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DeathSpank: Thongs Of Virtue Out Next Month

You know, the long-awaited followup to DeathSpank?

Make no mistake: I think we all knew that Hothead Games was going to make a sequel to its action-RPG comedy DeathSpank. Heck, the original game ends with a very transparent cliffhanger for a follow-up. So it's not a big surprise.  But who would have guessed that Hothead was nearly done making that sequel?
 

It's 'cause thongs are funny.
It's 'cause thongs are funny.
But that's absolutely the case, as EA and Hothead have revealed DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, the sequel to the original DeathSpank, which will be out on September 21 on PSN and September 22 on XBLA. Of course, Hothead didn't turn around a sequel to DeathSpank in the three months between the game's July release and now. Quite the contrary; according to Hothead, Thongs of Virtue was in development alongside the original release of the game. That's right; they were engaging in the dark art of making the sequel before the previous game was properly released, Back To the Future II/III style.

== TEASER ==And it sounds like concurrent development with the first game means that DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue won't be an especially different game from its predecessor. According to an interview with Hothead Producer  Hamish Millar over at Kotaku, the new DeathSpank will be mechanically and artistically unchanged from the first game, so players who played that original game will know exactly what to expect from Thongs of Virtue. However, though the core mechanics will remain unchanged, the balance of gameplay systems is being altered: Thongs will offer more puzzle and adventure gameplay than its predecessor. The game will add some new items types to the game (including the somewhat-anachronistic addition of proper guns) and promised to be a full 50 percent longer than its predecessor.
    
 It's because people use underwear to cover their private parts. That's what makes it funny.
 It's because people use underwear to cover their private parts. That's what makes it funny.
Of course, one has to wonder if a DeathSpank sequel developed alongside the first game and released so shortly after would be able to address some of the issues players had with the first game. The press release boasts about the new items, locations, characters, and monsters that were added to the sequel, but the interview at Kotaku paints the game as a standalone expansion pack that is mechanically similar to the original game. There's still no online co-op in the game, with Hothead instead updating the game's asymmetrical co-op with a new character for the second player to control. Also, your original campaign progress from DeathSpank will not be carried over to the sequel: you'll start afresh from level one and work your way back to the top.
 
And all of that is why this game is not called DeathSpank 2.
 
And thongs are like underwear, but they don't have a lot of material, so they don't cover much of the private parts. That's the humor.
And thongs are like underwear, but they don't have a lot of material, so they don't cover much of the private parts. That's the humor.
Kotaku has some more details about Thongs of Virtue in its interview with Millar, but I'm curious as to how a mostly similar follow-up to DeathSpank is received, especially if, apart from some asset changes, it's very similar to the original game. We're bound to have more details ridiculously soon, because that game is coming out in September. 
 
All images courtesy of Kotaku.

144 Comments

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ryanwho

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Edited By ryanwho

Its cute that Kessler thinks he's in a position to condescendingly appraise low hanging fruit humor when he can't even pull that off.

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futrstyl

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Edited By futrstyl

I'm almost finished with the first one, and I'm looking forward to being done with it. It's not as fun as it started out being.

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fox01313

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Edited By fox01313

Guessing they made quite a lot in the ideas which got cut to knock the size down. Was wondering what happened to the pirates I heard about earlier on this game that weren't in the first one, distinctly remember seeing on GB that there was some pirate themed gear/armour. Too bad that the boss fight at the end turned me off on the first game enough that I didn't want to keep going though I might give this sequel a decent look through as the rest of the game wasn't that vexing.

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Chaoskiller2000

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Edited By Chaoskiller2000

Deathspank is fun but this is a little too soon for a sequel it just seems so...weird!

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Gubagaba

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Edited By Gubagaba

This is the first game.
 

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Malakhii

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Edited By Malakhii

I don't know...... I just Don't know..... I think I'll end up passing.

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sjschmidt93

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Edited By sjschmidt93

I really liked DeathSpank, but... really? Probably won't be buying this Day 1...

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jos1ah

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Edited By jos1ah

All the Jeff Gerstmann-sucking haters can go give lapdances in GB's new bar. Deathspank was a good game and I'm looking forward to this chapter.

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SWEETLU

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Edited By SWEETLU

i still wanna try the first one, but i'm a little putt off by the title 

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vinsanity09

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Edited By vinsanity09
@Kesselrun said:
" @vinsanity09 said:
" @MattBodega said:

" @Bummey:  Yep. I'm still here. Still ruining your Giant Bomb. "

we all know the saying: "haters gonna hate" "
The other thing that stuck around for way too long and is adored by terrible commenters? "
and you're a better "commenter" with your whining?
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cstrang

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Edited By cstrang

Pass.

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FunkyHugo

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Edited By FunkyHugo

I should really finish Deathspank. I don't know, I'm not opposed to this in anyway, but asking 15 bucks for this (and this soon I might add) is not cool.

