DeathSpank: The Baconing Reviews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on September 3rd, 2011

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When deciding whether or not to pick up The Baconing you should consider how you felt about Thongs of Virtue. If all you want to do is play more DeathSpank, then this will certainly do the trick. For me, once was apparently enough. If you're a DeathSpank virgin and like loot-based hack '˜n slash games, give The Baconing a try before you buy.

Unfortunately, The Baconing does have two major strikes against it. Poorly balanced combat often makes you partake in tedious activities that lead to frustration rather than exhilaration. But the larger problem is that DeathSpank's latest adventure is just too similar to his previous offerings. For anyone who has played through the other downloadable efforts, there is a constant sense that you've done all this before, even though the jokes and environments are different. Because of this familiarity, the novel sheen that helped make earlier games so endearing has worn off to some extent, and the lows are more noticeable than before. This is still a fine effort, though, and there's even a handy local two-player mode to help you move past the overly long combat sequences much faster. The Baconing is a slightly deformed version of its predecessors, but there's enough merry fun here to satisfy those hungry for another thong-fueled quest.

Overall, the DeathSpank formula is alive and well in The Baconing, and that's both its greatest strength and biggest weakness. It's a fun game that fans of the original two are sure to enjoy, but there's absolutely no reason for anyone not fond of the first ones to play The Baconing, nor is there any reason for new players to jump in at The Baconing rather than the original game. A new post-game difficulty setting and multiple save slots will provide a little extra life for existing fans, but the series is going to have a hard time going anywhere unless Hothead Games pulls something new out of their sleeves.

In the end, The Baconing feels a little phoned-in. It's not a bad game by any stretch; clocking in at around 10 hours it's superb value for money and the comedy, characters, and ludicrous situations are certainly worth the price of admission by themselves. (I'm pretty sure it's impossible to hate a game with a weapon called the Club of Emily Dickinson.) But a lingering sense of disappointment begins to sink as the hours tick by and you explore more of the world, and the game never hits the heights it really should.

Still, it's a generally fun romp, so let's close on a high note: the ending sets the stage for a sequel with plenty of scope for fantastic areas. If Hothead continues to work on the gameplay side of things and gets the environment back up to par, we'll be in for something truly spectacular next time.

Maybe it'll even have online co-op.

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