#SATRIE GAMES LIKE DEATHSPANK PC#

Once the Justice meter is filled, something that is not really hard, you can activate the purple thingies, as DeathSpank calls them. They can be triggered when you manage to string a number of blows with the normal weapons. These abilities can vary from freezing all enemies to a single hit that deals a massive amount of damage. The Weapons of Justice have a purple icon and have a powerful effect alongside the normal attacks. Four helpful items like potions and damage-dealing runes can be mapped on the D-Pad. You can bind four weapons on the face buttons, block with the right bumper and target with the left bumper. This is a simplified Diablo style of combat and exploration, with a few elements streamlined to ease in the casual audience.

It is too bad then that DeathSpank fails to deliver on the gameplay side the same level of quality as in its presentation and writing. Gilbert brilliantly manages to be complex and approachable at the same, in the vein of his work in the Monkey Island series. In the wake of all the thong and toilet references, some of the deeper jokes, both about heroism, but also about some of the more traditional notions of action-RPG are a breath of fresh air. It manages to take-on the many absurd tropes of the genre and make the most hardcore of fans smile or laugh out loud.ĭeathSpank himself is a great character, well voice-acted and his responses to the crazy world around him and his constant ramblings about dispensing justice are as whimsical at they are quixotic.

In these terms, the satirical vibe of DeathSpank is a spectacular success. On the other hand, I cannot imagine an RPG fan who will not laugh when they will encounter the Log Sword or face their first Vicious or Stoopid Chickens. While I really enjoyed it, I would advise those who do not really click with toilet-humor to try the demo before purchasing DeathSpank, as some of the one-liners may offend some more sensible tastes. The writing is well done, even if quite irreverent at times. The voice acting is what one would expect from a Ron Gilbert game, as the cast succeeds in portraying the title's wacky characters and deliver the very funny dialogue without spoiling any of its humor. The various areas of the title are differentiated nicely through color schemes and themes, a bit like in World of Warcraft's regions. This look alongside the environment's vibrant colors results in very charming and atmospheric visuals and it is one of DeathSpank's biggest achievements. While the character models and the world are 3D, the trees, houses, castles and other objects are like 2D cardboard cut-outs.

What is striking as you make your way through the first stages of the game is the incredibly delightful aesthetic.

#SATRIE GAMES LIKE DEATHSPANK PC#

It is currently available on the Xbox 360 through XBLA and the PlayStation 3 through PSN, with a rumored PC port in the works. This new creation has been in development for quite some time now, as Gilbert has been pushing to see DeathSpank made since 2004. For those who are unfamiliar with him, Ron Gilbert is the writer behind the first two titles in the legendary Monkey Island adventure series. DeathSpank is Ron Gilbert's latest labor of love, a parody to the action role playing game genre that involves a lot of funny writing and, unfortunately, repetitive combat.

Satrie games like deathspank