The original Kane & Lynch was met with mixed reception and even a slight dose of controversy, following the paths of a bitter and betrayed failed farther Kane and his medicated killing machine Lynch the game attempt to carry its self off with all the style and charisma of a gritty yet slick film along the lines of Heat.

Good ideas where present and an inventive multiplayer also featured however due to overwhelming technical issues and clunky gameplay the game was doomed to the mediocre rating it received. Fast-forward to 2010 and Kane & Lynch are back in Dog Days.

Dog Days is set in the seedy underworld of Shanghai, where since the events of the last game, Lynch has built himself a new life and even found love. With both Kane & Lynch still having their fingers in the criminal pie Kane comes over to meet Lynch to complete a big money arms deal, and of course things go very wrong indeed, que guns gore murder, betrayal and chaos on the streets of Shanghai.

This time around the game focus more on Lynch and tries to develop him as a reformed character compared to the one present in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men and for the most part they do mange to make Lynch seem like a passable character however in doing so this creates the feeling that Kane is little more than a back seat character tagging along for the ride. Much like their first outing Kane & Lynch do interactive with each other in a believable manner both during cut scenes and during gameplay as they spit off one liners and witty replies, this is testament to the strong voice acting on the show in Dog Days.

Voice acting aside the single player story starts of well and manages to convey it’s self at a decent pace as it pushes players through various different locations and with a sense of grit about them. The main issue with the story is there’s too much going on in too little time and at points feels very underdeveloped and a bit tacked on which takes away from the overall experience. The gritty and gory tale of Dog Days won’t be anything that will shock veterans of crime based movies but less experienced people may find shock value in the scene involving some handy knife skills and a middle aged mans ass.

Overall the story is good but the finale feels like an afterthought tacked on to ensure the game met its release date deadline which can cause a little bit of frustration and confusion. However the main issue that involves Kane & Lynch single player story is the length. Branching to around five hours with next to no replay value is a huge disappointment and may leave some feeling somewhat bitter or underwhelmed after spending their hard earned cash on such a short game.

The campaign side of Dog Days can be further enjoyed via online and local co-op play placing you and a buddy in the shoes of Kane & Lynch. Co-op adds extra depth and enjoyment but never does Dog Days feel like it was built with co-op in mind, there’s no co-op game mechanics such as multiple path choices or any requirement of a joint effort to complete a task. This makes the co-op feel a bit underdeveloped and a bit underwhelming but never the less it’s nice to have the option. At the time of writing this review there was a small issue with connections being lost between co-op partners but this was not regular enough to list as a major issue.

Story issues aside Dog Days gameplay is a mixed bag of good and bad. A problem which was present in the first game makes a return in Dog Days with a number of guns being absolutely useless as their damage is near minim and their accuracy is woeful, this can result in some situations where a player may be pinned down in a area and can be sitting there for 5-7 minutes trying to kill a enemy without success and this of course leads to frustration and cries of pure confusion to why they the weapons feel so pointless.

That being said towards the end of the game new weapons will become available and for most part do mange to cause damage and be accurate however this also highlights another issue carried over from Kane & Lynch: Dead Men and that issue is that enemies simply to do die when they should be deader than the Sega CD. Enemies will shots to the chest and in some cases the face only to stand back up and start firing back like nothing has happened, this becomes a major issue when dealing with a number of enemies in a small space and adds a bit of a negative niggle to the gameplay experience overall.

The inclusion of the ability to take hostages as meat shields may sound like a decent feature but it quickly becomes apparent that the mechanic doesn’t work very well due the issues with the weapons mentioned previously. Taking a meat shield prompts Lynch (or Kane if playing in Co-op) to draw their pistol, the main issue is the pistol is very ineffective against enemies and very inaccurate add to this that the meat shield doesn’t really soak up much damage and this all results in a quite pointless game mechanic, when it comes to the Meat shield it’s more of a thanks but no thanks situation.

