Whoops! The super-powered undies DeathSpank fought so hard to find in Thongs of Virtue have created a monster. The Anti-Spank, an evil incarnation of our hero, is destroying the world we’ve saved twice. This premise should set the stage for a brand-new adventure, but ultimately, The Baconing feels like little more than a change of scenery.
DeathSpank’s third outing, like Thongs before it, feels nearly identical to the first game. This franchise is great at its core, but our patience for its unaddressed (and therefore, still woefully borked) issues is running out. The targeting is still unwieldy, inventory management remains a pain, and the game’s overwhelming simplicity sterilizes the action-RPGing. Oh, and the co-op mode is still offline-only.
The consolation for these weaknesses is a couple of great new player-two characters. We particularly love Bob from Management: the suited-up shark-man plays a rad support role by attacking from underground. Co-op questing makes tough encounters easier, but with all the goods and gear going to DeathSpank, our couch partner felt left out.
This hobbled multiplayer is a huge downer, and consequently, we played most of The Baconing’s campaign alone. We dug the 10 hours it took to finish the story — for the most part. The first half of the game is a grind with few notable events, characters, or quests, and the long, linear stretches of walking drag it out, too. Thankfully, the second half saves its bacon. Paths open up a bit more, encouraging exploration in memorable locales with fun story arcs. We loved investigating a murder at the retirement home for old gods, and reuniting an angry, literally nuclear family at a radioactive amusement park. These scenarios were considerably better than the throwaway Anti-Spank story: the game ignores him entirely between the introduction and the final boss fight.
Quests during the back half are shorter and better-paced, too — in fact, these chunks of The Baconing move at a quicker, more enjoyable pace than the first two games. The series’ quirky humor is at its best here as well, ranging from childish (saving “seamen,” LOL) to alarmingly adult (an amusement-park brothel, with an ointment shop next door? Ha!).
Loot and laughs just barely stabilize The Baconing. It has some excellent bits, but we’re exhausted by this series’ rapid-fire release schedule. Take some time off to recuperate and innovate, DeathSpank. We want you to wow us again.
+ Hey, DeathSpank is back! Hack, slash, loot, laugh!
– Same old problems, same old everything. Limited, offline-only multiplayer. Yet again. Sigh.
? Was it really only a year ago that DeathSpank debuted?! Baconing is already the third in the series!
