DeathSpank Sequel Sends Players On Underwear Hunt

[Tom Goldman]

DeathSpank Sequel Sends Players On Underwear Hunt

A follow-up to Hothead Games' DeathSpank has been announced and will be released a scant two months after the original.

If you've already finished action-humor-RPG Monkey Island [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94486-DeathSpank-Trailer-Looks-Promising] game.

Thongs of Virtue will put players in the role of DeathSpank again and will task them to seek out the world's six mystical thongs. Yeah, magical underwear. These thongs grant amazing powers to those that wear them, but corrupt all they touch. DeathSpank is the only one that can wear these pieces of rear-end floss without becoming corrupted, so he's mankind's only hope to destroy the undergarments.

Sparkles the Wizard returns to fight alongside DeathSpank in its local co-op mode, and Thongs of Virtue adds a second co-op choice in Steve, a character with "ninjatastic Kung Fu moves." Vlad Ceraldi, Director of Game Development at Hothead Games, also says the game will "add loads of new creatures, environments, weapons and characters, while continuing to push the envelope with our signature humor."

My first thought after hearing of this sequel went to series creator and Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert, who GamePro [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99777-Monkey-Island-Designer-Ron-Gilbert-Leaves-Hothead] interview with DeathSpank producer Hamish Millar, Ron Gilbert "had basically the same impact on Thongs of Virtue as he did the original game," which means he may have laid down the initial framework for future releases, but Millar didn't explain exactly what he meant.

Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue is set for release on September 21 for the PlayStation Network and on September 22 for Xbox Live Arcade at the price of $14.99. There has still been no confirmation of a PC release for the sequel, the original, or for future releases, which is odd considering the game's inspiration coming from two classic PC game franchises.

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[icyneesan]

I didn't think the first game would sell well enough to have a sequel

 

[viranimus]

lol, pantie raid.

and who says originality in gaming is dead?

 

[Stabby Joe]

2 months? That is too soon... in that case it's more of a stand alone expansion than a sequel.

 

[hudsonzero]

this is how you do episodic games valve

 

[V8 Ninja]

Only 2 months after the original? Wow, talk about being rushed.

 

[RvLeshrac]

2 months? That is too soon... in that case it's more of a stand alone expansion than a sequel.

It was a twelve hour game. The sequel will probably be roughly the same length. Think about it, they're not going to change much, the gameplay, the graphics it's all going to be basically the same thing just with a new story. Besides it's $15 dollars. It's an xbla game. The original game was about as long and cost about as much as an expansion pack anyway. It's a lot easier to do with an xbla title than a major release.

I'm really excited for this, my only concern is with Ron Gilbert gone is this a game he wanted made or is it the studio going "Well that went well, let's do another because of how much we like having money." Once I get my dose of humour I'll be happy though.

Between the "What's my favourite colour?" "Plaid." (and so on) conversation with Heybenstance and "Just get in the bag future criminal" I can honestly say no game has ever made me laugh so much. Sam and Max, Monkey Island, Portal they're all good for a chuckle but Deathspank is right up there with my favourite comedies of all time. (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Freakazoid and The tick for anyone who cares.)

I'd consider paying $5 for DLC, but there's no way more-of-the-same is worth $15.

 

[noble cookie]

I didn't even know it was a good game...then again, i never played it but it wasnt exactly high on the top downloaded list.

 

[Sirpipple]

Act like they are two seperate games except for the fact that they are exactly the same

 

[MisterShine]

adds a second co-op choice in Steve, a character with "ninjatastic Kung Fu moves."

I wonder if the fact that Kung Fu is Chinese martial art and Ninjas are Japanese is an intentional bit of humor [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GeniusBonus] or just trying [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DidNotDoTheResearch] to be funny? [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitleueswu2fx0swd]

 

[obisean]

You forgot the best part: The description:

A long time ago, nine mystical thongs were planned to bring balance and harmony to the universe, but when marketing got in the way, only six thongs were produced, and the result was disastrous. Granting great power to those who wear them, the thongs corrupted all those they touched?except DeathSpank. DeathSpank must find all six thongs and destroy them once and for all.

 

[Fearzone]

What I did like about DeathSpank was the stylish graphics. I wish more games would be more inventive like it was.

What I didn't like was the simplistic gameplay, and the jokes wore thin. I mean, how much humor is there really in guys wearing thongs? Admittedly it is probably a parody of fantasy games, but the jokes never quite nail the bullseye.

For some reason once I finished the game I was one quest short of completion. I couldn't find the quest anywhere. So I started up a new game to go ahead and get my completion trophy, after all, it's only a few hours right? About 10 minutes into it I quit and haven't re-loaded the game since. Maybe one day when I'm sick and confined to the couch, another run of DeathSpank will hit the spot.

 

[OceanRunner]

2 months? That is too soon...

I think so too. Unless this short gap is due to the titles being worked on together, though that's extremely unlikely.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Spoiler: Deathspank Ending Spoilers

So I'm assuming this game is set in a world war II style warzone? Or was that just a last minute joke?

I'm looking forward to this but I wasn't expecting it so soon. Deathspank is easily the biggest single player experience I've ever found on XLA, as well as the funniest. If the second game is the same size or bigger I'm sold. I just wish I had more time to set aside those 1200 microsoft points. I may have to let it brew a little.

 

[Jared]

Oh wow, not wasting anytime there! Not that its a bad thing mind you! ...heh, and certainly be fun none the less!

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Just been searching about online, it seems that it's 50% longer. Considering the first game is roughly 15 hours of gameplay...damn, that's big for XBLA.

[spoiler/] Also from what I'm reading it's hinted at that it is set in world war II and you may even have guns [/spoiler]

 

[xDHxD148L0]

Probably not going to get this one, I was fairly dissapointed with the first one, to me it felt like fetch-quest hell with a joke thown in every now and then.

 

[SmilingKitsune]

Heard about this a few days ago and all I can say is hell yes!
I am So ready to continue vanquishing evil.
I loved pretty much everything about Deathspank, the combat was fun and satisfying, the look of the game was incrdible and the humour was a lot more hit than miss, a relative rarity in a game.
So yeah, colour me excited.

 

[Miral]

2 months? That is too soon...

I think so too. Unless this short gap is due to the titles being worked on together, though that's extremely unlikely.

Belated response, but: They were worked on together [http://grumpygamer.com/1500519].