A weakness of Dog Days comes in the form of the AI, enemies and team mates tend to be very static and predictable and at times almost zombie like. The AI flaws become apparent quite early on with enemies almost presenting themselves to be filled with lead which at first provides comedy value but after a while becomes a bit silly and comes off as lazy on the developer’s part. AI also has the tendency to run into walls and turn around almost in a turret like manner only to run back and forward. When playing alone through single player Kane will be controlled by the AI and this results in the harder difficulties being unplayable due to the sheer stupidity of the AI as it wonders around like a lost dog, at times the AI will decide that Kane enjoys licking walls and sticks him in a corner starring at a surrounding wall while players try and take on the enemies.

At its very worst the AI tends to lead Kane into a number of glitches such as being stuck inside of wall or just simply not following the player halting game progress, all of which leave the player in a state of pure confusion and hysterical laughter. With hysterical laughter in mind it’s at this point where the mention of the frankly surreal physics engine bugs must be mentioned, at times enemy’s character models will flop to the floor once killed but will continue to move limbs such as their arms and legs. It’s hardly a game breaking bug but never the less it’s a bug that should never of made it to the final product.

Improvements have been made to the cover system which is a little more defined compared to Kane & Lynch’s first outing however there is still a few issues such as getting stuck onto walls and sometimes certain obstacles almost repositioning a player when taking cover behind it which can lead to some cheap deaths. In some cases obstacles that look like they can be used as cover e.g. a large bin are in fact not compatible with the cover mechanic which at times boggles the mind….as well as earning the player a bullet in the head.
The main issue however is in some places the cover system manages to become a bit of a mess in confided spaces which results in a play flying from cover to cover while trying to simple detach them self from a box or a wall, the cover system on the whole feels a bit ineffective and primitive in a games market filled with the likes of Gears of War.

If there is anything to entice people into picking up Dog Days it has to be the visual style. Dog Days is presented in a amateur footage style similar to films such as Blair Witch Project, REC and Cloverfield however Dog Days goes one step further and adds extra layers of amateur such as increased motion blur, static and sound distortion on loud noises. The visual style is a thing to behold as it genuinely is interesting and well done and also adds to the games gritty underground feeling. Entering a brightly light room will cause the camera to blur; explosions cause pixilation which all adds to the feeling of seeing things through a lens.

The visual style also adds an extra layer of intensity when it comes to fire fights as it engages the player and makes them feel like there on the front line of the action. The visual style also adds a seedy look to the backstreets of Shanghai which looks wonderfully bleak yet nicely detailed throughout the game.

A highlight of Dog Days is the fantastic audio present within the game, weapons all sound meaty and realistic and the sounds of bullets hitting surrounding cover all sounds top notch and results in each fire fight feeling intense throughout. The ambient sounds of Shanghai provide the sound track to Dog Days, ranging from music played on radios to sounds of TV’s from surrounding homes to the rain drops hitting the floor it all sounds very satisfying and realistic adding to the overall feel of Dog Days.

With a short campaign to play through Dog Days offers multiplayer in the form of the returning and celebrated Fragile Alliance as well as Undercover cop and Cops & Robbers. All three game modes set the scenario of criminals embarking on a heist to steal money and at this point is where the three game modes differ.

Fragile Alliance returns with same basic set up of players taken up the role of a criminal on a heist, teamed with other players it is up to you whether you wish work as a team and split the cash at the end of the heist or you can attempt to betray your team mates and take off with as much cash as you can pick up. Turning traitor marks you out for your team mates, killing traitors offers players a extra bundle of cash however if a player is killed by a traitor they return to the game playing as a police officer and join the AI controlled police as they try to stop the criminals.

Fragile Alliance is still an interesting concept and offers an intense multiplayer experience as well as a major trust exercise as you keep your eye on any potential traitors. Unfortunately much like Fragile Alliances first appearance the AI controlled police always spawn in the same positions and always go to the same spots making the experience a little repetitive.

Undercover cop follows the same rules as Fragile Alliance with the only key difference being one player is given the role as the undercover cop which means victory can only be achieved by the cop being killed or by the cop killing the criminals. Although the set up may sound a bit stream line it is in fact the best of the multiplayer modes as the sense of paranoia and the intensity of the heists all increase in leaps and bounds. Playing as the Undercover Cop is interesting and challenging as shooting anyone of the AI controlled police in a level will result in an automatic failure, the key to winning as the Undercover cop is to blend in with the criminals and replicate their movements’ while planning their downfall all of which creates a entertaining experience.

