Shank is a prime example of beat-'em up badassery.

User Rating: 8.5 | Shank X360
The goal of many great hack-and-slash beat-'em up games is not based around an engrossing story and character development, but rather on mindlessly fighting your way through horde after horde of mooks and simply feeling like a badass. Shank is certainly no exception to these credentials. The main story centers around Shank, an ex-mob hitman who is out to kill his former boss Cesar to avenge the loss of his girlfriend, whom Cesar sent his men out to kill. Along the way he must defeat the other hitmen responsible for the death of his girlfriend. While the formula firmly centers around killing one guy after another, this excuse of going out on a violent bloodshed is rather common for a game like this; and quite frankly, as long as the action is great, that's all it needs.

Shank is a 2-D hack-and-slash beat-'em up mixed with some light platforming. As our hero you fight your way through wave after wave of hitmen each with their own weapons and ways of attacking. Shank is given three main weapons: a pair of knives for closed quarters combat, heavy melee weapons (a chainsaw, machetes, etc.), and ranged weaponry (dual pistols, shotgun, etc.). You are also able to carry up to five grenades at a time and use other enemies' weapons. As you progress through the campaign you will collect additional weapons that you can switch on the fly with the D-Pad. You can switch between one weapon after another, finding a combination that offers the best effect and pulling off satisfying combos. Like any good action/beat-'em up, killing horde after horde of enemies feels incredibly satisfying and it makes you feel awesome. Of course, like many games of this nature, the game is rather difficult. You will need to be mindful of enemy patterns and weaknesses and use dodge and guard well. This is especially true for the intense boss fights. Each battle requires its own unique way to defeat your opponents and to finish them off in the most violent way possible. The action gets really hectic in Hard mode, where enemies are more resilient and there is no checkpoint system. When you aren't battling enemies for a little bit, you will be performing some light platforming. This usually means climbing up walls and pillars, swinging off of posts, and hanging on wires. Fortunately, much of the time the controls remain spot-on to help you tackle combat and platforming. There is some occasional issues during the co-op story and the jumping mechanics could have been smoother, but for the most part if you die it's because you need to find a different strategy.

Speaking of which, Co-op serves as great fun as well. It presents its own story that takes place before the events of the single player mode. You and a friend take control of Shank and his old partner Falcone. You both can perform a couple of team-specific moves and if one man is down the other can revive him for another go. Slaughtering mooks is even more satisfying with a friend joining in the fray, but unfortunately the bosses you face in co-op are more frustrating to deal with. The bosses are challenging enough to begin with, so you find yourself trying to heal each other. But with the reviving system, you have to be dead center in front of your partner in order to revive him, and often you will find yourself either slashing at the air or getting the crap beat out of by the boss. Both the single player and co-op only take a few hours to beat, but what time you spend in this game is a mostly enjoyable experience.

Even if the story is rather light, it's still very entertaining to watch thanks to the stylized cutscenes. It has a gritty, almost Venture Bros.-esque kind of art style featuring some decent voice acting. The variety of locations Shank visits are varied, colorful, and rich in detail; and the animations and framerate are buttery smooth. The music, while rather unfitting much of the time with what's going on in battle, features some awesome mellow guitars with the occasional orchestral score thrown in for good measure.

To sum things up:

PROS:
-Excellent stylized visuals
-Fluently animated gameplay and cutscenes
-Great music
-Brutal action
-Good controls much of the time
-Fun Co-op

CONS:
-Bosses in Co-op can be frustrating
-Short campaigns

Fans of the action and hack-and-slash genres will find a lot to like with Shank. If you're looking for a badass 2-D action title to download, than this is highly recommended. Certain aspects can definitely be tweaked, but they don't completely mar the experience.