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DeathSpank Co-Op Review

Review
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DeathSpank. Hero to the Downtrodden. Vanquisher of Evil. Includer of Co-op. Is the hack and slash title by Ron Gilbert (creator of the Monkey Island series) complete with peril, orphans, loot, thongs, quirky characters, and lots of poop. Is the co-op part of the fertile yet evil demon poop, or does it shine like magical unicorn manure?

DeathSpank takes players on a ride through the countryside, visiting various towns, and becoming a hero to many downtrodden folks along the way. DeathSpank is that hero, and he brings his silent little sidekick along on side quests around a main storyline that will have you rolling with every bit of quirky banter.

Your ultimate goal as DeathSpank is to find the fabled Artifact. This artifact is so mysterious that the only thing known about it is that it is "The Artifact." You actually get your hands on The Artifact fairly early in the game, and the story takes a turn for the strange, unusual, and particularly thong-filled - but I'll let you discover the full story for yourself. You’ll have to do a few chores to get to the final battle, though. As in most hack and slash titles, you complete tasks for a loot reward. DeathSpank fulfills that loot requirement, and adds a bit of experience to benefit the players that aren’t particularly loot-crazy.

DeathSpank is the ultimate casual hardcore title. There are options for hardcore players to play as they normally would. Figuring things out themselves, balancing their weapon effects with their strength, and armor with added benefits. For those that are more casual with this type of game, you have the option to automatically equip whichever armor is deemed "the best," and you get a lot of optional hints to complete your tasks.

In your quest log you’ll see a brief description of what you’ve been asked to do, as well as key locations that were revealed. If you’re having trouble with the clues, you can use the power of fortune cookies (like candy that tell the future) to reveal up to 3 hints about the task. This is great for getting stuck, or the casual player. Of course, having one advanced player play DeathSpank, and a less invested player as the sidekick Sparkles is the best policy.

In your player menu you have a few pages. Standard inventory, quest inventory, important and unimportant tasks (quest log), and your “Hero Cards.” Hero cards are your reward for leveling up. You get a series of 6 cards with percentage benefits (15% stronger melee, 10% stronger ranged weapons, 20% faster speed, etc). As you select cards, your stats change. You can view how powerful your DeathSpank is in his inventory menu.

DeathSpank’s journey takes him all over, from the Enchanted Forest full of rabid gnomes and vicious unicorns, to the Haunted Forest complete with ghouls, skeletons, and bitter ghosts, to lots of small towns in between. You’ll come across various strange characters including a hippie talking tree, a mad scientist of a Wizard, and a leprechaun running from the mob.

There is no end to the stuff to do, the people to meet, and the hilarity to be found. Well actually, the fun ends at about 10-20 hours depending on your specific play style.

Oh, and did we mention he can fast travel? Yea, it’s really impressive, too. He can travel from one outhouse to another. That’s right, (tele)port-o-potty. The outhouses are also DeathSpanks respawn point should he face an untimely death at the hands of vicious Orques.



 
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roland
6:01 PM
7/21/2010

From playing the demo, this was exactly the experience we had. Sparkles is completely an afterthought, which is a shame, because the foundation of a cool character and justice dispensing partnership is definitely there. Sparkles wouldn't even necessarily need all the options of Deathspank, giving him some dialog and letting him interact with quest items/NPCs would do a ton to flesh him out.


blakepro
6:16 PM
7/21/2010

Yeah, My wife and I played the demo and she felt left out because she couldnt grab certain items or talk to people..

Why do they do that? Just duplicate the main character and use the same voice samples if you have to...


smurphster
7:50 PM
7/21/2010

that's a shame. i was looking forward to this one


kevinclough
8:26 PM
7/21/2010

The limited co-op takes this one off the list for me. I already have too many good single player games to play through.


blakepro
8:43 PM
7/21/2010

I wonder what it would take for a game like this to include DLC or a title update that would enable a full co-op partner instead of this "B*** co-op" (not my phrase, co-optimus phrase. - I'm not a fan of the swears)

Anyway, its a shame they cant or wont "fix" it.


ShadokatRegn
1:08 AM
7/22/2010

--- Replying to smurphster -----

Well, if you take a look at the general score, it is a phenomenal title on its own. I will also add that my sister thoroughly enjoyed playing the game, even if she was a bit disappointed in the co-op she still had a lot of fun.


smurphster
8:20 AM
7/22/2010

well i don't need any more single player games and it's hard to get my wife to play anything that's not halo or L4D. the style of this game looked interesting but i know she won't like this type of co-op. we tried super mario galaxy 2 and she got tired of it pretty quick and this sounds pretty similar. i might pick it up if it goes on sale, we'll see.


Ash1138
3:59 PM
7/22/2010

DeathSpank is easily one of the best XBLA games ever. It's only 1200 pts and it's better than most $60 disc titles. The co-op is definitely tacked on, but that has a lot to do with the game never being intended for co-op to being with. For whatever reason, they decided to add it at the last minute. For me, I just look at it the way I look at Fable 2; it's a single player game.


ShadokatRegn
4:09 PM
7/22/2010

--- Replying to smurphster -----

Who says your wife is the one that has to be the tacked on player two?


smurphster
4:19 PM
7/22/2010

--- Replying to ShadokatRegn -----
believe it or not, she does even after i insist we switch. she's way too nice (at times). she's always P2, but then i just feel bad when she gets bored so we try to find something else to play (which is why BYOB co-op doesn't work for us).


blakepro
7:21 PM
7/22/2010

--- Replying to smurphster -----

This is EXACTLY how it goes down at our house too. I tried several times to trade with her during the demo and she wouldn't have it. Its just as you described smurphster.


BigBadBob113
9:54 PM
7/22/2010

While it is lacking in co-op, it still makes a great single player hack-and-slash RPG. It is successfully tiding me over until the Lord of the Rings and Dungeon Siege (at least I think that's the one I'm thinking of.)


Willtur
2:04 PM
7/30/2010

bummer the two player game isnt up to par with the single player, was hoping it would be a purchase.

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Total Comments: 13

Release Date: 07.14.2010
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB: Teen

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