Fun game, but big changes are needed for survival of the series
Baconing's biggest problem is revealed from the minute you start playing it. There are no changes in the structure of game-play and combat. Even in previous games, there were some parts that felt repetitive and boring, ( due to the Diablo clone nature of the game ), so it might be a bit disappointing to know that still, you are playing the same thing. But still , that didn't prevent the developers to try and enhance the experience as much as they can. The Baconing might be more of the same, but good humor and interesting ( yet weird ) settings prevent it from becoming a complete boredom.
After the events of DS and ToV and getting his hands on all 6 thongs, Deathspank wears them all at once and that results in the creation of Anti-spank, an evil version of himself and the main villain of the game. So he must now destroy the 6 thongs in 6 different bacon fires ( Lord of the rings anyone? ) and weaken, confront and destroy Anti-spank once and for all.
You'll see the classic " To be continued " sentence after the ending. As a Deathspank fan, I'm happy about that. But that would be disappointing if they rehash the same game-play for the 4th time. So as already mentioned in the title, there's need for a serious overhaul if Hothead wants to expand the franchise.
The only notable change in the game-play is the addition of the shield's counter-attack ability. Unfortunately, It' s not very useful. There's not much time to plan tactics and timing and most of the time, you just see yourself attacking randomly until all of the enemies around are dead.
Also you can do charged attacks with your ranged weapons in Baconing which unlike the counter-attack turns out to be very useful. Although later in the game, the arrows become explosive and hurt yourself too if you are in the range of explosion. So that limits using this ability and therefore, giving a bit of depth to it.
The Baconong's main redeeming aspect is its well designed and varied settings and generally good and sometimes really good humor. Some settings in the game like the forest of tomorrow are brilliant and thought provoking. For example, one of your quests is to the husband of a character from the previous game back to her. But her husband is not willing to. Then you get his DNA and make a clone of him and take the clone back to her. Or in another area called " Valhalla heights " which is a place of retirement for Gods as the game calls it, you see rich Cabin and Derek Oil ( two rich characters from previous games ) who are ascended to Godhood only because of their wealth.
Side quests are fewer but better compared to previous games. Unlike the previous games which you had the feeling that you are doing something very pointless doing some of the side quests, but in Baconing, side quests are usually more meaningful and provide better and worthier rewards and fortunately there's less back-tracking involved.
The Baconing might not be something new, but still, it provides pure simple fun and will definitely satisfy any Deathspank fan. But if you are a newcomer to the franchise, it's better to start with the original DS and Thongs of Virtue and only think about playing TB if you enjoyed and finished those two games.