Cops and Robbers offer the weakest experience of the three. Combining a mixture of Fragile Alliance and Team Death Match the whole thing feels rather clunky and messy. Players take up roles of either police officers or criminals with the latter being tasked with yet another heist while the police try to prevent the criminals from reaching their escape vehicle. Killing criminals a large stash of cash is encouraged as score is determined by cash collected through kill enemies’ and collecting their carried stash. Overall Cops and Robbers is more of a chore to play than the other game modes due to overlay long match making and uninspired gameplay.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days multiplayer overall adds much needed extra game hours as well as some interesting takes on the multiplayer landscape however all the issues of the single player section transpire to the multiplayer making things not as enjoyable as they should be. The concepts are all original and interesting however the execution is done to a below average standard.

Further game time hours are added to Dog Days via the Arcade mode which acts almost like a training tool for the multiplayer. Arcade Mode is at its base a offline version of Fragile Alliance in which a player is scored on how they perform during a heist through a number of rounds with scores being determined by how much cash a player scoops and how many kills they earn as well as this points are taken away from any civilian kills or friendly fire incidents.

Arcade Mode gets repetitive fast as enemy AI go to the same locations each time making it very easy to eliminate them and friendly AI never tries to betray anyone or indeed does anything different from round to round. Running and gunning your way through a number of rounds on the same map beings to make you question to why you’re not just playing the online option which is far superior to arcade Mode. Arcade Mode as an option feels more like a cheap way to add replay value and the whole thing feels rather pointless, some may find it a useful aide to prepare themselves for the online multiplayer but for most part it’s an option worth skipping.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days as an overall game improves on some of the issues of its predecessor but no all the issues. The clunky gameplay and primitive cover mechanics all take away from the experience that Dog Days have to offer. The short single player campaign does mange to engross the player at first but the final act comes off as slap dash and underdeveloped which is a running theme throughout Dog Days on the whole. The unique visual style and fantastic audio are the highlights in what is an average game that feels unfinished and unpolished. Multiplayer offers a fresh spin on things but with the issues previously mentioned affecting the game this too also comes off as underdeveloped.

At its best Dog Days manages to be a dark and gritty title filled with both visual and audio treats but beyond that it’s nothing more than an average game with gameplay issues that stifle the overall quality of the game. That being said there is still a fun time to be had with Dog Days as long as you can overlook the issues and niggles at the core of the game. Dog Days will satisfy those looking for a straight forward no nonsense gritty action game but never the less that doesn’t mean Dog Days is anything above mediocre at best.

Thanks to Square Enix for supplying us with a review copy.

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Released August 23rd, 2010

Games We’ve Been Playing

• (Multi) Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days: 4:33
• (PSN) Earthworm Jim HD: 20:30
• (XBLA) Monday Night Combat: 24:51
• (PSN) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: 30:51

New Releases

• (Multi) Mafia II: 36:12
• (PC) Elemental: War of Magic: 39:54
• (360) Shank: 41:59
• (WiiWare) Ivy the Kiwi: 43:46

Contests

• PAX
• Shoop #101 (wookiemonster)
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Call Ins

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• lucien - tim schafer
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Released August 16th, 2010

Games We’ve Been Playing

• (PC) Starcraft 2: 2:41
• (XBLA) Hydro Thunder: Hurricane: 16:15
• (PC) Alien Swarm: 26:45
• (XBLA) Castlevania: Harmony of Despair: 31:46

New Releases

• (Multi) Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days: 40:09
• (XBLA) Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light: 43:01
• (PSN) Top Gun: 48:16
• (PC) Everquest 2 Extended: 51:35

Contests

• Donations
  • Greg
• Shoop #100 (wookiemonster)
  • Winner: “Uber holla and Joconde”
• PAX
  • Gameshark’s video

Call Ins

• Phone Number: 1-888-233-8480
• E-Mail: feedback@noobtoob.com
• crippled frisco - COD black ops
• halflife3please - deathspank rules
• lordmoogle - sleeping pattern
• 3hol - altitude

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by Dr Flibble

Fist of the North Star (FotNS) for PS3 and Xbox360, based on the series known as “Hokuto no ken” 北斗の拳 in Japan, was released early in 2010 to a drooling Japanese audience. With the game’s Western release just around the corner, no doubt many non-Japanese fans are beginning to get excited too. But is it worth getting excited for? Does a bandit’s head explode after a meeting with Hokuto Shinken?

