Side-scrolling games, once considered the golden age form of game design, were the mainstay on early consoles because of the limitations of hardware processing power.  But as hardware has become more advanced, game development has also advanced.  3D objects have replaced flat sprites and game worlds have become fully realized environments.  Many gamers, it seems, feel that a more traditional approach to game design, that of a 2D side-scroller, is a sign of either limited budget and therefore lacking quality or is below the standard set by so many modern titles since it lacks a first-person view of the world.

But what if a development studio took advantage of the power behind modern gaming consoles and designed highly detailed, lush backgrounds and fluid animations and multiple attacks for a character? Would a modern gamer be able to eschew the norms of game design and embrace a classically designed side-scroller?  Klei Entertainment set out to do just that and developed Shank in 2010.  While the first title was lauded by some, many reviews picked out shortcomings that kept the title from being a runaway hit.  The title character has returned for a second showing in Shank 2 and I found myself surprised by how much I grew to enjoy this release.

Playing a game outside of my comfort zone I think helps me appreciate what works and what doesn’t work for any title.  Genres I enjoy tend to fall in line with those of the general gaming populace — first-person shooters, third-person action, platformers, puzzle games and on rare occasion a sports title.  Side-scrolling brawlers (or any brawler/fighting game which requires rote memorization of combos for true success) are not my “go to” game of choice typically, but I will play pretty much any game to be able to say I have experienced what any given title has to offer. I had played the demo of the original game and found the art style to be amazing, but the controls were a bit beyond what my “twitch” reflexes could handle. So I dove into reviewing Shank 2 with slight trepidation.

The story of Klei’s sequel begins with Shank learning of a woman from his past being abducted by Magnus, “the President with a heart,” and so he embarks on a quest of redemption to rescue this damsel in distress.  Each level has a different theme, ranging from barrio slum, to cannibal filled jungle, to seaside resort, and typically fits the mold of battling through waves of enemies which run the gamut of light grunts with bats, all the way up to hulking armored brutes with flamethrowers. Not to mention some tough end boss baddies. Fortunately the game ramps up the difficulty slowly in each stage so that by the time a level was complete I felt like a complete badass, cutting through so many enemies that anyone could follow my character simply by the large trail of blood left in his wake.

For me the biggest hurdle in a game like Shank 2 is learning to effectively balance out attacking enemies, learning when to dodge and finding the best combination of weapons to use.  The single player story consists of eight levels and I found myself struggling with the first stage or two, but by the end of the third everything started to click and the next thing I realized I was clearing a level with only a handful of deaths.  The game is very responsive but is best (as with any true brawler) when patience is employed during each encounter.  Button mashing may allow a player to get through a section, but effectively using the combo system, juggling enemies in the air, grabbing and throwing enemies and learning to counter whenever possible, not only makes for a full on slaughter of blood, fire and screams of agony, but it also boosts your score.  Each level has a leaderboard ranking which helped motivate me to go back through several levels to increase my global ranking and attempt to best folks on my friend list who had achieved better scores.

Since each level takes place in a different area, the art styles and enemy types vary to match the scenery.  Some of the moments that stood out in particular include the cult leader boss fight at the end of the fourth level.  A bridge sequence in the 5th level reminded me of the silhouette art style from Frank Miller’s 300.  A final moment that highlights just how much of a badass Shank really is comes at the end of the third stage, when he completely rips the jaws off of a great white shark.  These moments may come across as a bit of a spoiler, but honestly anyone playing the game would likely come across all of these during their first play through anyway.  That is to say, this game is short.  However, even though the game runs a bit short, I never felt like I was missing out on any one thing.  The story is compact and delivered effectively without padding out the title with unnecessary repetition.

In addition to the campaign story, there is a survival mode.  Available in local and online co-op, survival mode is where the game really sucked me in.  I attempted to play locally with my son, but without him having played the campaign he didn’t understand the mechanics enough to allow for any worthwhile play time.  Fortunately, the online component offers a quick match system that identifies random players looking to play survival mode and brings players together without any lengthy delays in matchmaking.  

