Shank

I bought Shank due to boredom last night, I decided to buy this over Scott Pilgrim and I have mixed feelings about the game.   
 
With first impressions, the game impresses to no end.  The combat is silky smooth, the story (while campy) is decent, the music mellows you out, and the graphics look stunning in high definition.  Shank gave me some of the best hour of gaming in a long time, and for that I give it nothing but praise.   
 
The game however breaks down after the third or fourth boss fight, when you quickly realize why people don't make 2d beat-em-ups anymore.  It quickly dulls whatever polish a sharply made sword may have.  Sure it spices up the gameplay with new weapons and boss fights, but in truth those are the only reasons to keep pushing.   
 
You want to see what happens next, what new area you enter, and what the next boss fight brings in store.  The masses of bodies you end up killing just seem like a chore after a while, and it just comes down to memorizing combos. 
 
Speaking of killing, you'll be doing a lot of it.  I mean a lot of it.  It's beautiful the first couple hundred of times...and just as beautiful the next couple of hundred times.   
 
Maybe Suda 51 raised my bar for what to expect in terms of crazy violence, but Shank's violence while looks good...just doesn't have the shock value I was expecting.  Even the cutscenes of when bosses die, they just lack the thrill of kills found in No More Heroes or killer7.  
 
One of the major problem I have with the game is the required use of the analog stick for movement.  I understand this is what 360 users are used to on their controller, but for the Dual Shock 3, I'm very surprised they decided to use the stick for a 2d plane.    

The controls feel fast at times, and a bit floaty.  They could've easily mapped the weapon swapping to the sticks and put the movement on the d-pad.  But whatever, I only felt really stressed about it when I was being pounded on and couldn't focus on my combos.  A minor fault, but a fault none the less.
 
So I bought this game, spent the $15 on it, played the story, tried out the co-op with my brother...and put it down.  I have no plans to go back to playing it again, at least no time soon.    
 
For $15 I could've gone to a movie this weekend, there weren't any movies out and got more hours of fun from this than I would at a typical movie.  It's a solid game, a solid weekend night thrill...just don't expect any reruns if you have a busy day and only have limited time to play games. 
 
Shank looks good, plays great, is short and sweet, violent, and fun...but some minor faults knock it down.  Check it out once it gets on discount or on a bored night with a friend.