Scenes from the game

HotHead Games’ DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue finally makes its way to your PC.

While fans of the first game will be glad that they are getting more of the same, getting more of the same means issues with the first game haven’t been addressed in the second.Thongs of Virtue takes place shortly after the events of DeathSpank’s original adventure. Having been captured, our hero must start by finding a way out of prison.

This introduction gives first time players the opportunity to get familiar with the controls and gameplay.

Considering how unlikely someone who hasn’t played the first would play this instead, most returning players should be able to breeze through this in a short period of time.

Once he does manage to escape, he is tasked with finding the remaining ancient-thongs that give its holders great power, but which also corrupts the owner in the process.

The story borrows from a famous book series, but it’s done in good taste and like the first, the comedy of DeathSpank is what carries it. Again, it won’t appeal to everyone, but if you enjoyed the first, you won’t be disappointed.

Essentially everything that was found the first time around is there in Thongs of Virtue.

From its hack and slash combat to the plethora of different and out-of-the-ordinary quests that people will task you with, there is a lot happening in his world.

The only difference this time is that there are more of both. The new world that you explore is significantly larger than the first, which means new environments to discover and foes for you to do battle with. On top of new baddies, your weapons have also seen some nice changes.

This time, the flavour is ammo-based weaponry. While the first game only had one type of ranged weapon - the bow and arrow - here the ranged weapons vary from a standard pistol to submachine guns, bazookas and even an alien blast-ray, just to name a few. The new weapons add more variety in combat as even your foes have access to the same ones.

According to HotHead, Thongs of Virtue was made at the same time as the first and it certainly shows. In some ways, this is a good thing as the wonderful art, cardboard-styled environments and fantastic sound are still just as incredible.

At the same time, all the problems that existed in the first game also make appearances.

For me, while the inclusion of the various ammo-based weapons does offer some variety in combat, it is still very repetitive and the same run around strategy holds true here.

Of course, my biggest gripe — how you need to use food to replenish health — is still handled the same way. It gets really annoying to have to run in circles and avoid getting hit while eating. Not having this issue addressed is disappointing.

Because of the short time frame, whatever problems you may have had with the first will still exist and may hinder your decision to play it.

What is really confusing with Thongs of Virtue is HotHead’s decision to release the console versions only two months apart.

Considering this short time frame, gamers during the summer who missed out on the first will likely not download this, especially considering the lack of familiarity. At the same time, those who enjoyed the first may be disappointed with the lack of evolution to drop another 15 dollars so quickly.

Yes, there are more quests and the game is longer, but compared to the first, the additional content doesn’t mask the lack of changes. I think had they waited six months instead of two and used the extra time to resolve the one or two issues from the previous outing, this would be a must buy. Considering that wasn’t the case, only a small selection of gamers will feel compelled to put DeathSpank’s boots on again.

The key difference between the PC edition and the consoles is whether or not you decide to play the game with your mouse and keyboard over any regular USB controller.

The WASD and mouse set-up is like you’d expect with any PC game, you’ll control DeathSpank with the keyboard and you attack by clicking the mouse buttons.

The only change when using the mouse over a gamepad is that the mouse can only have two weapons keyed to it.

To change the other two weapons, you’ll have to hit the Tab button. This isn’t too bad, but when the Justice meter fills up faster by using different weapons, you may find the combination of trying to move quickly, hitting Tab and attacking to be a bit hard at first.

Once you get the hang of it though, it feels exactly as you’d expect. The larger scope of Thongs of Virtue makes it a great second entry, but compared to the first, the lack of improvements put it in a bad position.

It’s definitely still a worthy title, but it would have been even better had there been more time between releases and some much needed improvements were made.

Those who had no problems with the first should pick it up without question.

For everyone else, be sure to try it first to see if it’s right for you.

play on

Rating: 8/10

Minimum System Requirements

Operating System: Windows: XP/ Vista/ 7

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 at 1.7 GHz or greater

Memory: 1 GB of ram, 1.5 GB (Vista and Windows 7)

Hard Disk: 2 GB of free Hard Disk space

Video Card: 256MB ATI Radeon X1900 GT or Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra

Direct X: 9.0c

Controls: Keyboard & Mouse

Installation: DVD-ROM Drive