking to be done, but it's usually fairly obvious what you need to do next and the game runs along a pretty linear progression. The story, however, is very well written, and the frequent combat sections are entertaining, so there's no danger of Precipice feeling stale.

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Combat consists of action and RPG elements, with three characters in your party all having different stats, weapons and special moves. It's played out in real-time and choices have to be made, such as whether to use a character's basic attack or wait a bit longer for his special move to build up. Characters can also reach into their inventories and chuck things like dynamite at their opponents, or drink various potions and power-ups.

All the time you're deciding what to assault the opposition with next, you've got to keep an eye on them as they'll launch attacks of their own. These must be blocked with a deft tap of the spacebar at exactly the right time (and different monsters' attacks require different timing, so it's all a rather interesting learning process). Setting off special moves also requires some decent reflexes, as mini-games pop up that must be completed for the action to be a success. Overall, combat is an absorbing combination of tactical thinking and swift key-pressing.

Throw in some extra bits, such as fairground games to tackle and upgrades for your weapons to plan, and Precipice becomes an enjoyable lightweight adventure. It's a little on the short side, but the length's fine when you factor in the tenner asking price.

Precipice blends an accomplished sense of humour and style with a well told tale and a clever real-time combat system. It's more about testing your reflexes than your brain the majority of the time, but we found it highly entertaining nonetheless.