Published By: Electronic Arts, Developer: Klei Entertainment, Genre: Action, Release Date: February 8, 2012, Rating: M, Systems: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
Shank 2 is a downloadable 2D beat ’em up arcade game. It pays homage to movies I grew up watching during the ’80s like Commando, Rambo, and Missing in Action. Shank 2 is a bro-man game starring Shank the dueling man! I was able to play Shank 2 for free (it’s free for PlayStation Plus members at the moment). Looking at Shank 2’s presentation, there is clearly more bad than good. I’ll discuss everything during this review, so read on. I’ll start with the menus on the title screen, which includes: campaign mode, survival mode, rebel info, ranking, player stats, and help and options. No problem navigating on Shank 2, everything is arranged ergonomically.
Robert “Shank” Torres is the protagonist and a former hitman for the mob. Shank 2 is a story about Shank’s redemption. He takes down the corrupt President Magnus while rescuing Elena (his mother figure from him). Working alongside Resistance leader Corina Shank, he takes down the corrupt Cartel. As for the overall story, it was cheesy and cliché. It was never interesting because it seems like all the villains and bad guys in the game were copied from a movie I watched or a video game I played. It was supposed to be fun, however the poor gameplay and controls kept me from laughing throughout the game.
Visually, Shank 2 scores highly. The art style and animations exude a visceral and compelling atmosphere. Shank lays waste to South American towns, resorts, ruined temples, and swamps. The textures and colors pop off the screen and each setting was rendered beautifully. The animations make Shank look like a real badass which reminds me of heroes like Rambo.
Shank 2 is a 2D beat ’em up that features gunplay, grenade throwing, pouncing, and grabbing enemies. There are different types of weapons that work differently in effectiveness with respect to certain enemies. You have heavy weapons like chainsaw, machete and sledgehammer. Ranged weapons include throwing knives, pistols, and a shotgun. Ammunition includes grenades, Molotovs, and mines. The latter is part of the problem. The controls and structure of the game make it almost impossible to use all the weapons and items on the 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 break the grunt shield I was dead.
The single player campaign was ridiculously short, to say the least. But lucky for me 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 to offer. The menu screen for Survival Mode featured: Local Play, Online Play, Invite a Friend, View Invites, and How to Survive. The last option shows a voiced video tutorial for Survival Mode. Survival Mode is a wave type game in the style of Horde mode through Gears of war 3. Shank 2 is 2D so things are different obviously. Your objective together with another player is to defend the supply stations around the map. Bombers are soldiers who target your supply stations and blow them up.
I rarely tell gamers to buy a multiplayer based game. For Shank 2 I have no choice as the single player campaign was ridiculously short and problematic from a gameplay and control perspective.
5/10
