Review: Shank

Shank, Klei Entertainment’s newest action title, is sold on the premise of slick comic-style visuals and a demanding combat system. Fans of old-school beat-’em ups will feel immediately comfortable with what the game represents and how it is played. With consideration to the game’s clearly defined direction, Shank still manages to have a few modern surprises; some good, and some bad.

The first thing most people notice about Shank is its distinct style and impressive visuals. The cityscapes and backdrops used in-game create a dark palette prime to be painted crimson, and its characters are crisp and very smoothly-animated. The animations in combat are particularly well-done, with each weapon swap and pistol draw looking perfectly fluid.

The tale of Shank (the man) feels ripped from the pages of a comic book. Shank, like many heroes of his generation, has been wronged by a powerful criminal overlord, and only a large amount of blood and violence can set right the balance that was disturbed by the attempt on his life. Luckily for him, such actions are the foundation on which his entire life has been established.

The plot plays out through a number of cutscenes, usually denoting the start or end of a level. The cutscenes look almost as good as the game, and can be pretty hilarious at times. After competing the entire level, the player is able to come back to that chapter of the game at any time afterward to try to beat their fastest time or to replay boss battles.

Of course, the core of the gameplay in Shank is ending people’s lives. The primary means in which Shank lays foes to rest would be with his namesake (and seemingly-homemade) shivs. These knives are the quick go-to weapons in the game, and they are the easiest way to string together combos using the rest of the weapons. Aside from these knives are heavy weapons, the first of which would be an enormous chainsaw. Throughout the game, Shank finds other heavy weapons, including machetes, chains, and a katana. The heavy weapons tend to have a larger range or higher power; the only exception would be the chains, which deliver a lot of power with an extremely short melee range.

Topping off the rest of the weapons are the guns and grenades. Shank’s arsenal kicks off with twin pistols that can be aimed in various directions depending on which way the analog stick is pointing. The later weapons follow suit, with the close-range shotgun and crowd-controlling Uzis. Each of these firearms has a unique strength – this necessitates swapping between weapons to find the most suitable for the situation.

The meat of the combat is in how each of the different weapons can be strung together to create combos. The player can quite easily switch between weapons using the directional pad, allowing the character to be more (or less) effective against different enemies. These combo attacks look good and feel mostly fluid. Finding the right mode of attack depending on the type of foes being faced is surprisingly fun, and will likely be the draw most people feel towards returning to play the game.

The problem I have with the combat is a strange lack of responsiveness. Things would often not go well for me, and I can’t help but to attribute it to some odd things that only seem to happen when the fights get hectic. Sometimes it seemed like my gun wouldn’t come up as fast as I thought it normally did, or the weapon my character is using wouldn’t change even though the HUD displayed that it had.

Pouncing also seemed a bit problematic. The biggest downside to the pounce attack is that, when followed up with a melee attack, it usually results in an instant kill. Most enemies waited for my pounce attacks to finish before going back in to attack Shank, with only those armed with guns being able to break the animation. The one-hit kill kind of cheapens the experience, and its entirely possible to kill all of the smaller-build enemies with this one foolproof attack.

The problem with the grapple mechanic is a problem also shared with the pounce attack: sometimes it just doesn’t connect to who it is meant to connect with. The screen is often filled with different sizes of enemies; certain ones are immune to pounces, some can deftly dodge grapples, and others are immune to both. Since the animation for both pounce and grapple takes the character some distance across the screen, there’s a high chance that the intended target will move, and Shank will face off with the wrong person. It might not be a huge problem if not for the fact that all of the bigger enemies have a counterattack to a failed pounce or grapple.

Shank features a few platforming segments that I found to be pretty enjoyable. Shank himself can climb up buildings, slide down slopes, run across walls, and climb across rope (in addition to the basic running and jumping). The platforming helped to break apart the monotony of combat without becoming too cumbersome itself. There are a few annoying instances of enemies waiting just off-screen from a large jump, and in those cases there really isn’t a way to avoid death. Luckily, the game places the character right back at the nearest spawn point with the enemy’s location fresh in mind.

The game as a whole turns out to be pretty enjoyable, and I would say more so for fans of hard games. The difficulty definitely follows a curve – the battles become ever more difficult, eventually culminating in an almost ridiculously-hard final boss battle. Even the in-game hint won’t help players there.

This is also good news for gamers who play with friends. Shank‘s co-op mode is easily twice as fun as the solo mode (so long as you don’t mind losing sight of your character in battle), and most definitely twice as hard. The cooperative mode doesn’t just ask for teamwork, it demands it.

The main campaign packs about 5 hours of gameplay, with around the same for the cooperative mode. Players who have the need to track down unlockables will have to play through the game multiple times to unlock all of the extra costumes (ranging from a robot to DeathSpank himself), giving the game a little extra replay value.

For fans of old-school beat-’em-ups, Shank is kind of a no-brainer. It combines a slick modern visual style with gameplay that boasts the difficulty of older games with a few modern amenities from current-generation titles. Everyone else will have to decide for themselves if they’re okay with just a bit more style than actual substance.

Shank
PlayStation Network (Reviewed), Xbox Live Arcade, PC
	Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Klei Entertainment Genre: Action / Beat ‘Em Up Release Date: August 24th, 2010 MSRP: $14.99 ESRB Rating: M for Mature