DeathSpank: The Baconing Reviews
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BeefJack, 7.2/10.
It's not easy to write comedy, especially for videogames, but Hothead and the Ron Gilbert-powered legacy of DeathSpank make it look relatively easy. The absurdity of the game worlds, quests and the characters within are backed up by sharp dialogue and even sharper voice-acting. Everything from Tron and Simple Simon to CSI Miami and Bill Cosby are just drops in the ocean of pop culture references that break their way into conversations or characterisations, and thankfully the crudeness has been toned down a little this third time around in favour of better written and paced comedy.
Puerile japery isn't the only thing to be toned down for The Baconing. Despite the porcine-derived nomenclature, The Baconing is a surprisingly svelte experience compared to its predecessors, clocking in a couple of hours lighter than previous outings. Part of this is down to streamlining and cutting back on the fetching and grinding side-quests, leaving the game with only a handful of dungeons to be explored and a unexpectedly linear progression through the environments.
The curtness of The Baconing isn't an entirely unwelcome change, thankfully. Unless you absolutely demand that all of your downloadable action RPGs last enough hours to hit double figures, DeathSpank's third outing keeps the questing and killing flowing at a perfect progression all the way through, never forcing to you to take too much time out to backtrack and stretch out the playtime.
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By the time this chapter in the DeathSpank series is complete, two things are made abundantly clear. Hothead clearly love working with the character and this won't be the last time we see the self-involved undercracker enthusiast, but it's also apparent that the next time he shows up things will have to be radically different for the series to survive. Three games in such a short space of time has worn away at this simple hack and slash, and it needs a much more fundamental overhaul to be welcomed back a fourth time.
Pixel Scribes, 3/5.
To conclude, The Baconing is more of the same game. Previous players of Deathspank should have no problem, but new players may be left feeling unwelcome. The mistakes and problems of the first two games have not been fixed or adjusted, and overall it just feels like a poorly pieced together title. Don't get me wrong, the ideas are great, and the actual gameplay is pretty decent, but it could have been so much better. Is it worth 1200 Microsoft Points? No. But action RPG fans should definitely wait for the inevitable price reduction to pick it up.
Daily Joypad, 5/5.
Overall, The Baconing is best described as one for the fans. The gameplay is incredibly basic and repetitious, but the dialogue is as witty, clever and generally awesome as it's ever been. If you're after complex game mechanics or didn't .et' the first two Deathspank games, then it's best viewed as a 3/5 game. But if like myself, you love the world of the Dispenser of Justice, then The Baconing will fill a hole quite nicely.
