DeathSpank

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Description

DeathSpank is an action role-playing game by game designer Ron Gilbert. Described by Gilbert as 'Monkey Island meets Diablo', DeathSpank combines the humorous characters and setting of Gilbert's previous games with hack & slash, loot-heavy action gameplay.

Beyond the expected action RPG mechanics of slaying monsters and collecting weapons and armour, DeathSpank can also acquire Weapons of Justice. By striking enemies with combinations of different weapons, a "justice meter" fills. When filled, powerful attacks specific to each Weapon of Justice can be unleashed. A massive boot-hammer stuns all nearby enemies, the Cleaver of Cleaving strikes all enemies in radius, etc. Weapons and other items (healing and buff potions, food) can be mapped any controller face button or D-pad button.

DeathSpank features over 100 quests, a majority of which are optional sidequests. Conversations with NPCs use a dialog tree similar to many classic adventure games. Often conversations will allow the player to take wild tangents that are funny, but largely unrelated gameplay challenges. Some of the quests involve solving adventure game-esque puzzles, where non-combat items in the world can be found, combined and used in specific locations or with specific characters.

The story begins with the eponymous hero seeking for a powerful artifact known as "The Artifact." Coming very close to finally completing his quest, The Artifact is stolen away at the last minute by the minions of a wicked tyrant, Lord Von Prong. But it is soon revealed that a Von Prong actually desires DeathSpank's purple Thong Of Justice. He has kidnapped the local orphans and, as a Hero to the Downtrodden, DeathSpank must rescue them.

DeathSpank's art style uses a cylindrical "rolling world" with lots of pseudo-2D artwork to create the feel of a pop-up storybook. The world is populated with a number of horrible monsters, from the sneaky greems and chimeric bearalope, to the brutal orques (no relation to orcs) and the dreaded biclops. The game also features local co-op, where a second player can join at any time. They play as Sparkles the Wizard, a sidekick to DeathSpank with a fixed set of abilities.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Part of the Following Groups

• DeathSpank series
• Game Engine: PhyreEngine

User Reviews

There are no reviews for this game.

Critic Reviews

GameFocus	Windows	Oct 28, 2010	8.9 out of 10	89
3D Juegos	Xbox 360	Jul 13, 2010	8.6 out of 10	86
IGN	Windows	Oct 27, 2010	8.5 out of 10	85
PlayStation Official Magazine - UK	PlayStation 3	Sep, 2010	8 out of 10	80
GamesRadar	Xbox 360	Jul 13, 2010	8 out of 10	80
1UP	PlayStation 3	Jul 13, 2010	B	75
ZTGameDomain	Windows	Jan 21, 2011	7.3 out of 10	73
PC Games (Germany)	Windows	Dec, 2010	72 out of 100	72
PC Gamer	Windows	Jan 23, 2011	72 out of 100	72
Adrenaline Vault, The (AVault)	Windows	Nov 03, 2010		60

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Trivia

Comic

The main character of DeathSpank first appeared in a web comic called Grumpy Gamer, which was done by Ron Gilbert and Clayton Kauzlaric.

Awards

• 4Players
  • 2010 – #2 Most Humorous Game of the Year

Related Web Sites

• DeathSpank (official game website)