deathspank
Latest
DeathSpank, Penny Arcade bundled in Hothead's Humble Weekly Sale
This week's Humble Weekly Sale sets its sights on Hothead Games, collecting several entries in the studio's DeathSpank and Penny Arcade Adventures series. The pack includes DeathSpank and its sequel Thongs of Virtue, along with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One. Pay more than $6 and you'll also receive copies of the final DeathSpank game, The Baconing, and the second chapter in Penny Arcade's series. Buyers will receive Steam codes for all featured games.
EA Indie Bundle challenges your definitions, is live on Steam now
The EA Indie Bundle (yes, we assure you, it is barely-100-percent-mostly-ish possible for EA to have an indie bundle) is live on Steam, offering 70 percent off a package of six titles from four indie developers, or half off each individual game.Included in the sale is Warp, Shank, Shank 2, DeathSpank, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue and Gatling Gears. The DeathSpank titles are $7.50 individually and are available on PC and Mac through Steamplay, while the rest of EA's indies cost $5 and are PC only.Indie Game Magazine first spotted the bundle in the super-secret Steam registry files this morning. The sale is now officially on, set to disappear from Steam in one week on May 9.
Diablo's Descendants
This is a weekly column focusing on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. With Diablo 3's release date set, I decided to take a look back as the series' legacy --and play some of the better Western-style action/role-playing games around. Last week I talked about how Fallout, not Diablo, became the model for a generation of blockbuster role-playing games.But Diablo did wield some influence. The first initial wave of clones didn't make much of a splash, but around the time Diablo II came out in 2000, the action/RPG style began to grab more attention. In 2002, Dungeon Siege and Divine Divinity were both released to some acclaim, but they never really fit the model of a Diablo clone. Dungeon Siege was as much Ultima VII and Baldur's Gate as it was Diablo, while Divine Divinity merged many concepts from Fallout and similar games with a real-time core. Missing from both? The constant clicking that, to me, defined Diablo.
The Baconing review: Hacked and slashed
"The only constant in this world is change." Wait, no, that doesn't work. "You can't change the past, but you can work to change the future." Nope, that doesn't do the trick either. "War. War never changes." No, wrong game. Hm. Here's the thing: The Baconing has a lot more of the same DeathSpank flavor you're likely used to, but without a lot of the stuff that made DeathSpank good. I guess there's not a cliched "change" quote that quite works there, huh? Sure, the self-obsessed hero of Hothead's first two DeathSpank games is still there. There's still a whole bunch of quests strewn throughout a whimsical and colorful world. And yeah, the writing is still laden with puns and excretory humor, and is presented by a cast of solid comedic voice actors. The hero to the downtrodden still gets wacky loot like the mafioso-looking Pinstripe Platemail as he hacks and slashes his way through bizarre enemies. All that stuff is still there -- but, sadly, it's hidden under a mound of major problems. %Gallery-130182%
The Baconing begins on Aug. 31 on XBLA
You and Deathspank need a fresh start. Sure, you've had a lot of fun in his last two games, no one's trying to deny that. But there's ... a certain distance that neither of you can ignore. He's ready to change, though. He's so committed to the new beginning that he's dropped his name from The Baconing. It's not just about him, anymore ... it's about the both of you. And even though he'll be involved with a big PSN promotion when he launches on Aug. 30, he's not going to make 360 owners wait for him. That's the sort of thing the old Deathspank would have done. The new Deathspank is going to get up the very next day, put on six multicolored thongs and launch on XBLA on Aug. 31. And if you should notice him swinging his sword just a little harder as you look on, or reaching further than normal for a pun, just know ... that's him trying.
