Worth every Oprhan...
There was a cut scene in the middle of DeathSpank that had me laughing out loud. People often use hyperbole in describing classic adventure games, particularly those of Ron Gilbert. I don't think I have ever fallen out of my chair in laughter and the only joke I recall laughing out loud for during the Monkey Island series was the surreal dream sequence in the second one. I'm not saying those games weren't funny, I'm just saying they weren't the type of humour you split your sides to. To be funny, you aren't required to make people fall off their chairs, you just have to make them smile. To claim something is funny, you don't need to proclaim that you fell off your chair or even laugh out loud. The Monkey Island games made me smile. DeathSpank for the most part made me smile and for one moment, made me laugh out loud.
The reason though I liked DeathSpank as much as I did is not because of the humour or the parody of the hero's journey. It's because the game is a lot of fun to play. Once you get used to all the mechanics of the combat and the various abilities you have at your disposal you should find a style of play that you find comfortable. It's simple with depth and that is something that's complicated to pull off. Perhaps the most interesting thing I found with DeathSpank was my inability to let go. The one more quest mentality was strong all the way through. Knowing that I could knock off just one more before I had to go and do something else and spending another hour playing the game was somewhat dangerous. I can't complain too much though because it was a lot of fun. There will be some annoying deaths, particularly when you get to the harder enemies but that comes with the genre really. Towards the end of the game though, I was getting a little sick of some of the newer enemies and side quests with my desire to drive the story forward.
I'm curious to see if this becomes a series, particularly with Gilbert leaving Hothead. There are a lot of story tricks that Gilbert uses here that Monkey Island fans will be familar with. There are certainly hints through the game that this is a fantasy and the questions that are left are interesting ones. Perhaps though the biggest clue comes from the carboard cutout graphics. Is this world nothing more than a fabricated reality? Will this series give Gilbert the chance to further explore themes he wasn't able to continue with in the Monkey Island games?
No matter what the deeper subtext of the game is, to me this is a solid piece of entertainment for the price. It took me about 7 hours to finish everything and get all the achievements, if that sounds worth 1200MSP to you, then jump on board. It's experiences like this one that I want to see on XBLA.
