DeathSpank
We all know Diablo III and Dungeon Siege 3 are under development, but there's still no word when these action RPGs icons will arrive. What's a fellow interested in some good old-fashioned dungeon crawling to do in the meantime?
Assuming you've already plundered your way through last year's excellent Torchlight, DeathSpank may help tide you over.
Designed by Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame and developed by Vancouver-based Hothead Games-the folks who made Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness-this comedic downloadable RPG is a bright spot in an unfortunately under-populated genre.
On paper it comes off as a very traditional dungeon crawler. Players take on scores of quests, hack away at hordes of enemies, and loot, equip, and sell hundreds of different pieces of gear. But Hothead has put its own stamp on this familiar formula thanks to some quirky design decisions.
For starters, DeathSpank's world is cylindrical. When our titular hero runs left or right it simply looks like he's jogging along the side of a hill. However, when runs up or down the world starts to revolve, making it look a bit like he's a tiny log driver slowly spinning a giant log with his feet.
Adding to this unusual perspective is an appealing hand-drawn aesthetic. Many of the world's objects appear paper thin as they spin by, and the simple character animations are reminiscent of the little flip books drawn by arty middle school geeks.
And it has a great sense of humour. The dialogue trees lead to some very funny discussions, and DeathSpank, voiced as an over-the-top parody of a stereotypical hero (think loud, confident, and slightly dimwitted), employs blunt but apt adjectives and nouns when addressing non-player characters (one of my favourites is "bargain-driving orphan," which he began applying after getting hosed by a sharp kid).
But don't let all of this whimsy trick you into thinking DeathSpank is shallow. Though it will likely prove alluring and accessible to casual players, there's still plenty of depth and challenge here for core players.
Battles appear basic but actually require a fair bit of strategy-especially on the game's harder difficulty settings. Weapons are assigned to each of the face buttons. That means you can have instant access to, say, an axe, a sword, a crossbow, and a dagger. There aren't combos per se, but knowing when to use each sort of weapon-especially when confronting different enemy types at the same time-is important. So it's button mashing, but button mashing with purpose.
As with any good RPG, your hero will grow in strength as the game progresses. A nifty hero card system with stat modifiers lets players select a new card each time they move up a level. Another integral part of growing your character comes in keeping an eye on the loot you collect and regularly swapping out old gear for better items. Sadly, I couldn't figure out a way to easily compare stats between equipped items and the stuff in my loot bag, but that's one of the game's very few foibles. At least we can liquidate unwanted items simply by zapping them with the Item Grinder (pat. pending).
But the heart of DeathSpank is its quests. Jobs are everywhere, and they're usually more demanding than the standard fetch tasks often found in games of this ilk. An early mission, for example, requires players to obtain nine red demon imp horns. Thing is, the horns only come in white. You can either save up your cash and pay for an outrageously expensive bucket of red paint at a local shop or go through a lengthy rigmarole with a local farmer to get some berry juice to dye them red. The choice is yours.
Should you ever get lost exploring the surprisingly large world or become stuck on any of the game's quests you can crack open some of the fortune cookies DeathSpank stumbles across, which provide hints on what needs to be done next. However, the fortune cookies aren't in limitless supply, so you'll definitely want to try to figure out how to proceed on your own first.
DeathSpank is a lightweight action RPG, but I think it's got enough spunk and verve to satisfy both newcomers and hardcore fans of the genre. And did I mention it only costs about $15? I've been playing for nearly ten hours and there is still a fair bit of the world map I've yet to explore. It looks like it will deliver about one hour of entertainment for each dollar invested. That's not bad value.
And while it's currently console only, there is still some hope for the PC community. Mr. Gilbert, the game's designer, hinted on his blog that the game is being prepped for release on another unspecified platform ("DeathSpank is poised to hit PSN, XBLA and [REDACTED]on July 13th, July 14th and [REDACTED][REDACTED]h," he wrote near the end of June). Here's hoping. The PC community gave birth to this kind of game. It'd be a shame to leave that devoted crowd out in the cold on something as fresh and fun as DeathSpank.
DeathSpank
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (reviewed)
Developer: Hothead Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Rating: Teen
Score: 8/10
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