Deathspank Has Made Me Realize

 

I’ve had an extraordinary thought while playing Deathspank…

Not really but I do want to say that humor in games have never cut it for me. I’m currently playing through Deathspank which I’m quite enjoying but the “funny” parts of the game I’m feeling are a major distraction to what’s actually good about it. Deathspank’s voice is nerve wracking and is strikingly similar to Captain Qwark of Ratchet & Clank fame although it’s supposedly not the same VO. What’s supposed to be “humorous” in that style of voice? Is it the overconfidence, the loudness, I just don’t really get it.

Humor in games have never really done it for me. Have I ever laughed out loud at a game? Sure, but a game based primarily around humor would never work for me. I’m 23 years old; some say dick and fart jokes never get old but I wouldn’t miss a fart noise if I never heard one again. Even watching the latest AVGN about Zelda and having fart noises in the intro was just dumb. Games are missing the charm that is needed to be funny that are found in TV shows and movies. Why is it that games are never really funny? It has to be that it takes so long to make one and money gets allocated more towards making the game fun than to making the script humorous.

Getting back to Deathspank; it really is fun although it’s quite a grind. The descriptions to your weapons are supposed to be funny “Is this a hammer in a sword or a sword in a hammer” funny right? Even though the humor doesn’t tickle my fancy, the overall game is really fun. I really like the watercolor look of Deathspank and the environments seem pretty varied toward the beginning levels (I’m only a couple hours in.) The combat is easy to pick up but I don’t see it becoming stale. The inventory screen is ugly but you have a nice checkbox of “always equip the best gear” which means I never have to look at it again. The Summer of Arcade is full of hits and misses this year and it was nice to get Deathspank the week before it started.

Has humor ever worked for anybody else? I’m sure there are games that have their moments but has one truly made you LOL? Let me know some examples.
 
originally written on my blog 64bitbastard