Posted by: Electronic Arts, Developer: Klei Entertainment, Genre: Action, Release Date: Feb 8, 2012, Rating: M, Systems: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
Shank 2 is a downloadable 2D beat ’em up arcade game. It’s kind of an homage to the movies I grew up watching during the 80s like Commando, Rambo, and Missing in Action. Shank 2 is a sibling game starring Shank, the man who wields the duel. I was able to play Shank 2 for free (it’s free for PlayStation Plus members right now). When looking at Shank 2’s presentation, there is clearly more harm than good. I’ll be talking about everything during this review, so read on. I’ll start with the title screen menus including: Campaign Mode, Survival Mode, Rebel Intelligence, Leaderboard, Player Stats, and Help and Options. No problem navigating Shank 2, everything is designed in a nice and ergonomic way.
Robert “Shank” Torres is the protagonist and former hit man of the mafia. Shank 2 is a story about Shank’s redemption. Defeat a corrupt President Magnus while rescuing Elena (his mother figure). Working alongside Resistance leader Corina Shank ends the corrupt cartel. As far as the overall story goes, it was cheesy and cliché. It was never interesting because it seems like every villain and baddie in the game was copied from a movie I watched or a video game I played. It was supposed to be fun, however poor gameplay and controls kept me from laughing my entire game.
Visually Shank 2 gets a high score. The art style and animations exude a visceral and captivating atmosphere. Shank rampages through South American towns, resorts, ruined temples, and swamps. Textures and colors emerge from the screen and each setting is beautifully rendered. The animations make Shank look like a real badass that reminds me of heroes like Rambo.
Shank 2 is a 2D beat ’em up featuring gun fights, grenade throws, attacks, and enemy grabs. There are different types of weapons that work differently in effectiveness with respect to certain enemies. You have heavy weapons like the chainsaw, the machete, and the mallet. Ranged weapons include throwing knives, pistols, and a shotgun. Ammunition includes grenades, molotov and mines. The latter is part of the problem. The controls and structure of the game make it almost impossible to use all weapons and items on different enemies effectively at any given time. The game got messy and when I tried to throw my grenade or use my heavy weapon to smash the shield with a grunt, I was dead.
The single player campaign was ridiculously short, to say the least. But luckily for me it was the fact that this game has multiplayer (online and offline). It’s called Survival Mode and it’s clearly the best thing Shank 2 has going for it. The menu screen for Survival Mode included: Local Match, Online Match, Invite a Friend, View Invitations, and How to Survive. The last option shows a video tutorial with voice for survival mode. Survival Mode is a wave type game to Horde mode through Gears of war 3. Shank 2 is 2D, so things are obviously different. Your objective together with another player is to defend the supply stations around the map. The bombers are grunts that target their supply stations and blow them up.
I rarely tell players to buy a multiplayer-based game. For Shank 2 I have no other choice as the single player campaign was ridiculously short and problematic from a game and control perspective.
5/10