The Baconing preview: New blood
Producer Mike Inglehart and his team at Hothead seem to be serious about making The Baconing the best entry in the Deathspank series yet. Prior to jumping into my demo, director of marketing Oliver Birch showed off a 17-page Word document filled with complaints and ideas for improvement, taken directly from their community. You talked, and Hothead says it listened. But one of the biggest changes is the addition of producer Inglehart, who recently joined Hothead and has been tasked with overseeing this third entry in the irreverent series. The Next Level Games transplant dove headfirst into refining the The Baconing, creating what he thinks is not only a funny game, but also one that is less monotonous than its predecessors. One thing is certain: it's definitely more challenging, as several deaths during my demo will attest. %Gallery-130182%
Hothead explains lack of 'DeathSpank' in The Baconing's title
When Hothead announced the third entry in its dungeon crawl SLASH role-playing series this past week -- titled solely "The Baconing," dropping its usual "DeathSpank" moniker -- we couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the series' main character to get him taken off title duties. Did series creator Ron Gilbert take the rights to the character with him, for instance? As it turns out, there's a fairly simple reason behind the name change: "We haven't removed the words or name 'DeathSpank' from the title for any legal reason. In fact, the title was changed just by asking our fans," a Hothead rep told Joystiq. Aha! Still, we couldn't help but wonder why Hothead would voluntarily ditch the brand name that it stuck to the last two games, effectively walking away from the brand recognition it built up over the past two entries.
Ron Gilbert reflects on DeathSpank combat, and its under-developed 'intellectual element'
Wired recently spoke with Ron Gilbert, creator of the Monkey Island and DeathSpank series, and the conversation turned to the latter's conventional hack-and-slash combat. Though he didn't stick around long enough to guide the final releases of this year's dual-developed DeathSpank games, Gilbert was their lead designer and said, if he could do it over, he'd likely add more depth to the combat. Instead of just "hacking through a bunch of enemies," he suggested "treating combat as if it was a puzzle to be solved [...] might have helped people a little bit with not just having to button-mash their way through battles." Gilbert cited Dragon Age as an example, "not in its turn-based nature," but "more of the intellectual element" of requiring some strategy to combat. Perhaps that's not the best example. How about Diablo 3? That's shaping up to be a hack-and-slash game that introduces a satisfying level of strategy through its myriad spells and tactics. Now, if you were to marry such fine-tuned gameplay with Unicorn poop, you're talking "Game of the Year." Easy. Next time, Mr. Gilbert?
December XBLA deal: Buy two games, get 400 MS Points free
In yet another Xbox Live Arcade deal, Microsoft is now offering a free batch of 400 MS Points for purchasing two qualifying XBLA games. Don't run off downloading games just yet though, because you'll need to head over to the Xbox Live Events page and download the Arcade Offer gamer picture to register for the giveaway first (the direct link to the gamer picture is currently broken, but it's the first one listed on the events page). Once that's done, snag two of the games listed after the break (including favorites like Limbo, Lara Croft, Monday Night Combat, Super Meat Boy and more). Within four weeks, the free points will be added to registered Live accounts automatically or sent as redemption code via email. If you're planning to pick up any of the eligible games, you might as well get some free points too, right? The promotion ends December 20, so get to it. [Thanks, Grand Kerfuffle]
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue coming to PC, Mac this year
The virtuous thongs of DeathSpank's sequel will arrive on PC and Mac later this year, EA has announced. DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue will launch on PC November 30, with a Mac release following on December 14 (the original DeathSpank will be released for Mac the same day as ToV -- that's a lot of spanking!). Like the console versions, Thongs of Virtue will cost $14.99. DeathSpank: ToV comes with two pieces of free DLC at launch: "Snowy Mountain Dungeon" and "Sidekick Tankko: Half-man, half-spider, and all awesome." If you absolutely can't wait for next Tuesday, a minigame on the DeathSpank website ("DeathSpank: Spank This!") offers you a chance to win free stuff. One grand prize winner will get "a squawkin' chicken, a signed DeathSpank poster, a free copy of DeathSpank, and an Intel Core i7-870." All prize winners, actually, will get that squawkin' chicken, which leads us to believe there's a very large squawkin' chicken population at Hothead. That must make it hard to concentrate on programming.
