Today was really the first big day for game releases in 2012. EA's new RPG: Kingdoms of Amalur came out alongside 2K and Digital Extreme's The Darkness 2 in the big game releases, we all got the Skyrim creation kit to mod the weapons/armour/hair/boobs/butts/dragons/sky's/rim's of the RPG we all love, and the quirky and frantic mayhem of Gotham City Impostors, but one game I fear may be buried under all of this is the sequel to Klei Entertainment's stylish beat-em-up, Shank 2. It's been two years since the Shank's first massacre and I've been salivating for another Tarantino/Rodriquez-esque slice-and-dice, and Klei has delivered as promised.



We join our forlorn companion on a bus driving through the South American jungle when it gets hijacked by the local Cartel Militia, and it doesn't take long for one of them to do any slight wrong to Shank in order for him to demonstrate his moniker. Shank must travel by foot through a Cartel-occupied village to get to safety on the other side, hacking and slashing his way though any meaty or wooden obstacle in his way. The gameplay is much of the same as in the first Shank, most of the time you run from screen to screen slaughtering anyone who stands in your path with a few platforming challenges in between the bigger brawls.There seems to be a much larger emphasis this time around on environmental interactions with explosive barrels, turrets, interactive objects, and environmental dangers such as grinders and saws. Fire is another addition which can be somewhat frustrating in a brawling game such as this, but can also be quite entertaining if used correctly. There are also items that Shank can pick up in combat and use instead of his regular strong attack, weapons like cleavers, baseball bats, torches, even fish. Each act differently and can be discarded/thrown at any time and add a little extra level of diversity to the dismemberment. All these elements add up to the wonderful combos that Shank can unleash upon his victims, and it's easy to say that many of the "AWWWW YEAAA" moments of the game come forth from these riotous revelries. Challenge seems to be a bit more of a focus this time around with health being less frequent and less potent, forcing the player to keep on their toes, especially if there's still two more meat hedges to trim before you find the next tequila bottle.

In addition to more ways to kill, this time there are more things to kill too. In addition to the "big" and "normal" sizes of baddies before, there are also "fat" and "little" characters that act in their own ways and add a little more variety to the mix, what with big lummoxes barreling through and little lads sneaking under bullet fire. Wolves join the pack as well alongside the attack dogs of before, and while not harmful there are other animals throughout the levels that you can hunt for achievements. The classic boss battles are back as well with comically huge characters ready to pummel you into the ground if aren't agile enough to escape their painful blows and crushing grips. While the first Shank had a collection of boss battles that each had a rather apparent trick how to beat them (say, wait to dodge a power attack then grapple them while they are stunned/stuck), this time around the battles are far more vague. Sometimes doing a specific attack or combo will cause one of these stun moments to appear, followed by a slick animated sequence of Shank shanking, other times you'll simply have to resort to dodging and attacking while it's safe. Perhaps I'm simply playing these sections wrong, but they are far less apparent than before.



Shank 2 is a game that excels at many things. Alongside solid gameplay and brutal combat come slick visuals, fitting music, and blood. Lots and lots of blood. The level of detail in the animations in Shank 2 are one of the most impressive elements of the style. Taking on a solid 2D Venture Bros. design fitted through a Machete framework it's clear to see why the animator of Shank won Animator of the Year at the Canadian Game Awards. This time there are more animated sequences before, scattered throughout the gameplay and at the opening and close of each level. This is usually limited to character interaction or before a boss fight, but occasionally used to establish something else, for instance a helicopter coming in for a bombing run or a village that is set ablaze by someone who will soon meet their unfortunate end by you and your malicious tools. The whole presentation seems to be tighter and smoother than the previous iteration, and while being pretty much visually flawless anyways, any slight difference is always worth noting. For some reason it seems that they changed the voice actor for Shank, and while not necessarily the most noticeable of differences it seems a bit odd. In all reality he just sounds a little gruffer. Perhaps he took up smoking. If the Cartel were after me for killing my former boss I would too.



While Shank 2 is almost entirely faithful to the original, the sequel took the liberty of changing some of the controls for better management with the new ability to pick up items. Dodging and rolling is done with the right control stick instead of the trigger and the flying pounce has been moved from the bumper to the left trigger. Not really that much of a difference and just requires a little getting used to really. In the meantime I just occasionally toss a grenade when I shouldn't or pounce on a boss when I should have rolled. Another changed thing is the inventory. No longer can you carry all three of each firearm and special weapon, instead the player chooses a loadout before each mission and makes do with what they chose. Inventories can be changed on the death screen so you are not fully married to the weapons you pick for each level and consistent deaths might require a change of weaponry.

While the game also features an array of unlockable costumes for the single player mode and multiplayer survival feature, I've only played around an hour and have not unlocked any of these. Speaking of the multiplayer, unfortunately I haven't played that either, so I won't speak for it but the game certainly lends itself well to the concept, and you can look over at the Shank 2 Blog to see some of the unlockable costumes available. I suspect these costumes are unlocked with achievements, Survival scores, and collecting Cartel Intel packets hidden throughout the game.



I can say for certain that this game is everything I expected of it within the first hour of playing. It's fast paced, visually-striking, cathartic and cool. While I'm still a little bit grieved over the boss battles, I've still only played an hour of the game, so I'm sure more surprises will await me in the future. The game is said to be longer than the first too, so hopefully the campaign will last a bit more than 4 hours, or at very least have an excellent co op campaign like the first one did, in addition to a solid multiplayer/challenge mode. The game is available on PC (Steam& Origin), PSN, and XBLA for $10 or whatever the console spacebucks are equivalent to and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a solid brawler, or if you've ever had a bad day.

Give it a try, it's a bloody good time.