The game is a treat for people already familiar with and fans of the series, but the game also has enough depth and provides enough plot and backstory that newcomers to the series will get a general idea of what the series is about. Obviously cramming a manga and anime series as long as FotNS into one game is impossible, but many familiar faces make an appearance throughout the course of the game, and the plot remains a faithful retelling of the broader story arc found in the manga. Fans of the series, fans of these kinds of “musou” games, and even just the curious, should find something worthwhile here.

Story
FotNS in a nutshell is a post-apocalyptic tale intended for adults. After humanity all but obliterates itself in a nuclear holocaust, the survivors scavenge among the ruins and war over scraps and precious water supplies. Humanity has devolved into a more primal state, with small mostly isolated communities each with their own particularities and laws struggling to survive whilst living constantly with the threat of a sudden and random extermination at the whim of one of the many gangs roaming the wastes and preying on the weak.

In the midst of all this we find the lead character, Kenshiro, who not only has had his fiancee kidnapped, but is also caught up in a power struggle between a group of martial artists each competing to become the most powerful. These martial artists are then further divided among those who use the “North” style and those using the “South” style, which together create a yin and yang type balance. Whereas the North style focuses on internal acupressure points and using an opponents own body to destroy itself, the South style focuses on an external intrusion into the body, causing massive injury and death in the process.

With his fiancee kidnapped, Kenshiro’s story sees him tracking her down, along the way encountering his martial arts rivals, wasteland gangs and their leaders, and helpless innocents caught in the mix. A large number of characters from the series make an appearance in the game, and the game doesn’t end with Kenshiro’s story. Players can also play as Mamiya (a female warrior who has thrown away her womanliness), Rei (a South style martial artist tricked into believing Kenshiro is responsible for the abduction of his sister), Toki (a terminally ill martial artist who develops his own unique style of combat focused on both healing and creating a feeling of euphoria in slain enemies), and last but not least Raoh (most powerful and driven of all). Each character’s story has roughly 4-6 missions each, while Kenshiro’s has 13 and is the longest by far.

But wait! There’s more! As the player progresses through the game a seperate set of “Dream” stories unlock for each of the main characters mentioned above in addition to a swag of baddies from the series. Players who’ve always fantasized about playing as their favourite bastard from the series will love these. These dream stories are alternate realities in which the protagonist “wins” if their story is successfully completed. Each story again has roughly 6 missions per character, however the missions are organized very differently. More on this in the gameplay section.

There is quite a lot of meat to be found in FotNS. Going through all the stories and getting every trophy took me just over 60 hours of total gameplay time. And to be honest I still wanted more. The story was faithful to the original manga and the extra dream sequences were an awesome addition, allowing players to break away from the familiar and play with the characters without breaking cannon by having the stories presented as idle musings and daydreams of the character in question.

Gameplay
If you’ve ever played a Musou game before (such as Dynasty Warriors or any of the other series KOEI produces) then you already basically have a good idea of what to expect from this game, as basic gameplay is the same. Players take control of a character, then use that character to beat up hundreds and hundreds of bad guys before defeating a boss. That’s pretty much the basic formula. FotNS’s main story sections play out much like this, with players moving through maps, completing optional objectives, before taking on a boss to complete the level. Killing enemies and completing optional objectives, and also finding hidden treasure chests, can get the player valuable skill points to purchase new special attack skills and power upgrades.

Japanese Xbox360 TV Commercial

In the standard story missions the player moves through a level wiping out bad guys, collecting orbs which when accumulated are turned into skill points and also act as fuel for the power bar. When this power bar fills the player gets 1 power charge which can then be used to either unleash a special attack or to give a limited strength boost which is basically 10 seconds or so of ultra-powerful regular attacks. During this time players may also use a special attack but since these attacks enter an animation by the time it finishes the power up has usually expired.

