Shank

Shank delivers on rewarding fast-paced, 2D style beat 'em up action, even if the experience comes off as brief.

 
For those not willing to muddle through the great walls of text, here’s a quick break down:

Pros:

+ Quick-moving 2D action happens with so much style I picture the developers posing with Spirit fingers

+ Multitude of weapons and techniques that allow for seamless stringing of combos

+ Story that provides more than just a reason to stab dudes, and decent voice acting to boot.

Cons:

-    It’s over in a flash, providing maybe 3-4 hours of content.
-/+ Hard mode is brutal (might be a pro depending on your tastes)

Shank won me over as soon as I hit the start button.  Even as I got slapped silly by the gun and knife wielding minions, I found myself enamored with the flashy visuals and visceral style of the game. Never had I felt like such a bad ass, and yet such a loser as I watched Shank groan and hit the ground. At some point throughout my abusive start, (Which I attribute more to my failure then the difficulty of the game) something clicked, and I became a one man wrecking crew.
 
First off, a note to people playing on the PC like myself. Heed that message that says, "A controller is highly recommended." While I found it easier to switch weapons on the fly using the standard PC controls, doing everything else was an absolute pain. After I plugged in a controller, it was like playing a completely different game. Stringing together a barrage of attacks became natural instead of a chore, which is as necessary as breathing you want to function in Shank. It wouldn't be impossible  play PC controls, but your learning curve might become more of a black-diamond ski run as you adapt.

The story of Shank tells itself as though someone made a graphic novel out of a Grindhouse flick, and then said comic was turned into a game. When information about Shank's past and his motivations are revealed to you, it  is very cautiously done. In the interest of not spoiling the game I will dance around the…”finer” aspects of the tale. At the start, all you know is that Shank is one mean bastard that everyone thought was dead. He’s out for vengeance, and the, “who’s” and “Why’s” are slowly answered through paced back-story and pre-boss fight cut scenes. These moments are real hit or miss. The voice acting is as good as it can be, but there are a few scenes that seem like more emotional impact was intended. There are few funny lines. One that stands out to me is a particular exchange between Shank and a Preacher- I won’t spoil it for you. The story serves its purpose well, and when all was said and done I felt like Shank was an actual person, and not just some vessel for me to cut dudes with. The co-op mode is its own stand-alone story, and reveals even more information about the history of Shank.

The visuals emphasize the graphic comic style of Shank, and send a very clear message- Shank has Style. Make no mistake, this game looks good. Animations are clean, the screen shakes for the more punishing hits, and bleed effects are rampant. The combat also plays up the ridiculous grind house nature of the game. Shank has a wide number of moves at his disposal. You’ll start with just a Chainsaw and Pistols, and as you move along you will acquire various other weapons you’ll be able to switch to on the fly. You can shoot with your choice of side-arm, Shank away with the standard daggers, or break out your other melee weapon all without breaking up your motions. There’s even grenades for use when things get nasty. There’s block and dodge techniques that come in handy every once in a while, and a dashing grab as well. One of the more useful techniques is a flying pounce, which can be used to close distances and interrupt the gun-wielders before they have a chance to return the favor.

Boss fights seemed unfairly cruel at first, but in typical 2D beat-em up fashion, the Bosses tend to have a pattern. In certain fights, there are even a few environment manipulations or timed grapple moves that help you do a significant amount of damage. Once you get this down, the bosses become the easier sections of the game. Where Shank does show its teeth is when it starts heaving enemy after enemy in your way, filling the screen with pack of enemies, packs of dogs, or both. This gets frustrating only because enemies will occasionally stand in places you can’t normally reach, on platforms way over your head, and fire away with guns. Your weapons cannot be fired straight up, and getting proper placement while trying to deal with the hoards at ground level can get irritating quick. Fortunately these rooms only show up once in a while, and become just a minor frustration (provided you aren't on the hardest difficulty).

Shank’s biggest weakness is not in its style, but its length. The game will most likely take you 3-4 hours to get through, not counting the co-op mode. Not that saying so means much, sadly, because the co-op mode is about half the length of the normal game. It’s fairly brief, even for a 15$ XBLA title. There is a harder difficulty that removes the checkpoint from levels, which certainly provides a whole new level of challenge. Whether or not you’re willing to brave this mode will depend entirely on how much you enjoyed Shank on your first play through. If you’re like me (and I’m sorry if you are) you’ll left wanting another opportunity to break out all the weapons you’ve acquired and put them to use. There was something cathartic about mincing up all the baddies who thrashed me when I first started the game. My own feelings aside, if you aren’t the type to enjoy a difficult gaming experience and the prospect of losing anywhere from 11 to 15 minutes of progress does not appeal to you, the harder difficulty will only serve to frustrate more.

Shank is a game that went full on, “balls-to-the-wall,” for style, and in the end sacrificed something in substance. While the ride through Shank is indeed a short one, it goes by looking damn good. If 15$ for 3-4 hours of insanely quick 2D action sounds enjoyable to you, this is more than worth your time. If you’re looking for something to keep you occupied for a while, however, you might want to invest in something with more breadth or wait for a sale to check this out.