Survival mode offers three maps from different sections of the main story and pits players against waves of enemies, each one escalating in difficulty as more enemies are unleashed and attack with a greater variety of weapons and armor.  As the enemies are defeated, some drop money which gives players the chance to buy temporary upgrades, including things like health packs (in the form of tequila),  decoy peasants, gun turrets and other, more devastating handheld weapons.  Of course, no survival mode would be complete without a cameo wave of zombies, which the developers introduce by applying a flickering film grain over the entire screen.

Sure, the game may be a challenge initially for gamers not versed in fast paced side-scrolling brawlers, but Shank 2 does a fantastic job of easing players into an ever-growing difficulty level.  Visually, the game is amazing, a sort of cross between Samurai Jack and Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi cycle.  Fluid animations bring Shank’s attacks to life with a great sense of controller response for each button press or analog stick dodge.  While the story may not be particularly deep, the character motivations carry enough weight to give players a reason to care and play through to the end, with co-op survival providing additional replay motivation once the story runs its course.

Pros:
+ Fun yet challenging combat
+ Beautiful visuals
+ Fantastic co-op Survival Mode

Cons:
– The combat can be difficult to initially grasp
– Single player campaign is short

Game Info:
Platform: Reviewed on PS3 via PSN; also available for PC and Xbox 360 via XBLA
Publisher: EA
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Release Date: PC/PSN – 2/7/2012, XBLA – 2/8/2012
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Mature
Players: 1-2 (online and local co-op)
Source: Review code provided by publisher

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The beat-em-up genre is certainly not new, but Klei is hoping to win some new converts with its over-the-top take on the genre, Shank. The genre has traditionally been the purview of consoles and arcades, but Shank was also recently released on Steam for the PC. For this review I took a look at the PC port.

When I see a game directly tell me that it is best played with a controller, I feel at once challenged and concerned. I am concerned that the game will not take the PC into account to make it pleasurable no matter what I do. And I feel challenged because I want to see what it is like using the keyboard before trying with my XBOX360 controller.

Before I get to the core game, let me just say that Shank ALLOWS me to choose the keyboard and mouse – but does little to help me figure out how to make things happen. In the early fight you need to do certain things to proceed, but unless you are using the controller you don’t get the right clues. This was unacceptable to me – and part of the reason I always try it. If a company cannot help out players without a controller in the early going, I’m pretty certain I’m getting a half-assed port!

And so it was … Let me say right now that I am certain that a console review would be more favorable (Ed. note: read our Downloadable Game Buyer’s Guide for a more favorable console view), but on the PC this game is a mess.

Shank tells the story of the character Shank, part of a criminal organization. He falls in love, and the boss feels he has chosen the girl over the family and orders a hit. Left for dead, we take control of Shank and begin the quest for bloody and stylized revenge.

The best thing about Shank is the visual style – the game is absolutely gorgeous, particularly on a high-performance PC, and the designers made every effort to make Shank stand out in terms of how great everything looks. It really paid off, because visually the game is simply stunning. Oh, and bloody. Very, very bloody. But in a cool, stylized way. The music goes along with the action and feels like something out of a Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez movie (Ed. note: the soundtrack is free to download here).

In terms of gameplay, Shank is a side-scrolling 2D beat-em-up. You start off with simple weapons and basic moves, and slowly unlock more and more weapons, and cooler and more powerful combos. My biggest issue was executing the dodge move, as it just didn’t seem to work right for me at any point.

Have you ever heard that exchange: “You’re driving me crazy!”, “Well, it’s a short drive!”? In this game change that to: “I’m driven for revenge!”, “Well, it’s a short drive!” Even with my limited beat-em-up skills and restarting the game after eventually giving up trying to get the PC controls to work adequately, I was still done within a couple of hours. Amazingly even within that time I found the game quite repetitive!

There is multiplayer, but perhaps the weakest implementation I’ve seen outside of the PSP: it is local-only co-op. While on a console it is normal to set two folks in front of the same TV, on a PC it is more of a pain … and given I played on a laptop it was even more of a nuisance, with me on the keyboard and my older son on the XBOX360 controller. We only lasted a short bit before abandoning the game.

The core components are not bad – the combat system is solid and fun, the graphics and music are very well done, and the overall package is compelling. But because it is SO short and STILL repetitive, because the multiplayer is a useless throwaway on the PC, and because the PC port was poorly handled, I call this game a poor value and recommend PC gamers skip it!