PSN Fall Sale kicks off tomorrow; DeathSpank, Peace Walker and more half price
If you've still got a few bills or coins tucked betwixt the cushions of your couch that have managed to go unspent in this deal-heavy season, you might want to hold them tight until tomorrow, when Sony kicks off the PSN Fall Sale. The week-long promotion will cut the prices of select downloadable PS3, PSP and Mini titles in half, bringing games like DeathSpank, Joe Danger, Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker into the magical realm of affordability. Check out the full list of offers, which will go live in conjunction with tomorrow's PlayStation Store update, just past the jump.
Shank and 'Spank now available on PC
Shank and DeathSpank are ready for action now on Steam for $15 apiece. Shank doles out death in what the movie advertisements will refer to as a roaring rampage of revenge, while DeathSpank delivers demise at the end of a punch ... line. We enjoyed both titles when they were first released over the summer on consoles. We found Shank to be a "cure for murder" (but please consult your physician before taking Shank) and said DeathSpank was "built on a solid foundation of time-tested gameplay and bacon."
DeathSpank to loot PC Oct. 26, Mac release planned
For a game rooted so squarely in the loot-driven gameplay of PC stalwarts like Diablo, it was a little odd that DeathSpank was initially available only on PS3 and Xbox 360. EA and Hothead have decided to rectify this blow against tradition, announcing that DeathSpank will be bringing his humorous brand of (capital J) Justice to PC later this month. The game will hit PCs on October 26, and a pre-order on Steam will net an extra 10 percent off the usual $14.99 price. Additionally, pre-orders of the DeathSpank and Shank bundle will receive a 15 percent discount (Shank will also be released on October 26). A Mac version of DeathSpank is in the works, though the release date is still under wraps. We've contacted Hothead to see if the DeathSpank sequel, Thongs of Virtue, will also make the jump to PC and Mac.
Xbox Live subscribers can vote for upcoming Deal of the Week
Microsoft has put an interesting turn on its weekly rotation of discounted items on Xbox Live -- the Spotlight tab on the console's dashboard currently includes a poll which will let users choose which of a handful of items they'd like to have marked down for an undisclosed week in October. These discounts include 33 percent off DeathSpank, half off Perfect Dark, or similar markdowns on DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, Trials HD and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. It would be unethical for us to use our considerable internet power to get you to pick the thing that we'd like to pick up at a discounted price, so we'll refrain from doing so. Instead, we'll just have to rely on the same remote mind-control tactics we've been using to puppeteer your every action for the past four years now. That's right, Brandon, we're inside your mind.
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue offers free DLC during launch week
Even if it seems oddly soon for a sequel to DeathSpank, it might be worth your while to grab Thongs of Virtue soon rather than letting a more appropriate interim pass. EA announced that those who purchase the followup during the week of launch (September 20-27 on PSN, September 22-28 on XBLA) will get two free items of DLC. After that period, the "Snowy Mountain Dungeon" and playable co-op character "Sidekick Tankko" will be sold for $2.99/240 Microsoft Points and $0.99/80 Microsoft Points, respectively. That's not much, but it's certainly more than the nothing the DLC costs now. As a side note, now we understand why Thongs of Virtue is a "sequel" and not an "episode." Buying DLC for one part of an episodic game seems weird, but DLC for a separate downloadable game is par for the course.
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue gameplay leaves little to the imagination
We're still not 100 percent positive what the subtitle in DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue means. Perhaps our titular hero enjoys the snugness only a certain type of undergarment can provide? Regardless, we've got the next best thing for you today: gameplay footage. Over at GameVideos, they've managed to procure four different gameplay sections showcasing several distinct areas of the game. We went on a quest to retrieve said videos, which show DeathSpank doing what he does best: making other people look like chumps. Feel free to swoon at our level 10 copy/paste ability past the break. %Gallery-100820%
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue sequel coming to XBLA, PSN in September
With justice not entirely dispensed, evil still to be vanquished and plenty of downtrodden to be, uh, heroed, the titular DeathSpank returns in DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue. Hothead Games today announced a full-on sequel to this summer's Diablo homage (parody?) on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network -- and it's almost complete! Thongs of Virtue will launch on PSN and XBLA on September 21 and 22, respectively, for $15 (or 1200 Microsoft Points). The quick turnaround is the result of Hothead beginning development on Thongs of Virtue well before the release of the first game, and despite creator Ron Gilbert's departure from the studio in April. (You might recall that DeathSpank was originally proposed as an episodic endeavor, but that plan was supposedly abandoned during development of the first game.) Thongs of Virtue still reflects Gilbert's influence and looks to expand on the foundational elements of the original game; even if it doesn't address all of the post-release fan feedback. "DeathSpank 1 was an introduction to the universe for people and it was very much a fantasy action RPG," producer Hamish Millar tells GameSpot. "For the second game -- and this is a reason it was a separate product, too- -- we just wanted to redefine what that could be. We just wanted to blow people's expectations out of the water as far as what kind of weapons DeathSpank can have, what worlds he can travel to, and what sort of creatures and characters and enemies he can face."
