October 2, 2010

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue Review

Quick Info:
Overall Rating: 8.5

ESRB: T for Teen

Genre: RPG, action/adventure




Hero to the downtrodden...

Anyone who has read my review of the first DeathSpank game knows that I really enjoy these games.  DeathSpank never fails to deliver hilarious quests and off the wall speeches.  If you have not played the first DeathSpank game then I recommend that you do so before playing DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue as it's the second of the series.  Just a reminder: DeathSpank is the main character of the game.  This is a role-playing game (RPG)...

Did somebody say "Thongs"?
DeathSpank is all about the thongs.  The Thongs of Virtue to be exact.  A master craftsman made 6 powerful thongs.  Each of them corrupt their wearers over time.  The only one not corrupted by the powerful thongs was DeathSpank, and he wears the Thong of Justice.  In the first game you get a thong from Lord Von Prong, and now you are out to get the rest.  The story starts in a POW camp, but of course, DeathSpank breaks out.  From there it's a long tale of gathering thongs.

What do you do?
If you have played the first DeathSpank then you can expect to do similar types of activities in this game.  However, not everyone has played the first DeathSpank.  You have side quests and main quests; quests take up 90% of the game.  All your quests are logged in your menu and can be looked at any time you wish.  The only other thing you will find yourself doing in the game is killing monsters for money, XP, or just for fun.


DeathSpank fights off giant ants

What's the difference?
DeathSpank and DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue are very similar, but the developers did add some aspects to the game that made them different.  Some of the differences are guns, more ranged weapons, sailing, and 25 levels compared to 20.  The major difference is the addition to ranged weapons though.  You will notice right away that ranged weapons actually serve a purpose in this game compared to the first.  There are flamethrowers, bazookas, machine guns, shotguns, and even ray guns.  Sailing is a small part of the story, but there are several islands to sail to which gives the game a change of pace.  Other than that, there really is no difference between the games gameplay wise.

No hero is perfect
The flaws of the game are obvious one, but there are few.  First of all, the combat system is repetitive, but less than the first.  You can only really hack and slash your way through enemies with the exception of ranged weapons.  Some weapons have a specials like stunning or hitting multiple enemies at once.  The other flaw is the money system.  I see all these food stands, potion stands, and other merchants.  I never need to buy anything though.  By the end of the game I had over $2,000,000.  Not only do you not spend money, but you get it very easily by quests and killing monsters.

A third game?
Yes, there will be another game in the DeathSpank series according to the end of Thongs of Virtue.  All I am going to reveal is that it hinted that it will be the story of the beginning of the whole mess of events happening in both games.

The Wrap
Fans of the first DeathSpank game will feel at home with this second installment.  This action RPG is just as funny and action packed as the first.  I do apologize for the short review, but if you played the first game and liked it then you will like this too.  If you have not played the first game then you should not buy this one yet.  I highly recommend this tale of the hero known as DeathSpank going through blood, steel, and bacon.

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DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue Scores
Plot9The game has a funny and interesting story
Graphics10Any game with a mixture of 2D and 3D is unique
Controls10The layout was done well with no frustration
Replay Value3Once you are done with the game you probably won't play it again

2 comments:

  1. You say that the combat is repetitive, but you also say that there is more variety in weapons compared to the first. Don't those kind of contradict each other?

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  2. @MetaMan_
    There is more variety in weapons because of the addition of more ranged weapons. However, this doesn't change the fact that there are only two fighting techniques: ranged, and melee combat.

    ReplyDelete