Pros:
+ Excellent sense of style
+ Gorgeous graphics
+ Fun combat with loads of moves

Cons:
– Poor PC support
– WAY too short
– Repetitive
– Lousy multiplayer

Game Info:
Platform: Reviewed on PC; also available on PSN and XBLA
Publisher: EA
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Release Date: PC – 10/26/2010, PSN – 8/24/2010, XBLA – 8/25/2010
Genre: Action
ESRB Rating: Mature
Players: 1-2
Source: Review code provided by publisher

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EA’s downloadable duo of DeathSpank and Shank, already available for console gamers on PSN and XBLA, is now set to bring the goods to PC gamers. Both titles go on sale October 26th via Steam at $15 apiece — or $13.49 if you pre-purchase for a 10% discount. Additionally, in the spirit of Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton, Jr’s shake and bake catchphrase, a “Shank and ‘Spank” combo pack is available at a 15% pre-purchase discount, bringing the total price down to just over $25 and saving you an extra dollar and two quarters over reserving the two games individually.

That. Just. Happened!

Klei Entertainment’s slick 2D action game, Shank, is out now on PSN and coming tomorrow to XBLA. Any PS3 gamers out there play it yet? Try the demo? How is it? I’m probably not going to get it for a while, so please let me know what I’m missing.

One thing I won’t be missing (and you shouldn’t either), however, is the Shank official soundtrack, which Klei was gracious enough to release completely free of charge on the Shank blog. That’s 13 tracks and around 30 minutes of video game music awesomeness, all at no cost!

Click here to download the zipped up album in its entirety or follow the link underneath to preview and download individual tracks of your choosing. But trust me, you’ll want the whole kit and caboodle.

Shank Soundtrack Available Now! [The Shank Blog]

The fine folks over at Klei Entertainment today released two killer new desktop wallpapers for their bloody PC, PSN and XBLA side-scrolling action game, Shank, sporting some incredible artwork from Jeff Agala and Jamie Cheng.

So, which flavor are you gonna choose: single-player (up top) or co-op (down below)?

More Shank Wallpapers [The Shank Blog]

Shank and DeathSpank aren’t just the first two downloadable indie titles to be published by EA Partners, they also just so happen to rhyme beautifully. Not that it really matters.

But anyway… Yes, EA Partners has entered into partnerships with Klei Entertainment and Hothead Games to publish their respective digital download hits-to-be, Shank and DeathSpank.

Described as an “evocative cinematic brawler,” Shank is a 2D side-scrolling action game with with a thirst for blood and a gorgeous graphic novel art style. In fact, it’s up for an “Excellence in Visual Art” award at the Independent Games Festival. Shank will be out this summer for PC, PSN and XBLA.

“Our mission at EA Partners is to work with the best talent across the game industry, and we are thrilled to extend our expertise to the leading creative developers in downloadable indie games,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “The team at Klei Entertainment is among the best in the world at developing fun and engaging titles for digital distribution platforms, and Shank is an amazing experience.”

“As an independent development studio, we always focus on creating great, authentic experiences for players. Working with EA Partners expands our distribution and allows us to bring Shank to a much wider audience,” said Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment. “They have been a fantastic partner and their understanding of the space is incredibly exciting.”

DeathSpank is perhaps an even more exciting production considering it is the latest brainchild of The Secret of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert. DeathSpank is a “Monkey Island meets Diablo” combo of witty, humorous adventuring and addictive action-RPG hack ‘n slashing and loot collecting. A time frame for release has yet to be announced, but you will see DeathSpank on PSN and XBLA before 2010 lets out. A PC version would also make sense, but I guess that’s something Hothead would have to consider self-publishing since EA’s announcement only confirms console versions.

“The team at Hothead Games is a perfect fit for EA Partners. They are a great example of how the EA Partners program continues to emphasize the importance of building strong relationships with the world’s top indie developers,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “DeathSpank is an engrossingly fun and hysterically funny experience, and we are all excited to have the opportunity to help introduce DeathSpank to gamers across the world.”

“We are proud of our independence, but are very excited to be working with EA Partners on a title as big as DeathSpank,” added Ian Wilkinson, CEO of Hothead Games. “With EA Partners handling distribution and marketing, Hothead can continue to focus on what we do best, making great games.”