Along with low-level fodder that really act more as harrassment than bonafide dangerous enemies by throwing molotovs and shooting crossbows at the player, you will also encounter minor boss type enemies which have the ability to guard just like the player. Players must break down this guard before they are able to deal any real signicant damage to the enemy, and it is when several of these enemy types appear on screen at once that the small fodder type enemies show just how annoying they really can be, by continually breaking your combos and flow with shots to the back, flame bombs, or kicks to the back of the head. Players will also find numerous objects within the environment which can be used as weapons such as explosive drums, logs, and concrete slabs. Even within these minor bosses there are several varieties, such as enemies with halberds, dual clubs, huge stomachs and fire-breathing, pro-wrestler getups, and spiked armor making them immune to standard attacks. Each level also has 7 optional objectives which when completed give power advantages or skill points to the player, which can help a lot if you find your character is perhaps a little underpowered for a particular stage. Some stages also will require subsequent playthoughs to access certain hidden areas which will be impossible to access first time through, and as the difficulty ramps up between levels, players may want to revisit certain areas to grind for skill points to level up.

After beating your way through hundreds of enemies and solving some very elementary puzzles (which are often totally optional and often just lead to skill point treasure chests) the player will arrive at the level’s boss battle. These bosses are usually broken into 2 or 3 stages of varying difficulty, and once you’ve worn them down to their last drop of energy the ability to finish them with a power attack appears. It is important to note that you can never administer the final blow with a regular attack. Taking too long to inititate the power attack will result in the enemy regaining half of their health back and the player must start the grind all over again. The power attack opens up a QTE event to finish off the boss and likewise, messing up even once ends the QTE and the boss gets half their health back. This is not so bad as the QTEs are fairly easy first time around. The problem is in the 2nd playthrough they get nasty. The QTEs become extremely long, with many more phases, and a faster depleting time limit in which to enter all the button presses. Personally, I hated the 2nd round of QTEs, the difficulty curve is ridiculous imo, as first time through you usually only have between 3-6 buttons to press with 3-4 phases, while in the 2nd playthrough you often have 8 or more button presses with 7-8 phases.

With the exception of the QTEs however gameplay is fairly straightforward. Square is standard attack, triangle is heavy, X is jump, and O is for special attacks. The R and L1,2 buttons perform grabs, initiate power charges, and perform other special moves as you purchase them on each characters power-up chart. This chart is accessed between levels and allows the player to unlock a swag of new abilities and power-ups for their characters. Completionists are going to need to spend a LOT of time busting heads though if they want to max out any character, as many of the later skills can get very pricey. Each character has a number of unique abilities specific to them, while some abilities are shared between all the characters found in the game. Also, the chart is hidden when the player first sees it, so it is impossible to know where certain power ups and powers are until you buy the neighbouring skill, which then allows you to see the skills around it.

In addition to the standard story mode there is also “Challenge Mode” which is like a guantlet of boss battles under time restrictions, and “Dream Mode”, which allows players to play through a daydream of certain characters, and see what the world would be like if those characters won. “Dream Mode” in particular needs further explanation, as it is a very different style of play than the regular story mode. In dreams, the player starts on a map which is already fully revealed, and which contains spawn points for enemies and allies. The idea is to work through these levels towards the boss, killing minor bosses, capturing spawn points, and completing optional objectives for potentially hundreds of skill points. These levels tend to also be much lengthier than the regular story missions. The game gives the player 90 minutes to complete each stage, and sometimes it can take almost that much time since there is simply so much to do in some missions. After completing these dream stages the player can also replay them as any other available character in “Freeform Mode”. Dream and Freeform Mode are also the only modes that allow 2 player local splitscreen co-op, and this was loads of fun!!

Sights and Sounds
Graphics are a mixed bag in FotNS. Character models look great as do their special attacks. The cutscenes are also mostly great with just a few questionable ones, and the deaths of enemies is suitable gory. Where things start to fall apart is in the actual levels. These levels are fairly bland and often recycled (although to be fair, often when they are recycled each character has a different means of progression. For example, Toki uses wind to fly, Rei springs up walls, Mamiya climbs through holes, etc). The animations of enemies and the in-game cutscenes showing buildings crumble and other demolitions can look a bit weak and is not to the same standard as the cinematics and even main character models and animations.

