Vanquish Evil in DeathSpank

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue for Xbox LIVE Arcade continues the hilarious madness of the original DeathSpank in an unusual sequel that has you searching for the six hidden thongs of virtue. Um, yeah. The wacky mind of Ron Gilbert (of Monkey Island fame) brings you another DeathSpank adventure, he who is the Dispenser of Justice, Vanquisher of Evil, and Hero to the Downtrodden. It’s the same type of adventure as the first one but with different weapons and environments, and hey, you get to sail a pirate ship.

Robots. Blasted robots.

There’s also a bonus for early adopters. For the launch week through September 28, there is FREE downloadable content for the game. You can pick up the Snowy Mountain Dungeon and Sidekick Tankko without charge. Nice! (After September 28, the Dungeon will be 240 points and Tankko 80 points.)

My first ten minutes with DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue turned into an hour-long session and a test of wills with my dog, who felt she needed to go on a walk and who I felt could wait until the next quest was completed (end result: dog won). The game is addictive, giving you just enough treats to to make you want to go on and find more items, better armor and weapons, or see the next environment. When you get that fire axe within the first few minutes of the game you feel invincible, and then you pick up the even better hoplite sword, and it’s yesssssss!

There are always ants at a picnic.

Even with all its silliness, the game is a respectable role-playing game (RPG) with comprehensive inventory management (including auto-equip, sorting, and a way to process unwanted items into cold, hard cash), fairly-paced combat (you can see enemy levels and hit points; don’t forget to chain your attacks!), and fun little quests. When you first start the game, you’re inundated with more than ten “important things to do” but you can quickly fulfill these quests and begin the process of leveling up. All of these components are just intensely satisfying and make you want to play more and more.

Co-op play is helpful in battles.

And yes, for all you co-op fans, there is Sidekick Co-op Mode where your buddy can plug in a second controller and take on the role of the ninjatastic Steve, or the mysterious wizard Sparkles. Co-op can really help during the battles with multiple foes.

The humor here is definitely Gilbertian, which means it’s fairly sophomoric, but that’s ok sometimes. The voice actor who plays DeathSpank is suitably cheesy in his mock bravado, and the aesthetic details are worth a closer look (such as the orque latrines in the first level). If you crave a simple and straightforward hack-and-slash RPG-style game with gameplay that will make you keep going for just another few minutes (until it’s mid-morning of the next day), then look into both the original DeathSpank and DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue. And don’t forget to get the downloadable content, free through September 28!