DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue

The hero returns for round two of fetch quests on the PC.

The PC had gotten its taste of DeathSpank earlier in the year. Now, the harbinger of justice is back for round two in DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue. The game takes place a few months after DeathSpank. DS is now a prisoner of war after being captured by an evil army. He must now escape, help out allied armies in a victory against the bad guys, and find five Thongs of Virtue that powerful people possess, including Santa Claus. Yeah, it’s just like the first game: silly.

That last statement can go along with pretty much all of Thongs of Virtue, and by that I mean it’s just like the first game. The gameplay pretty much stays the same. You have four weapons equipped at one time. You can attack with different ones to increase your multiplier to fill up your justice meter faster. You can use a justice attack with certain weapons that do devastating damage to many enemies, and you’re still bombarded with fetch quests.

Yes, there have been a few changes. There are new weapons, armor, and items for you to collect. The setting is different as in the game takes place in an almost World War 2 setting with environments and weapons from that era, but essentially, this game is DeathSpank with a different story and new items. It feels like an expansion pack.

Now, DeathSpank is not a bad game, it just doesn’t have that special something that makes it great. The quests are pretty RPG standard: go get me ten of these items, or deliver this package to this guy stuff. The problem is you really just feel too rewarded for your actions. It really feels like I’m trying to hurry the game along in order to get to the next boss fight. The game just gets so monotonous.

The only redeeming factor is the combat is actually good. There’s plenty of stat tracking involved when equipping weapons, and there are a ton of weapons in the game. The combo system works nice, and using justice attacks is satisfying and may get you out of a tight spot. I did notice that the combat is a little more difficult this time around.

There is still only local co-op which is nice, but still on the PC it’s a little difficult to play with two people. Like the first game, Thongs of Virtue will allow you to play with a controller in stead of a mouse and keyboard, which always helps me out.

The content is still rather funny, and pretty much all dialogs are fully voice acted and well done. You still get that silly humor that you had in the first game that comes off as clever and thought out.

Thongs of Virtue is a full on sequel as far as length goes. The game will last you 7 to 8 hours depending on how much you want to complete. As far as gameplay and combat, though, you’re not going to see that big of a change.

DeathSpank and Thongs of Virtue are decent RPG’s that will keep you entertained for a good while. The combat is stratifying and getting loot is always a blast. The humor is there and is well executed, but the game progression and quest variety bog the game down. I do enjoy the new setting and find the new loot to be great. I think that if the game only centered around getting loot and defeating bosses, the game would be much better.

The game is still only $15, and you’ll get your money’s worth out of it. With the good combat and funny dialog exchanges, you’ll still find the game enjoyable in small chunks. If you’re a PC gamer and you enjoy Diablo and Torchlight style games, I’d still say drop the money down on it. There’s still some fun to be had.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Written by
Drew is the Community Manager here at ZTGD and his accent simply woos the ladies. His rage is only surpassed by the great one himself and no one should stand between him and his Twizzlers.