DeathSpank : A Spanking Good Download

Games journalist Steve Boxer is dispatched on a nostalgia trip by DeathSpank

Some of us are old (and lucky) enough to remember the early days of videogames, when games were pretty simple affairs, yet as a result of that, seemed to possess a sort of purity. Which is precisely why we’re so keen on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade – now that they have reached a state of maturity, they have developed into repositories for games which simply ooze the spirit of retro. And if you’re seeking a game which exemplifies that spirit, look no further than DeathSpank.

For a start, DeathSpank is the work of Ron Gilbert, a bona fide industry legend whose 1987 game Maniac Mansion pretty much defined the point-and-click adventure genre (which was phenomenally popular from the late 80s to the late 90s), and which spawned a string of related games including Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle, all noted for their quirky, off-beat sense of humour. With DeathSpank, Gilbert has combined Day of the Tentacle’s vibe with the gameplay of another revered retro classic, action-RPG Diablo.

The end result is one mother of a nostalgia-trip for anyone who was an even vaguely sussed gamer in the 1990s. The first thing you notice is that distinctive Ron Gilbert art-style, best described as naive and cartoonish, but with psychedelic undertones. As you progress through the game, while whimsy remains firmly to the fore, you constantly notice hints of darkness and menace lurking beneath the surface. Which, somehow, makes it even funnier. DeathSpank is definitely one of those games that works on two levels – parents and children will find it equally enjoyable to play, but will laugh at its jokes for different reasons.

Gameplay-wise, DeathSpank is impeccable, and that’s an awful lot more than you could say for the old point-and-click adventures, which had to be shot through with humour and impeccably scripted, as they were, frankly, tedious in the extreme to traverse. At first, it all seems pretty simple – you can equip four weapons (which you can perm from swords, hammers, crossbows, gauntlets and the like), and you have a shield. If you time your shield-thrusts right, you build up your Justice meter – which lets you unleash powerful attacks that can take out a number of enemies – quicker.
 

Subtleties reveal themselves

So far, so simple, but once you get properly stuck into DeathSpank (which is inevitable, as it is fearsomely moreish), added subtleties bubble to the surface. Sometimes you encounter enemies which are more levelled-up than you are, which tend to batter you (unless, say, you have a temporary invulnerability power-up, or an invisibility potion that lets you sneak past them). At that point, it might be a good idea to go on a side-quest, to level up yourself – every time you do so, you’re given a perk although, in time-honoured fashion, those perks become less significant as you level up. The longer you play DeathSpank, the more tactics come into it, and the more you explore your enormous inventory (sending old, unwanted armour and trinkets to the grinder in return for cash to spend on potions and health-restoring food).

Such subtleties exist within a very simple framework, however, which is important: downloadable games shouldn’t be complex and fiddly. Given that this is the part of the year in which conventional games releases traditionally slow to a trickle, you could argue that right now, it’s all about the downloads. And if you suck DeathSpank down to your Xbox 360 or PS3’s hard disk, your craving for new, boxed games will disappear, at least until later in the summer.