Shank is a game whose storyline takes a lot of inspiration from the Kill Bill movies and mixes them with the Sergio Leone Man With No Name trilogy to make a bloody good game. You play as the titular hero Shank on a quest for revenge upon the powerful thugs that left you for dead. Actually, they did something far worse than try to kill you. They kidnapped the girl you loved and had their way with her while you laid helpless in a pool of your own blood. You don't know at this point if she's dead or alive. But there's one way to find out. Start with "The Butcher", the pro wrestler who took her, and make him talk. That is, if you don't kill him first.
Shank reminded me a lot of a souped up version of the old Streets of Rage games. You move through a side-scrolling world as enemies either walk or run into the action from left and right, and sometimes from above, and you have to dispatch them. But you have a lot more moves available to you. You have a quick melee attack where you use your knives, or "shanks", a heavy attack which is slower, but causes more damage, and a gun attack. Your heavy attack starts with a chainsaw and your guns are dual wielded pistols. As you play through the story mode you pick up other weapons like uzis, shotguns, machetes, and a katana. The cool thing is that once you acquire a new weapon you can switch between them at any time with the D-pad.
Some of the unique movement sets of the game are the grapple and pounce moves. With grapple, you can grab an enemy and hold them immobile as you shoot, stab, or even feed them a grenade! The pounce is an attack where you jump in the air and land on an enemy and deliver vicious slashing attacks. If you're skilled enough you can you can deliver a lot of combos a la Dynasty Warriors without your foes being able to deliver a blow. There are also some platforming elements involving jumps, sliding, running along walls, and sliding down pipes.
I really enjoyed playing Shank. It's a game that manages to look good without becoming too enamored with itself. The animation and character designs look like something Walt Disney would have designed IF he had been a thuggish badass.
All the different attacks coupled with intuitive controls made it much more of a casual experience. Just think of the Fable 2 battle system but with more finesse and individuality. You can buttonmash your way through things but it's much more rewarding to use strategy and experimentation, especially when you go up against bosses.
It took a while for the story via cutscenes to reach me. They're really too cartoony to be taken seriously, and I think that's the point. People that get upset with the bloodshed in this game are overblowing an aspect of it that is more camp than gore. This game is good fun.
My Grade: A-
Developed by Klei Entertainment
Published by EA
Available on Xbox Arcade and PSN, Price: $15
Rated Mature 17+
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