DeathSpank Review

By Dan Pearson Published 13 July, 2010

Smack my witch up.

Version tested: Xbox 360

There's a lot of crap in DeathSpank.

I've counted three separate faecal inventory items, two other items that cause enemies to pinch off swirled, comedy loaves and innumerable references to bodily excretions.

It's perhaps a bit more base than people might expect, coming from Ron Gilbert. Monkey Island was irreverent, and often less than conceptual in its humour, but it never really resorted to full-on toilet antics. Conversely, DeathSpank revels in the smuttiness of its approach, and it's this which seems likely to divide its potential audience.

That's not to say it isn't amusing - I found a few chuckles during the expansive script that accompanies the 15 or so hours of the busy quest-log - but I can't help feel I'm not really part of DeathSpank's target audience. (Although bear in mind that I'm also the sort of grumpy misanthrope who only laughed twice during Hot Tub Time Machine.)

It's partly the difficult balance of pastiche. If whatever you're sending up isn't observed extremely acutely, and your mockery doesn't differ significantly enough from the lampooned material, then the result is often just as hackneyed and predictable as what you're trying to parody.

Such is the case with DeathSpank, which takes the pomp and earnestness of the Western RPG as its rather easy target, throws in a few words like 'thunderstomp', items such as 'chicken-lips' and the odd sabre-toothed donkey - then slips instantly back into repetitive fetch-quests and button bashing combat, losing any satirical edge by aping its subject too closely.

The first 15 minutes of DeathSpank.

Where DeathSpank does diverge from tradition, and very successfully at that, is in its art style. Part colourful cardboard cutout, part Ren and Stimpy nightmare, DeathSpank's Bosch-fairytale scenery scrolls over the horizon in a most pleasing manner. Most of the staple fantasy environments are here, from castles to swamps to fiery mines, but generally presented with enough of an acerbic edge to lend them individuality. Short animated sequences punctuate important story points too - their bright, angular puppetry marred only by their brevity.

Monster design is a similarly fresh take on old favourites, with chunky, papercraft skeletons and lumpen plasticine demons. Pretty and inventive, these brightly coloured fiends clash gaily with the patchwork foliage and ramshackle architecture to create a pleasantly disharmonious melange. Each themed area of the large world map features a particular breed of beastie, usually in two different flavours. Generally they'll be mobbing you in numbers, with occasional mixed ranged and melee groups needing a bit more crowd-management nous.

'DeathSpank' Screenshot 2

Stat-fans can switch on floating damage scores. Numberphobes can keep them invisible.

It's the combat which is the greatest disappointment. DeathSpank has four weapons to hand at any one time, each mapped to a face button, with healing items and oddities like the chicken cannon or black hole bomb getting a space on the d-pad. There's some subtlety to the systems on offer, with potions to buff defence, speed or critical rate, area-of-effect attacks to get you out of trouble and elemental missiles for your infinite ammo crossbow, but they quickly fall into disuse in favour of a toe-to-toe melee mash.

Each hit builds DeathSpank's justice meter, which is unleashed once full with a unique special attack from one of the weapon classes. These powerful attacks can be reserved for tricky encounters by using only vanilla weapons once charged, but it's all too easy to use them accidentally by using the far more powerful weaponry once too often in the thick of combat.

The gauge charges quickly enough for this to be only a minor annoyance, but it would have been nice to see an extra button combo requirement to use its powers. The attacks themselves are useful, and picking up rare runes allows the player to combine two in-hand weapons in a single devastating justice attack - a spinning-fire-slash of flamey-doom, for example.

Blocking is another seemingly underused mechanic, made difficult by the lack of obvious animation tells in many enemies' attacks. Using several different weapons one after the other will also build a combo counter, maxing out at seven with a powerful knockback attack, but it's a difficult thing to pull off, and not rewarding enough when you do.

There's a distinct lack of penalty to death, the cash dropped on extinction easily gathered up once you respawn at one of the nearby 'outhouses', or by dropping extraneous kit into the handy 'item grinder' which turns anything into gold - neatly sidestepping the need to schlep back and forth between shops when your inventory fills up.

While it's possible to carefully plan an attack, using blocking and inventory items to nuance your approach in response to your foes, the constant nature of the hacking and the effectiveness of straight-up attack spamming means any impetus to do so quickly fades.

There are also very few puzzles in the game. It's not really Diablo crossed with anything, really, just Diablo lite. Even the website says, "Mind numbing yet completely fair adventure game puzzles!" but in truth these amount to the odd combination of inventory items or the picking of the right conversation tree.

