Adventure, role-playing blend well in fun ‘Deathspank’

In the summer of downloadable games, one more game is worth talking about.

I’ve written about downloadable games all summer, highlighting “Limbo” a few weeks back as the game of the summer and one of the three best so far this year.

Electronic Arts’ “Deathspank” isn’t as good as “Limbo,” but it still ranks as one of the 10 best games so far this year.

The player controls Deathspank, a heroic knight who completes odd jobs as he pursues a greater quest to vanquish evil from the game’s world.

The game, which came out in July for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, is a blend between action-adventure and role-playing. Deathspank relies on good, old-school button mashing to defeat enemies, but he also collects items that allow the player to upgrade and customize the character.

The spherical world reminds me of “Super Mario Galaxy.” Deathspank travels from region to region with no load times in the three-dimensional world, meeting an odd group of characters along the way. Most of the characters will give Deathspank a task to complete, all of which move the game along nicely as you move between the different regions.

While the game’s world and characters are three-dimensional, the cut scenes are cartoonish and only two-dimensional.

Creater Ron Gilbert, who also developed “Monkey Island,” injects plenty of humor into the game. He gives Deathspank plenty of wise cracks as he plods through his quest.

The character reminds me of The Tick, largely because the actor’s voice resembles Patrick Warburton in sound and joke delivery.

Many of the enemies and weapons are intended to be funny, like a gun that shoots killer chickens.

During each of the game’s conversations, the gamer is provided a tree of options to lead the conversation. Some of the options further the game, while others take each conversation to absurd levels.

The game’s biggest attribute is its light-hearted gameplay and dialogue, both of which make it worth its $20 price tag.