Any gripes I had with graphics were more than made up for with the soundtrack of this game. This is one of my favourite game soundtracks out there, and if you enjoy rock and metal, it will be right up your alley too. I LOVE the soundtrack. I really don’t know what else I can say other than that.

DLC
There is quite a lot of DLC available for this game and unfortunately this is where KOEI decided to shaft the punters. It is way overpriced, and there’s nothing that really deserves to actually be DLC.

As of writing this review there exists the following DLC:
1. Two new playable characters: Standard Bandit, and Heart. About $8 each. These are only usable in Freeform mode and do not come with any scenario or story missions of their own. For $8? Fail.

2. Alternate costumes for every character taken from the manga. About $3 a pop. Looking at around $21 for the set. These are just skins! Fail.

3. About a dozen new scenarios. These are simply new maps for Freeform which are similar to what we already have in Dream Mode. Again about $3 a pop, and looking at $20-30 for the set. Fail.

While I admit I am interested in and would like to have some of this DLC, the insulting prices and fact that most of it should have been included on the disc anyway annoys me enough that I refuse to buy it. I was very disappointed with KOEI’s showing with their DLC and I hope they come to their senses someday soon. Except for the 2nd playthrough QTEs, it was DLC that generated the most complaint among Japanese gamers towards this game. I can’t say that I disagree. Bad form, KOEI.

Final Verdict
As a fan of Fist of the Star I was interested in this game from the start, however since I’m not too big on Musou games I was a little hesitant. 2nd playthrough QTEs and DLC quibbles aside, this game gave me over 60 hours of enjoyment and after completing it I genuinely wanted more and was sad to see there would be nothing new to discover. Powering up all the characters to their maximum levels would no doubt keep a person busy for well over 100 hours, so provided you can get into this game, the gameplay value is certainly there. If you love Fist of the North Star, love musou games, love Japanese anime and manga, or just love beating the snot out of hundreds and hundreds of guys and watching them die bloody deaths, then this game could well be for you. I’m glad I bought it, and definitely think it is worth a purchase if this kind of game is your thing, however if the QTEs have put you off, or you remain skeptical, rent it first. It is definitely worth a rental by anyone.

Thumbs Up Rental (anyone)

Thumbs Up Buy (established fans of the series)

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Released August 9th, 2010

Games We’ve Been Playing

• (DS) Dragon Quest IX: 2:12
• (XBLA) Limbo: 15:31

New Releases

• (XBLA) Castlevania: Harmony of Despair: 25:47
• (PSN) Earthworm Jim 3D: 28:14

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• Glass NTA Candy
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• simonus & paulius - lithuania
• cooley - dirt2 footage
• freeofcharge - playing with other noobtoobers
• crippledfrisco - forcing yourself to play games
• archimedes13 - battlefield 3 demo

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Released August 3rd, 2010

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• unknown - apb
• halflife3 - weight loss
• steve - pax crowd
• laphimking - game of the year
• cybermousey - multiplayer games
• audiophile - destroying games
• dejohnsta - GTA4 review

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by MixedupZombies

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Released July 26th, 2010

Games We’ve Been Playing

• (Multi) Singularity: 2:28
• (XBLA) DeathSpank: 13:00
• (iPad) Galcon Fusion: 25:49
• (Multi) Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4: 30:18

New Releases

• (PC) Alien Swarm: 35:43
• (XBLA) Limbo: 36:42
• (WiiWare) Furry Legends: 37:30

Contests

Shoop 99 (wookiemonster)

• Winner: “White and nerdy” by Humenslayr

Call Ins

• Phone Number: 1-888-233-8480
• E-Mail: feedback@noobtoob.com

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by XxBarrettxX

DeathSpank was developed by Hothead Games and published by EA for the PlayStation 3′s PlayStation Network and the Xbox 360′s Xbox Live Arcade on July 13 and 14. It cost $15.

Story: The story behind Deathspank is a rather simple one; you are Deathspank the hero of Pluckmuckel and you were sent by a red haired woman with your magical thong to recover “the artifact” and make sure it doesn’t get into the hands of the evil Lord Von Prong. When you finally obtain possession of the artifact you lose it to a army of orcs who give you wedgies till you forcefully give them the artifact. At this point it is your mission to recover the artifact, destroy the orc army, and defeat Lord Von Prong. The story isn’t a deep one by any means but is an entertaining one for what it is.