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joey2683

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Edited By joey2683

The comments on these pictures are humorous. It's not a bad game but Deathspank is such a bad name and this sequel takes it further into the realm of not funny.
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inhaleandvomit

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Edited By inhaleandvomit
@Chango said:
" I should really finish Deathspank. I don't know, I'm not opposed to this in anyway, but asking 15 bucks for this (and this soon I might add) is not cool. "
this.  i really enjoyed deathspank from the beginning, but the gameplay really lost steam for me somewhere in the middle of orphan-collecting.  i'd like to finish it one of these days when a furious button-mashing mood strikes me.  but a sequel now?  how odd.
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JackiJinx

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Edited By JackiJinx

That was needlessly condescending. I liked most of DeathSpank, especially the humor. Hell yes, I'd love to see a new one with more improvements. It was FUN.

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aaronness

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Edited By aaronness

i just have a feeling this will blow up in there faces

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Castiel

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Edited By Castiel

Kessler is killing the game with those snarky comments! 
 
BOOM!

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Loiske

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Edited By Loiske

I guess now I have to finish the first...it got a bit grindish around level 17. And I'll wait for the reviews on this one first =) 

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delicious_lie

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Edited By delicious_lie

i'll pass on this.
deathspank wasn't very good mechanically, and it mostly wasn't that funny.

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Snotty

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Edited By Snotty

it would be nice to get a discount on the new episode if you had bought the previous one. 
 
I enjoyed deathspank, i completed it in one 5 1/2 hour sitting, with an hour of grinding the following morning to get the last achievement.
 
 Had the game been released retail with 4 episodes lasting a total of 24hours gameplay then we could say it was good value.

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frans130

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Edited By frans130

I can't really see what some people are complaining about: For a downloadable game, Deathspank did have a hell of a lot more content than most of its competitors, so what if they split the game up? I'm thrilled to see this coming so soon, I want more Deathspank, and I don't want to wait a whole god damn year. Also Kessler's comments on the games subtitle are just plain awesome xD

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CrazedMaverick

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Edited By CrazedMaverick

I'll have to pass. They certainly had a quick turn around. Props to Kessler on the captions

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sammo21

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Edited By sammo21

Basically, considering I beat the first game 100% in less than 5 hours I will start calling these "episodes".  Also, I think they either need make these games a little more substantive or lower the price point.

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borgmaster

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Edited By borgmaster

well, kessler didn't like the first one.

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Azteck

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Edited By Azteck

Will they fix the humor in the game? It wasn't that funny in the end.

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ahab88

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Edited By ahab88

It's like that time they filmed Back to the Future 2&3 at the same time. It was awesome actually seeing the trailer for BttF 3 at the end of BttF2, like trailers used to be shown.

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slappymcjack

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Edited By slappymcjack

already? geeze

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leftie68

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Edited By leftie68

I love Deathspank!  Bring on more death spanking!
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crashtanuki

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Edited By crashtanuki

Sounds like DeathSpank's humor was too much for the master of humor that is Matt Kessler.

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phantomzxro

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Edited By phantomzxro

The first was really fun and i don't mind a  little more deathspank but it does feel a bit soon if it was coming out this soon i would have liked them to had said from the start it coming out like this.
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Chaos_Bladez

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Edited By Chaos_Bladez

I don't really think thongs are that funny...

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Sharpshooter

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Edited By Sharpshooter

I liked DeathSpank, not the best game ever but I wasn't expecting amazing so my expectitions were right on the money. 
 
However I was expecting to wait till next year to play a sequel not a month or two. I don't know wether to rejoice or loath this news. I'll have to wait and see.
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fox01313

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Edited By fox01313

My main issue with this is with it being so close to when the first one came out is that compared to other expansions, this might not have any improvements or fix any issues that was in the original. Glad that they're putting it out & it's coming out soon but I feel it could have waited a month or two to deal with any nitpicky things.

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deactivated-5b047a335a3c2

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Deathspank: bad name. Deathspank: Thongs: worse name.

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DXmagma

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Edited By DXmagma

it's about time! sheesh never thought it'd be finished.

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JesseCherry

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Edited By JesseCherry

Those complaining about being ripped off need to just think of it as episodic gaming. I doubt the studio held back what they believed to be a better game to milk cash out of people.

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The_Philosopher

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Edited By The_Philosopher

I didn't even care for the first one enough to finish it. Fuck this. They should have focused on making the first one better. All the RPG elements sucked and the jokes were only funny 10% of the time. I really got pissed off when it wouldn't let me sell my own armor because it was the best I had. I was going to buy new better armor with the money from selling the old one but the game thinks I'm a baby and can't be trusted to manage by own gear. That and Death Spank's terrible voice work made it way too annoying to play.  
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GM_Lucra

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Edited By GM_Lucra

Awesome, Cant wait, first day buy for me, Other generic comments...

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fugie7

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Edited By fugie7

Enjoyed the first game, can't wait for the second one.

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Aelric

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Edited By Aelric
@Ballskin:  Look at the byline. The ghost of Kessler haunts us still.
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jbrocky

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Edited By jbrocky

Wow, this looks interesting. :) I am excited to see how the game goes from fantasy to a more real fantasy, awesome.

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Piranesi

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Edited By Piranesi

Too soon, man, too soon ...
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deactivated-5cc8838532af0

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Man from making the above average Penny Arcade games to, to, this uh...