(R) DeathSpank (360, PS3)

Summary:

Described as "Monkey Island meets Diablo," DeathSpank follows the story of a large-chinned hero as he heroically commits heroic deeds for the downtrodden citizens of the land. His quest: to seek out the elusive and mysterious artifact, which looks suspiciously like bacon.


Pros:

Despite not being a triple-A big budget blockbuster of a title, DeathSpank delivers the goods in downloadable gaming. Cheaply, too.

Unlike some games in the genre, DeathSpank is not overwhelming to a new player. I admit I only enjoy RPG games every so often, and DeathSpank made me feel comfortable in a largely alien genre. The easy to use interface contributes to this, as well as the ingenious hint system.

The art style is a combination of three dimensional characters juxtaposed against largely two dimensional surroundings, giving the game its own kind of charm in the graphics department. It also has a totally catchy theme song. Plus, the game supports two players!

The quality of both the voice acting and writing is superb, and I found myself actually wanting to listen to the conversations between DeathSpank and the various characters he encounters (all of which are unique and interesting), even when it wasn't necessary to do so.

The humour is frequent though well-placed, and doesn't come across as forced. The breaking of the fourth wall is something I've always been a fan of, and DeathSpank does it and does it well. This is clearly a title that doesn't take itself too seriously.

So brave he takes a dump in the valley of death.

Cons:

My first problem is that there is no Platinum trophy.

Secondly, DeathSpank may perhaps be a little too easy. This could be good or bad depending on what you like, but dying in the game is an achievement in its own right. No really. It totally is. Or a bronze trophy if you're playing on the PS3.

Although the humour I mentioned before is of the side-busting variety, reading the text on screen too quickly creates a strange sort of effect where you get the punchline before it's delivered by the voice actors, diminishing the jokes somewhat. Especially seeing as many of them use the unexpected to make you thoroughly bust a nut. I'm not saying this is necessarily a problem that could be fixed - I suppose you could just avert your eyes or gaze at DeathSpank's manly chin, though that dispels the point of the text boxes even being there.

While I enjoy busting my enemy's chops in DeathSpank, the combat isn't without its problems. Fighting enemies consists of assigning various weapons to buttons resulting in a sort of "clobber the enemy with button mashing" style of play. This is perhaps more effective than a point-and-click game, but in the end really isn't much better. The game attempts to counter this through awarding combos (which don't really reward you at all) and trying to supply the player with runes that require using two types of weapons at once, which are both ineffective.

My final (minor) gripe with the game is that while the side quests for the occupants of whatever land this is are enjoyable as a whole, they have a tendency to turn into grinding fetch-quests. I often find myself enlisted for jobs by lowly peasants who can't simply just walk ten meters down the road to pick up their dry-cleaning.

"Just grab my pantaloons" he says - "It'll be a breeze" he says...

Final Verdict:
When all is said, done and razed... DeathSpank is a title that is most certainly worth your time - especially when you consider the price and the amount of hours and enjoyment that come with it. I'd wager my entire stock in Fistfullofpotions on it.

Score:

Buy. Partly because you can't really rent it. Partly because it's a candidate for downloadable Game of the Year.

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