Gameplay: Like many of you know Deathspank plays like Diablo, but manages to retain that Ron Gilbert classic adventure game feel with its comedic dialogue choices. Although the combat in this game is very simple, it is solid. The four face buttons on your controller are used to pick between four different attacks. 1 slot is usually reserved for a distance weapon, another for a special move and 2 others for melee weapons. The purpose of having this is to mix combos and make combat as fast and efficient as possible. Using 2 melees weapons at the same time allows you to strike enemies quicker and builds up your attack. You use a bolt gun to shoot various elemental bolts when nearing enemies to or to summon hell before battle; special attacks allow you to do various things such as stun enemies or deal heavy amounts of damage to numerous enemies. My only problem with the special attacks is they feel unnecessary 9mcuh like blocking) as your characters is somewhat overpowered throughout the game. Although I don’t knock the game to much for this as this isn’t the kind of game where you want to be fighting half of the time and instead be doing other quest and talking to people to see all the whimsical things occurring in the game.

Traversing the world can be slow in the beginning, but Deathspank’s leveling system gives you some crafty games to make the game both faster and easier through six various abilities. These abilities allow you to move faster, increase weapon/armor levels, blocking ability, damage boost, and increase money. Also Deathspank can fast travel throughout the world with the use of outhouses. These outhouses act as his fast travel options as well as his checkpoint for when Deathspank is defeated in battle!

The Loot quest in the game are great. They all have some ridiculous reason behind them having to be done such as defeating giant two eyed cyclops because it was meant to destroy weaker monsters but now is causing a ruckus to chickens. All 73 side missions are enjoyable and quick as you never really have to stray to far away to complete a quest and if you ever do, you can simply go to an outhouse to fast travel to your destination.

Of course this this game is a loot grind adventure game at it’s core and is a serviceable one at that. The game contains plenty of variates of hysterical loot. Every piece of loot has it’s own The loot menu’s are well done for a console loot game as the game always applies the strongest armor onto your character, and when you have to sell things you have the option to “grind” your loot for money. My only problem is this area of the game is you always get the best armor you need from looting enemies, and you never feel you need to buy anything because you get the best items from loot. This leaves you with a ton of great loot to sell, but no way to spend the money except on cheap potions.

Deathspank also features local co-op where you and a partner can play together. the second players plays as Sparkles! Sparkles is a Mage that gets stronger as DS gets stronger and supports him in his travels with heal spells and magic attacks. The lack of an online co-op option hurts the game though as many suspected to be able to join others people game previous to release.

Visuals: The world of Deathspank is unique visually due to it’s pop up book, cell shaded style. The world although cartoony is beautiful and the mix of 3D and 2D present themselves very well. Also,I must say, for a downloadable game, the world in Deathspank is rather large and pretty you never feel as if you’ve been in an area for too long as each area has it’s own theme.

Sound: The voice acting in the game are of course over the top, and nit pick and at every archetype of characters you would expect to see in a videogame like this. A farmer is guaranteed to sound like a redneck who bathes with his pigs and the antagonist is an exaggerated drama queen who speaks in the style of opera. The voice acting matches the games comedic flare and always has bit in every sentence and option that’ll keep you laughing.

The dialogue in the game is hilarious as Deathspank is one of the few games where you make sure to talk to every person, and explore every voice option, just to hear what kind of witty comments a characters has to say. The game does contain some Monkey Island references throughout the game, and pokes fun of other popular games from today such as World of Warcraft.

Conclusion: Deathspank is a Ron Gilbert game from A to Z. The dialogue in this game is rather funny and although it won’t have you laughing at loud all the time, the game will always find a way to bring a smile to your face and let your laugh a bit to yourself inside your head. The games top notch comedic style, mixed with solid gameplay, and a beautiful world make Deathspank a must play for anyone with a PS3 or Xbox360. I suggest that everyone at least try the trials on PSN/XBL if they’re not sure whether they like this game; but if you are interested at all in this game, I would say pick it up as the game won’t let you down for all 10-15 hours it takes to beat the game.

Thumbs up Buy

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Released July 19th, 2010

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