Ron Gilbert digs iPhone, hopes DeathSpank inspires other devs
GamerBytes has a nice long interview with DeathSpank creator Ron Gilbert, and while he waxes philosophical on all sorts of stuff found in the excellent XBLA/PSN hack-'n-slash title, he says he's not sure what he plans to do next. But iPhone gaming has grabbed his attention for the moment: "iPhone games are very interesting to me right now. I play a lot of them, and they're neat because then you can do two- or three-people teams to make those things," he says. Making DeathSpank was tougher than expected, according to Gilbert -- he started out wanting to make Monkey Island meets Diablo, but the Diablo half of the game was more difficult to balance than he'd thought it would be. Not only did he have to balance weapons and combat, but he had to deal with DeathSpank's own character attributes. A class system was originally planned, but Gilbert wanted to play his character (which originally came from a Flash cartoon series), not yours, so the team eventually went with the "Hero Cards" system. Gilbert also says he hopes that DeathSpank influences the downloadable market -- rather than simply house reissues of older games or big budget titles, he hopes that downloadable game platforms can be a place for originality, and that "we can get some really good, interesting games in the download space." We'll hack and slash to that!
Joyswag: Win a trip for two to PAX, courtesy of HotHead Games and DeathSpank
Update: Congratulations to grand prize winner Stefan, and to the eight first prize winners! He is DeathSpank: Defender of Justice. Vanquisher of Evil. Hero to the Downtrodden. Guy who's footing the bill for you and a friend, loved one, or really lucky stranger to attend PAX Prime! But who is this "you" we speak of? Well, it could be you, provided you're the winner of this epic giveaway brought to you by DeathSpank's gracious overlords at Hothead Games and your pals here at Joystiq. Otherwise it will be someone else, who may or may not laugh at your misfortune -- that jerk! Don't be the one who that jerk potentially laughs at -- heed the rules, cross your fingers and enter for your chance to score free airfare, lodging, attendance to PAX, and the possibility of being referred to as "Sir" or "Miss" for a change. That, and the ultimate honor: being able to say, "I'm with DeathSpank!" To enter this giveaway: 1. Visit DeathSpank.com and search for "the Artifact" image (pictured below) that's been hidden on one of the pages there. The Artifact will be clearly visible and looks like this: 2. Locate and copy your own unique "Joystiq Code" that appears beneath the Artifact image. 3. Return to this giveaway post and paste your code in a comment to enter for your chance to win. Head past the break for complete rules and details.
Review: DeathSpank
"DeathSpank? What a ridiculous name!" I can hear you saying it now. Yes, it is a ridiculous name, for a ridiculous game which revels in the fact that it's ridiculous. Well, that and damned funny. Oh, and a super-fun, retail-caliber yet downloadable action-RPG. If you haven't been following all things 'Spank, know that it's the creation of Ron Gilbert (one of the mad geniuses who brought the world the Monkey Island series) and Hothead Games (makers of the delightful, and also downloadable, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick-Precipice of Darkness). Also know that it stars a hero, DeathSpank, who possesses enough machismo to fill a football stadium. His grasp on reality, on the other hand, would barely fill a football. %Gallery-71890%
