Looting, laughing, killing, questing and knocking the poop out of demons; it’s all in a day’s work for DeathSpank.
The story of a hero on a quest to obtain an artefact in a fantasy world may sound like your bog standard story from a generic game - however, when you add the fact the Hero is a thong wearing wise-guy in a world of video game references and parodies, it quickly becomes apparent that DeathSpank is something a bit different.
Gameplay wise DeathSpank is what would happen if, hypothetically, Diablo and Monkey Island had a drunken fumble in the back seat of car. The hack and slash, dungeon crawling and loot em up elements of gameplay will instantly feel familiar to veterans of Blizzard’s Diablo franchise. On the surface the prospect of hack and slashing your way through hordes of enemies may seem tedious, however DeathSpank manages to keep things feeling varied by giving a wealth of item choices to the player, which in most cases can alter how a player goes into combat. DeathSpank also keeps combat feeling fresh by featuring a justice meter, which is filled by mowing down enemies and once filled allows a player to unleash a special attack, attacks are depended on certain weapons carried by the player such as lighting rods, axes, giant poles with fists on the end to name a few.
DeathSpanks combination of hack and slash and item gathering allows it to replicate the successful core gameplay of Diablo which creates an experience that can be enjoyable in small doses or indeed in long play session. DeathSpank offers some slight role playing elements such completing a number of quests handed out by NPCs which range from simple kill and collect quests to more humors quests such as beating the poop out of demons. Gaining experience to level up is a other example of RPG however don’t expect any in depth levelling system as the level cap is 20 and with each level you are given the option to pick one of three cards that will increase DeathSpanks skills in such areas as melee damage, ranged damage and so on, the options may be limited but does keep the games overall gameplay fluid.
The second part of DeathSpanks core gameplay takes its inspiration from Monkey Island, this involves the ability to talk to NPC’s and select multiple response – all of which have a familiar sense of wit seen in the Monkey Island games. Surprisingly the depth of conversation topics and reply’s is quite deep and rarely will you find yourself not chuckling. The conversation and wit is not the only thing DeathSpank has in common with Money Island, either. Both games are renound for their puzzle elements – however DeathSpanks puzzle elements are only minor, but always still thought out thoroughly – which also provide a refreshing brake from slashing your way through the game.
The only real issues in terms of gameplay that DeathSpank suffers from is perhaps the combat can become repetitive for some or even a little too simplistic, however no one can ever say DeathSpank doesn’t cater for both the hardcore and casual market as combat is accessible to everyone and easy to master. Other gameplay issues mainly concern the puzzles as there isn’t a large amount to tackle and when they do come they are welcomed but a tad easy to overcome. Some players may feel a little overwhelmed by the stats staring them in the face when it comes to equipment, after all who wants to stop playing for up to five minutes to perform math calculations to see which item is better than the other, however there is a option to automatically equip better amour by default allowing for the less stat concerned players to continue a fluid gaming experience.
Visually the game looks wonderful as its almost a ‘Saturday Morning’ kids cartoon style, which is both effective and interesting. Character models are well constructed and move naturally (as naturally as a Leprechaun can) and DeathSpank himself is nicely detailed. Each piece of armour and weapon equipped by DeathSpank also shows visibly and are well modelled and creative – in some cases quite impressive in terms of design. The world is alight with bright colours that are only described as bold and beautiful, making DeathSpank a real treat for the eyes.
The world itself is filled with a weird and wonderful cast of characters’ – including such mythical beasts as Unicorns, Leprechaun and Sabre Tooth Donkeys. The NPC’s in the world of DeathSpank range from odd pedestrians such as the Fisherman – who hates fishing but loves his tackle box – the wise cow – as well as characters that act as parodies of the RPG genre. Aside from these, there is a strong dose of video game references, the most blatant being the two orcs who talk about their days of World of Warcraft.
DeathSpank is well worth the ($14.99/1200MSP) asking price as it supplies a 10+ hour experience full of fun combat, decent puzzle solving and great comedy in the same vein as Monkey Island. The world is rich with comedy gold and great monsters and characters, combined creating a great single player experience. When you add the local two player co-op to the mix it’s hard to argue that DeathSpank isn’t worth your time or investment. With only a few minor issues to speak of DeathSpank truly is one of the biggest slices of fun to hit box Live Arcade and PSN store in the forseen future. Enjoyable in both short and long play sessions, Hardcore and Casual alike, DeathSpank is truly worth checking out over the summer period.
