DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue Reviews

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Written by Brother None on September 21st, 2010

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Unfortunately for him, the second trip to his world isn't a whole lot different from the first. As an action RPG, it's still super-streamlined, which might annoy some of the more hardcore fans of the genre. The combat is ultra-simple, with four buttons mapped to four different weapons and no spells to speak of. Other than how much HP you have left, the only meter that you need to pay attention to is the Justice meter which, when full, unleashes whatever special attack your weapon has under its sheath. It's not a very deep combat system.

Only further serving to annoy hardcore players, many of the quests aren't very well laid-out. Getting a quest to go to the Town of Strumfuquel in order to buy some rum so Captain Taint will consider you a real pirate, thus allowing you to borrow his ship so you can go to the North Pole and fight Santa Claus, only to find out that you won't actually get to work on that assignment until several hours later, with no explanation that that's the case, is rather annoying. It doesn't help that at any given time you could have dozens of uncompleted quests with no real direction from any of them, leading to some parts of the game spent wandering around wondering what to do next.

The line between full-blown sequel and episodic expansion is not always clear, but in the case of DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, the balance is skewed toward the latter. But don't assume that this downloadable adventure isn't worth your time just because it shares many elements with the original DeathSpank. The basic combat and visual style have made the transition virtually unchanged, but the consistently funny story is a worthy continuation of the events from the first game. Unfortunately, the problems present in the original release are still here. There isn't much depth to the combat, and there are a number of small bugs that throw a wrench in your spokes of justice. But these issues will cause you to stumble for only a few moments before you're back on your feet. This gung-ho adventure exudes charm, and the thoughtful ending gives a satisfying conclusion to DeathSpank's journey.

As before, the humorous touches that only Ron Gilbert can bring to such a game can be felt throughout. Sulking pirates pine for a bird to sit on their shoulder. Allusions to movie classics like Conan, Saving Private Ryan, and others splatter against of canvas of nearly every videogame cliché. There's even a whore with a heart of gold who will do just about anything for a buck. The dialogue allows for some great moments, but unfortunately, most gamers will race through it just to get to the quest. On top of that, the humor itself really lacks focus. With a game filled with WWII soldiers, pirates, cowboys, space marines, skeletons, and Vietcong chickens; the game feels like it's going through every joke they can pick off the floor of the Laugh Factory, hoping that the player will find something they'll like. Some jokes work while the rest of them fall flat.

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