'DeathSpank' Screenshot 3

We were promised nuns, we got monks. CONSPIRACY, I say!

There are a couple of moments that force the player to use their brain, but they fall so few and far between that your thinking muscles are likely to have atrophied. Should they do so, a handy hint system is in place, fuelled by the fortune cookies found lying around the landscape.

Like nearly any game in the genre, repetition is the key gripe. DeathSpank is clearly designed to be a fairly lightweight approach to hackandslash, fit for short bursts rather than long sessions, but a lack of depth to levelling, armour or weapon customisation makes a grind out of much of the action. Playful environments and enemies can only do so much to distract from the single mechanic on offer.

Quest types are split broadly into the two classic categories of kill and fetch, often artificially extended by forcing you to traipse back to the quest-giver in between the quick jaunts to pick up items from the local area rather than giving you a long list and letting you get on with it. There are plenty of side quests to tackle at your own pace outside of the lengthy storyline, but killing 'X number of Y to gather their Zs' is still just as familiar when you're chasing chicken-lizards as orcs. To rub salt into the wound, the items and equipment rewards for quest completion are often obsolete by the time you get them anyway, surpassed by pieces found in the field.

'DeathSpank' Screenshot 4

Bosses bump up the challenge a bit, but there's always a respawn point nearby.

Local co-op should be a welcome addition, but when a second player jumps in as Sparkles the Wizard the structure breaks down considerably. Sparkles is limited to four unswappable spells, including a healing effort, but you're not challenged enough to warrant his assistance. Instead, as Sparkles spams his continuous fire attack in a turning circle, pretty much any threat is destroyed before it gets close enough to damage anyone.

It's not all doom and gloom. The inherent compulsiveness of these games means that it's easy to lose a couple of hours to DeathSpank at a time, the lack of concentration demanded by the gameplay working in its favour. Pacing is also good, with at least one appropriately levelled area to explore at any time, and usually more than one option - a feat made easier with the addition of a fast travel system.

It really is very pretty, too - a unique combination of patchwork prettiness and Grimm gross. And it's a big game, both in terms of its area and completion time, although there's little prospect of a replay once you reach the sequel and/or DLC-baiting conclusion.

When the curtain falls DeathSpank feels like something of a disappointment, but there's undoubtedly a market for the end product. If you like your loot-'em-ups, and you're looking for something humorous and a bit different, this is clearly the game for you. Just don't expect it to sparkle in the way which many, myself included, hoped that it would.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
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About Dan Pearson

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Pearson archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #1 2 years ago

    Bit of a disappointing review... but still, I trust Gilbert's sense of humour, the art style is top notch, and I've not had a good "loot-em-up" for a while, so I'll grab this when I've got some free gaming time (after both Monkey Islands are complete, probably!).

    "Disappointing" BTW only because of Gilbert's rep - I was hoping for an 8 or 9. 6 is still a good score in my book, especially for an irreverent title like this.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/10 @ 22:07

  • JayKwon #2 2 years ago

    But it looks so fun! I'll give it a try myself then. Still a bit disappointed. Review sounds fair.

  • Sunyavadin #3 2 years ago

    Is it just me or is the video extremely dark? I knocked up my brightness to max and still can only make out vague outlines.


    *edit* nvm, refreshed the page and it fixed itself.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/10 @ 22:11

  • ChthonicEcho #4 2 years ago

    And now I have that song stuck in my head. Shit.

  • INSOMANiAC #5 2 years ago

    Oh well, another promising game that turns out to be just above shite

  • UncleLou #6 2 years ago

    Allow me to disagree with this line:

    Like nearly any game in the genre, repetition is the key gripe.

    This isn't a gripe, in my opinion, it's what the genre is about, and what it needs to be. The genre is zen-gaming for me, and almost everything that distracts from it (too many story elements, dialogues, puzzles) is unwelcome. Diablo/Diablo 2 is horribly repetitive, and that's key to its success. I never quite understand why this is brought up in reviews, it's a bit like complaining about repetitiveness in racing games.

    Mind, I am speaking generally here, not having played DS yet. Maybe it is repetitive in a not genre-relevant way. :)

  • UncleLou #7 2 years ago

    And I wish release dates on PSN weren't quite so US-centric. It's been the 13th for more than 23 hours, and the game is nowhere to be seen.

    edit:
    Demo (and full game) up in the US store.
    Edited by 1 at 13/07/10 @ 22:22

  • Vyggo #8 2 years ago

    The interview said it was a mix of adventure and action rpg. So the adventure bit is the dialogue options and a few puzzles? Think I'll stick to a little Torchlight now and then..

