![]() Fighting has never been the strong suit of the series, but the combat-oriented nature of The Baconing makes its deficiencies far more evident. You'll still shift back and forth from weapons like the aforementioned Mobile Nuker to your World Smasher hammer, building up your combo meter to release an uber-powerful Justice attack. The combat mechanics haven't changed at all from DeathSpank's first two outings. You'd think that a guy who carries around four weapons at any given time - including one that can call in a nuclear air strike - could do a bit better against some mountain lions. The 'Spank will be rolling through hordes of enemies only to run across a group of particularly difficult foes, kicking off a long process of slowly whittling down the group while strafing and using fistfuls of health items. It doesn't help that even on the easier difficulties, you'll be banging your head against the wall of slightly-too-tough combat during one of the game's numerous difficulty spikes. Some of the older quests could be obtuse, and occasionally too difficult to solve, but replacing them with hack-this and slash-that hasn't worked in the series' favor. Most of the hilarious adventure game-esque puzzles that made up a good portion of the quest logs in the first two DeathSpank titles are gone, tragically replaced by straightforward "go here and kill stuff" missions. %Gallery-130182%This sequel's largest misstep is immediately apparent: Its focus has shifted drastically towards combat. ![]() All that stuff is still there - but, sadly, it's hidden under a mound of major problems. The hero to the downtrodden still gets wacky loot like the mafioso-looking Pinstripe Platemail as he hacks and slashes his way through bizarre enemies. And yeah, the writing is still laden with puns and excretory humor, and is presented by a cast of solid comedic voice actors. There's still a whole bunch of quests strewn throughout a whimsical and colorful world. Sure, the self-obsessed hero of Hothead's first two DeathSpank games is still there. ![]() I guess there's not a cliched "change" quote that quite works there, huh? Here's the thing: The Baconing has a lot more of the same DeathSpank flavor you're likely used to, but without a lot of the stuff that made DeathSpank good. "You can't change the past, but you can work to change the future." Nope, that doesn't do the trick either. "The only constant in this world is change." Wait, no, that doesn't work.
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