Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue Review (360, XBLA)

The Downtrodden need not fear

Just as the downtrodden where feeling unsafe again, evil was roaming free and justice seemed to be all but lost, Deathspank returns for more heroic vanquishing and justice dispensing.

Beginning directly after the events in the first game, you take control of the ridiculously named hero in a prison and all the charm from the original is instantly recognisable and intact. Working your way through this small section will get you accustomed to the game with its new addition of guns and reveals the new plot of obliviously gathering up the items mentioned in the title, the thongs of virtue for the red haired female knight, Sandy.

Deathspank: Thongs of VirtueThe story will take you through a pretty vast amount of scenery for a budget title with plenty to do that will quickly eat into your day whilst you try and find every last cave and treasure chest. Venturing up snowy mountains and into the depths of the jungle, even sailing the seas and visiting the north pole. It’s not like all these place are unpopulated either. Each town has its own little population of weirdly named characters like General Snugglewugglepants and Madame Primp for you to interact with and annoy or help as you see fit. It covers a lot of bases for the avid RPG fan who likes to explore.

Nicely laid out menus and plenty of swappable character clothes, weapons and items will keep the fashion conscience, war hungry hoarders amongst us happy. With a nice simple control layout to use all of the above, it makes for a nice game to navigate through and customise your character with all your recently acquired armour, weapons and accessories, all of which add a nice little boost to Deathspank if you’ve levelled up enough to wear them.

I did forgive its flaws and played right to the end with a smile on my face

Unfortunately after playing for a while you slowly but surely start to notice the flaws in this quirky little RPG. It really is far too repetitive. Long hours are spent fighting through the reasonably vast but weak in variation cast of enemies while you help out the increasingly stupid population of places like Strumfuquel and Poque La Tete. It takes a while to realise, as the humour of the game does seriously lighten the blow. But there are a lot of back and forth quests that I feel this otherwise quite exceptional arcade title could have done without. Every time you have to retread a path the enemies have reappeared that you have to hack your way back through, which would be fine as the combat system with its justice weapons and elemental attacks is far more in depth than it appears at first glance, but unfortunately you can easily complete this game without even paying attention to these nuances. With the exception of the ghosts, you’re usually more than well equipped to take down the hordes of assailants without even a thought as to what their weakness may be.

Deathspank: Thongs of VirtueIn comparison to other RPG titles, Deathspank obviously doesn’t stand very tall with such a vast selection out there that will cater for everyone from the hardcore to the casual gamer. But as an arcade title it definitely makes more sense and it stands head and shoulders above the majority of other titles thrown on there to build up the library of games, and should definitely be bought by anyone wanting a change from the norm or a little venture into the world of RPG’s.

All in all, I feel that Deathspank: TOV is a wonderfully refreshing game due to its quirky graphics, ridiculous humour, sprawling map and great combat system, that anyone could happily play and enjoy regardless of RPG experience. It’s just a shame that it had to be tainted with such a repetitive quest and enemies that all feel a little the same at times to use your elemental attacks and justice weapons to their full potential. There was much more could have been done with this world. The inclusion of anything from more benefits for elemental usage to a bigger variation in enemy attack patterns could have made this game feel much more polished. Even reducing the amount of time you spend jumping back and forth would have been enough to liven the game in the later levels of play. I did however forgive its flaws and played right to the end with a smile on my face thanks to the light hearted nature and I would recommend anyone else to do the same as its up there with its predecessor as one of the best arcade titles on the XBLA marketplace and I hope to see more of this backward hero in the future.

The Good: Maintains the nicely humoured sound and visuals from the original with a nice selection of new quests and gear to keep you going through the amusing story
The Bad: Unfortunately, the repetitive nature of the original is also maintained


Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue 


Silver Y AwardSilver Y Award
4 4 / 5

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