  • humble #9 2 years ago

    Good review. Disappointed by the score, but I'm still going to give it a shot. Gilbert is yet to let me down :)

  • Huntcjna #10 2 years ago

    I can appreciate the reviewers concerns here but I don't really share them as Lou said repetition is defining in this type of genre and a strong reason behind their popularity for most players. I personally think the combination of tried and tested loot em up gameplay edged with Gilberts humour is going to be hard to disappoint.

    It would be a real shame too if this didn't do well its not a genre that's really supported on xbla/psn with possibly the exception of Arkanian Warriors from a couple of years ago. I'm certainly intending to pick this up and judge for myself.

  • actionfitz #11 2 years ago

    "Although bear in mind that I'm also the sort of grumpy misanthrope who only laughed twice during Hot Tub Time Machine."

    sorry dude.
    I read this bit then skipped to the end of the review.
    it's obvious to me that our respective funny bones are miles apart - anatomically speaking.
    Hot tub time machine was a movie that i was expecting to be trash, but made me nearly seek medical assistance due to it's hilarity.
    which is fair enough.
    To each his own.

  • Skurmedel #12 2 years ago

    "I want those chickens taken care of... violently!"

  • darkmorgado #13 2 years ago

    Could Eurogamer do a PS3 review of DeathSpank, Please?

    What? You want a dedicated format review of a download game?

    Come on. It's not like the graphics are exactly going to worry Crysis, or the gameplay mechanics are completely different across versions. In fact, when was the last time games were released on different formats with significant gameplay differences (handhelds aside of course)?

    Jeez. May as well ask for a Digital Foundry Comparison.

  • Jackface #14 2 years ago

    This was never gonna set the world on fire. Seems a total waste of his efforts really. On the other hand, maybe he just doesn't have as much to say about gaming as we all thought he did.

  • Jackface #15 2 years ago


    "I want those chickens taken care of... violently!"

    Is that meant to be a standout line? Are you 17?

  • metalangel #16 2 years ago

    Oh well... might still be a larf with two players. Local co-op?

  • Dizz #17 2 years ago

    I'm still going to pick it up, since it has the name Ron Gilbert on it. Sorry guys, but I can still hear the monkeys.

  • UncleLou #18 2 years ago

    This was never gonna set the world on fire. Seems a total waste of his efforts really. On the other hand, maybe he just doesn't have as much to say about gaming as we all thought he did.

    Which of the two is it, serious case of expectations mismanagement ("as we all thought he did";), or you saw it all coming from a mile off ("was never gonna set the world on fire";)? Never expected anything else than a Diablo-clone with some funnies, myself.

  • Demiath #19 2 years ago

    There are just too many high quality Diablo clones for Deathspank to matter at all if it's truly "only" worth a 6/10 (can't make my own judgement here as I haven't played the game). Torchlight, Fate, Titan Quest, Din's Curse and Sacred 2 all deliver the deathspankin' left clicks that we could possibly want, and for any title to step into this crowded and inherently limited genre at this point requires some serious innovation and a whole lot of muscle power. Sadly, Gilbert's game seems to have neither...

  • super_monty #20 2 years ago

    Don't just pin your hopes on EU's review, IGN 8.5. Much more positive review.

  • muscleblade #21 2 years ago

    "Don't just pin your hopes on EU's review, IGN 8.5. Much more positive review. "

    Arent IGN reviews always positive?

  • HappyMonkey #22 2 years ago

    Has anyone UK seen this yet? I can't find it.

  • Goodfella #23 2 years ago

    This doesn't look that good after watching the video, 6/10 seems about right. Deathspank also sounds like Captain Quark.

  • Weezer #24 2 years ago

    Looks dull. 6 sounds about right.

  • mr_shoe_uk #25 2 years ago

    The game does seem really dark..

    Also, what is the point in first 15 minutes? We will see the opening cut-scene if we get the game, otherwise, who cares about the exposition? I'd rather just have a random 10 minutes of gameplay half an hour in or something.

  • KDR_11k #26 2 years ago

    First Tim Schäfer, now Ron Gilbert...

  • gav_and_the_gavster #27 2 years ago

    I love the "rolling hills" effect on the environment. If Nintendo married this with a Zelda game on the 3DS it could be awesome - imagine seeing famous Hyrule landmarks looming into view over the horizon.

  • muscleblade #28 2 years ago

    @Milky1985

    Think you are wrong. 2008 Prince of Persia comes to mind. I loved the game but 93/100. Come on.

