[rokbox title=”Shank Review” thumb=”http://www.geeksofgaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/shankpreview.png” size=”854 505″ ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQPpJbIdq8w&hd=1&autoplay=1[/rokbox]
The main story in Shank follows in the footsteps of most Grindhouse revenge films, like Once Upon A time in Mexico, and Kill Bill. Shank is left for dead by his former companions in crime for going against the ways of his family. On top of that they violated and murdered the woman he loved. In a lust for vengeance, he must systematically hunt each of them down. It follows a strict formula of familiarity and for the most part, you can always guess what the twists are.
Yet the combat is what players are really here for, and it is as visceral as the title demands. Shank has a large amount of moves at his disposal, he can commit a series of combinations by using each of his weapons. He can also grapple enemies, throw them into their friends, or shoot them at point blank range. He also he the ability to leap through the air and pounce on top of people, from here he can unleash an assortment of punishment depending on the weapon.
As Shank’s arsenal grows so does his ability to handle different situations. For example, the shotgun can be used to back off enemies… and it is extremely powerful versus the larger opposition. While the pistol is more of a multi-purpose weapon, for stunning smaller enemies and juggling them during combos. Add in the fact that Shank acquires different types of melee weapons, from dual-machetes, to fists wrapped in chains… and you’ve got a lot of choices on your hands.
You can also defend by holding the guard button, and dodge attacks by moving the analog stick left or right. This will probably be the move you’ll need the most, due to enemies being able to surround Shank and juggle him while he’s down. Not to mention that the ranged enemies can shoot clean through 8 guys to hit you with bullets. So you’ll really need to be paying attention to actually avoid hits… hell who am I kidding a good majority of them time you’ll just get hit no matter what.
Seeing as the game likes to place you in situations where you have no choice but to get tagged by an enemy. It can be during one of the many “Run for your life sequences” where an object flies in to hit you in a place where you’d never recover. Or just trying to climb a wall and reach an area with enemies standing on top, they’ll be able to shoot you at a perfect angle and knock you down. This brings on the major issue with Shank… and that’s the controls.
A good majority of the time the game wants you to be precise with your movements, unfortunately the controls are not as exact as they should be. For instance, if you’re facing one direction while attacking, and try to switch directions to attack another enemy. The game doesn’t always register this properly, a good majority of the time you’ll stay facing the direction you were in and keep attacking. Which leaves you open to the accurate enemies, and bosses who will kindly murder you.
Regardless of that issue the game is still tons of fun, just expect to die constantly even on the normal difficulty. Luckily, you can alleviate some of these problems by playing in Multi-Player… you’re even presented with a different campaign than the single-player version. The only real difference is that you can perform tandem attacks and revive the other player. Unfortunately, you can’t play this game online… so recruit a friend to buddy up with you on the couch.
The graphics in Shank are a mix of blocky characters that are straight out of a Flash Animation. With lightly detailed hand-drawn backdrops for the stages. The most interesting portions of it are the silhouette battles, and when the environment is crumbling around Shank. This bright and colorful world of Shanks is eye catching, especially when someone is being slaughtered in one of the cut scenes. The only problem is that it has a few stuttering issues and extremely long load times.
At the price of $15 dollars on Xbox Live and PSN, this is a tough one to sell as a single-player game. Mostly due to the frustration of being surrounded by enemies who have more control than you. That and the game is about 3 to 4 hours long if you’re playing by yourself, with the only replay value being in the multi-player section. So Shank Receives a C+ from Half-Ass Gaming, mostly due to the fact that the controls make the enemies seem more badass than they are.
