Deathspank Review

Ron Gilbert, creator of adventures like Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken and Monkey Island, is back in action with DeathSpank, a digitally distributed game through Xbox Live and PSN. While it cannot be considered a classic, like the aforementioned titles, it is quite fun while it lasts. 

The game presents a typical Gilbert argument. Indeed, many dialogues that proliferate through the adventure are some of the highlights of DeathSpank, reminding the absurdity that accompanied the first incursions of Guybrush Threepwood, the eternal anti-hero of The Secret of Monkey Island. 

Speaking of heroes, this time we aim to help a warrior named DeathSpank to discover a very special artifact ... Special to the point of being known as "The Artifact". To meet the requirements, you must interact with dozens of other characters, kill waves of monsters, completing a handful of missions and collect weapons, armor, amulets and potions, essential for the proper course of action. Therefore, we have a very mechanical action RPG, that reminds the style of Diablo.

Basically, much of the adventure is spent in the company of the good old hack'n'slash style, annihilating enemies that are constantly surrounding the protagonist. The created interface is extremely intuitive. Potions and food, among others, are immediately accessible when you click one of the directions of the d-pad. Perfect. 

As usual in the genre, the actions committed by DeathSpank result in accumulating points, ending with the rise in the level of expertise of the hero. This increase allows us to choose the better of one of its characteristics, apart from making it possible to use more efficient weapons and armor. Nothing new here.

As already mentioned, the dialogues with the characters that you meet along the way are absolutely delicious.

Time and again, we're faced with situations that require us to think a bit in the style of the point'n'click adventure games. Either way, the difficulty of the puzzles is not moderate. Moreover, the work of Ron Gilbert brings a runway system that helps overcome the "obstacles" present.

Concerning quests… Unfortunately, they are not exactly very inventive, following the formula “pick a certain object for a certain character”. A little more variety and creativity would have been very welcome.

DeathSpank is extremely pleasing to the eye, with the scenarios that mix 2D with 3D. The design of objects and characters is also of high quality, settling nicely into absurd situations that you’ll face.

The PS3 version is less fluid than its counterpart for the Xbox 360, with some frame drop. Still, nothing too serious, nothing that will adversely affect your gaming experience.

DeathSpank is an fun hack'n'slash rpg, especially for fans of the genre and style Ron Gilbert games. It is unfortunate that the action lack variety. Still, it remains a decent choice for this summer.