  • darkmorgado #29 2 years ago

    @taurus82

    Ok, I guess you are being sarcastic, or just trolling. Noone in their right mind can honestly think that a Digital Foundry comparison, or dedicated format reviews are necessary for a download game like this.

  • taurus82 #30 2 years ago

    Wow, I love the art style, pop-up book world of a purple thong wearing warrior.
    This will be one of those Myst-like games (you either love it or hate it).

  • Skurmedel #31 2 years ago

    Jackface: No actually not, but in the context of the dialogue I found it amusing.

    By the way, is 17 meant to be an insult? You 43,5 you! :)
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/10 @ 10:29

  • IronCladChicken #32 2 years ago

    @HappyMonkey
    The Games Market tends to be updated some point aroud mid-morning (10:30+) for some reason.
    Though the actual time seems to change each week, so I'm guessing it's a manual process?

    However, checking now, the only new addition they have for this week is 'Deadliest Warrior: The Game'
    So either DS is still being setup or it's not being released on XBLA UK this week?

    Edit: Grammer fix.
    Edit: Though it is listed in the 'Browse Games' section... I guess they just havn't setup the 'box image' yet? :)
    Edited by 2 at 14/07/10 @ 15:54

  • Feanor #33 2 years ago

    "Arent IGN reviews always positive?"

    No. See Ninety-Nine Nights 2.

  • Feanor #34 2 years ago

    "If its a US developer shooter then yes, anything else no."

    They weren't that positive about Singularity.

  • Gylfi #35 2 years ago

    I'm a puzzle adventures fan, and i saw no puzzles, and the review killed my last hopes of seeing good puzzles.

    I GUESS Gilbert assumed there's not many adventurers left in this world and thought it wouldn't give much profit if he put many puzzles, ALSO they might hurt Diablo quest-loot-farming fans.

    Pity.

    Could it be that Ron add more puzzles in the PC version???
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/10 @ 14:46

  • zisssou #36 2 years ago

    Played the demo off the American PSN store. Not too bad, could see it being slightly repetitive. The dialogue and choices are pretty similar to all his other games! humour as well.

    Still it's not going to break the bank. I'm buying it.

  • levitate #37 2 years ago

    @ actionfitz: It pains me a little to say it but you really suck dude.

  • crab #38 2 years ago

    http://ma rketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/...</a>
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/10 @ 15:24

  • neems #39 2 years ago

    Have they removed a load of comments from this thread? Front page says 60, but only 40 odd here. I was hoping somebody had bought it and could give us their impressions.

  • IronCladChicken #40 2 years ago

    @neems
    The board was getting spammed (lots of posts containing a few random letters), I'm guessing though they have removed them from the forum, it's just not updated on the front page yet.

  • neems #41 2 years ago

    Thank you Chicken.

    Still, would be nice to get going with the 'Dan Pearson should be fired for this appalling review' and 'spot on, give Dan a VC' posts. How can I choose how to spend my money if people I don't know won't give me their wildly conflicting opinions?

  • Auspex #42 2 years ago

    @Neems
    You could play the demo. Which I just did and found it to be fun and funny. I'll probably buy it next time I see some cheap microsoft points.

  • neems #43 2 years ago

    I had a look earlier, but couldn't find it - I can find the game easily enough, just can't see the demo anywhere (UK PSN if that makes a difference).

  • IronCladChicken #44 2 years ago

    Deathspank should have been voiced by Bruce Cambell.

  • Daeltaja #45 2 years ago

    Bought it off PSN about 2 hours ago. Must say I'm really enjoying it so far, no complaints yet. I'm a very critical person so it must be doing something right. 6 seems way off the mark right now, playing more like an 8+. The world is an absolute joy to explore - big props to the Hothead artists.

    It's only 12.99, get buying!

  • neems #46 2 years ago

    Is that 12.99 in Euros Daeltaja? I'm sure it's £9.99 over here.

  • Daeltaja #47 2 years ago

    Apologies Neems, that would be 12.99 euro or 9.99 pound. Sure it has its flaws, but it has all the polish and production values of a boxed product and considering its a budget release, they can be overlooked. Hopefully sales will be great; more titles with the same level of quality should be encouraged.
    Edited by 1 at 14/07/10 @ 20:33

  • UncleLou #48 2 years ago

    Playing the full game now, on hard, and I think it's lovely. Really difficult, and the combat is nicely tactical. Just wading in and ignoring your special items, blocking and ranged weapons will kill you on hard. I assume Dan played it on normal (which is perfectly ok, just pointing it out), or at least I hope he does and it stays that difficult. :)

  • delportino #49 2 years ago

    This time, I strongly disagree with the review from the otherwise trustworthy EG . I mean, I can easily tolerate a 10 given to Street Fighter 4, since I have no interest whatsoever in the genre, or be sold to Monster Hunter Tri by the enthusiastic review by the same Mr.Pearson only to be let down after 20 hours by the extreme repetitiveness of the whole thing... but this sounds just like a plain and simple BIASED review. You don't like games imbued with puerile humour and tongue in cheek situations? Fine by me, Dan...It's a free world, but maybe, just maybe, You're not the right person to review a game like this. I bought it, and immediately fell in love with the humour, the amazing graphics and the depth of this little gem! In my opinion, it deserves a full 9!

