However, this small hack and slash dungeon crawler is top notch.  The controls are wonderful and the story was good.

The game is rated TEEN, and I would agree with that.  The game mechanics are simple.  Each button and arrow on the D-PAD are assigned a weapon, potion or orb.  This makes the game incredibly easy to play on the XBOX 360 controller.  The inventory gets full quick with old armor, weapons and orbs.  The mechanics show you a green background with good things for your level, and lets you “Grind” old things to obtain money.  The game was pretty easy and when I finished the game I had 2.2 million dollars in my inventory, as well as a full bag.

There was a mechanic for “blocking” enemies too, but it seemed really forgettable, I think I only used it when the actual hints popped up on screen but not after that.. I found that using the “Justice” powers served me more than blocking.

The story was good, the hero with the powerful thong battling a king who has been corrupted by the power of his throne.  Deathspank is the dispenser of justice and hero to the downtrodden.

When the game was over, it preludes a SEQUEL which I will most likely get.. I played DeathSpank Straight through, probably a good straight 10 – 12 hour of game-play.. got almost all the achievements, but might try to go back into my saved game to get the last two.

All in all, wonderful game and a good way to waste a weekend.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Recommended: YES

GLaDOS Companion Cube

I bought the XBLA version of Portal a few months back.  Well okay, maybe more.  I had heard a lot of  hype about the game, but couldn’t really figure out why people liked it so much.  Was it the nefarious references to cake?  Was it the cuddly companion cubes that I saw all over the Internet?

So I dropped the coin and downloaded Portal.  After learning the basics of portal I was hooked.  Granted, I’m not the best at this game, I had a couple of times I couldn’t think spatially.

There were a few times, I needed a hint from an anonymous source on the Internet.. but only in a few of the areas.. The game became extremely addictive when I did play, and I was forced to leave it from time to time.  The game had a wonderfully fun game play, but looks to have limited replay value.

The game was a lot of fun and did keep me entertained, and the final credits were the best part of the game.  GLaDOS was extremely entertaining too.

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone.  It wasn’t too hard, but it wasn’t so easy that it wasn’t enjoyable.  I think maybe in a few months I may go back and play some more.  I also will plan on doing the challenge maps to try and get some more achievements.  There are some achievements that I KNOW I won’t be able to get.. but that’s okay..

Rating: 8 out of 10
Recommended: YES