DeathSpank Interview

Rock, Paper, Shotgun had the opportunity to fire over a set of questions to Hothead’s Ron Gilbert about his newly revealed adventure/RPG hybrid, DeathSpank.

Q: You say you’re planning to combine adventure gaming with the RPG in DeathSpank. I’ve often wondered if the RPG hasn’t simply replaced the area adventures once occupied in our lives. What properties of each are you aiming to bring to the mix?

A: Adventure games are all about telling a good story with interesting and sexy puzzles. One aspect of the DeathSpank design I am very happy with are the puzzles and the puzzle flow. It’s very (Monkey Island). For an adventure game, telling the story should be flawlessly woven into the puzzles, if it’s not, then the puzzles seem out of place and are just progress blockers. I like the way the two ended up complementing each other so well.

As for the RPG, let’s face it, there is something fun about whacking stuff with a sword and collecting items that make you stronger and more powerful, or just look cool. The real trick is going to make sure that those two aspects of the game complement, rather than fight with each other. Getting that right is going to be a fun challenge. Oh. there will be no grinding. That is one part of RPG/MMO that I do not like, and from a design standpoint, it can be replaced with the adventure play.

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