  • thedaveeyres #50 2 years ago

    This is really good. A little puzzled after re-reading the review now I've played it, but each to their own, we all have opinions etc etc :)

  • CosmicGypsy #51 2 years ago

    I was hoping this would be a document of the fall of the last conservative government. What a horribly missleading name.

  • darc #52 2 years ago

    Glad I read the comments. I'll be sure to check out the demo, at least.

  • HungryBunyip #53 2 years ago

    A SIX?????? You're giving this a SIX??????? That'd be the absolute lowest opinion, at least: http://ww w.metacritic.com/games/platform...

  • TRUTH #54 2 years ago

    IGN 8.5/10
    NowGamer 8.2/10
    1UP 8/10
    Eurogamer 6/10

  • downloader #55 2 years ago

    - note to Dan (reviewer) this is a PSN and XBLA game not a retail game

    - brutal review - bought it - playing it - love it - objectively at least an 8.0

  • Darren #56 2 years ago

    Loved the trial demo (360 version obviously since PSN seldom does demos!!!) and found the humour hiliarous myself plus the game looks very appealing visually. Reminds me a bit of Torchlight on the PC, only much funnier, so I'll be buying this later once I get my new Xbox.

  • SomaticSense #57 2 years ago

    This is an absolute gem of a game. It's easily one of the best d/l games out there, so I'm utterly baffled by the review.

    Opinions are opinions, and all that. But was the reviewer playing a different game? And if not, was he aware that it's a budget download release that costs just a tenner? If all the high quality d/l releases were to be reviewed equal to full priced release like DS seemed to be here, then all those games like PixelJunk, Flower, Braid, Geo Wars, etc, wouldn't have reviewed as well either.

  • Aery #58 2 years ago

    Nothing against you, Dan ... but you really, really make a mistake with that vote.
    I hope you understand that.

    Media (especially Eurogamer) must have MORE respect for years of hard work.

  • danathjo #59 2 years ago

    Geez guys, one person gives it a 6? So bloody what, you like it more than one other guy...be happy and play your game!

    And more importantly LOOK AT MORE THAN ONE REVIEW if you're considering buying it...easy!

    Personally I prefer that EG use more than just a couple numbers in their reviews.

    If you're really offended why don't you turn it into a 3/5, now it seems like a decent score again :)

  • apoc_reg #60 2 years ago

    Review = Wrong

    Game = Great!!

    Im having a blast with it

  • Andreas2402 #61 2 years ago

    The game is repetitive just like World of Warcraft, so it must be bad. Oh wait..



    "The game is repetitive" equals "The review is biased"

    Meaning, it's just fact finding for people who don't like the game. Or the review.
    Edited by 2 at 19/07/10 @ 23:50

  • espibara #62 2 years ago

    The opening sentence sums up that the reviewer had a bit of an issue with this game.

    But whatever I think its brilliant.

  • charlemagneXD #63 1 year ago

    I can only say that I am happy to have found a proper review of the game. The game is not bad, but it definitely does not deserve the 80% or more scores. I am great admirer of the Monkey Island series, but despite the marketing claims, I do not see any humour that comes close to the classic. It is more like the standard nerd humour you find among roleplaying chaps that you will see in this product. This does not mean it's bad, but it's not more than that either. The gameplay is kind of very repetitive and the combat system does indeed not have any real depth to it. The characters are really a matter of taste, but they are not nearly as refined as in the MI series. The graphics have a certain half-unique feel about them (though Okami impressed me more with its unique Japanese 2d graphics). For 12€ this game isn't bad, but it sadly does not live up to MI in terms of charm and story line, even though I would have hoped so - especially since the marketing for that game explicitly used "Monkey Island" all over the place. If you really want half-way decent MI humour then play the original or try TellTale's series, it at least catches parts of the humour in a few scenes. No harm to Ron or anyone, the game is ok, but just not great. Cheers
    Edited by 1 at 16/10/10 @ 23:33