Shank is a game that breathes excellence, unfortunately it doesn't last long.
The game has a pretty interesting storyline, but it never really explains itself completely. Maybe it explains in the backstory mode that's for co op. I haven't had the chance to play that yet. Its splitscreen only, and I don't have anyone interested in playing this game. But the story is told well, using the great artwork to tell the story.
The gameplay is great. It may be a little simple for some people's tastes, but what is there is great. all of the actions and animations run smoothly and the input from the controller is great. It feels really good putting a chainsaw to somebody's face, or pumping an ogre sized man full of shotgun lead, or even just shooting the dual pistols at high speed or in two different directiond simultaneously. There are also platforming parts of the game, and these are great, very fun and fast, and never hard. It can be kind of intense when swinging from skulls and running on walls with debris trying hard to knock you down, its exciting and fun.
The one thing Shank does extremely well is giving you a feeling of intensity and excitement all the way through from beginning to end. Fighting the henchmen is fun on its own, and the boss fights are simply fantastic. Every boss fights differently and will require completely different strategies if you're looking to come out on top. Whether you're fighting a minigun weilding giant, a female ninja, or a wrestler in a cage fight, it is always fun and always thrilling.
The visual style is also done very well and really looks like a comic book completely came to life and started moving fluidly. The colors are bold and vibrant, especially the reds with the blood spurting out of whichever enemy is taking the punishment at the moment. The game looks great, and the environments change throughout, so the setting never gets boring or stale.
After reading this review and seeing how highly I praised every single part of Shank, its hard to understand my rating. A 7 might seem a little low for a game that I think is so amazing. Well.... three. hours. and. thirty. one. minutes....
I just purchased this game earlier today around 5ish. Its already finished. So quickly it seems like that was just a big demo for a game that is to be released. Based on Shank's merits, I think the mechanics, art, and story cohesively deserve an 8.5. But because of it's ridiculously short length, I lowered it quite a bit.
Shank is a great game. I won't say its not worth the money, because $10 for 4 hours of plaay would seem like its better than $60 for 6-8 hours. Its a little on the short side, but anyone who is a fan of this type of game should look into it. It could even be great for people who aren't really interested in this kind of game. Its not really one of my favorite genres, but I thoroughly enjoyed Shank. It was a stellar game and I don't regret my purchase one bit.
EDIT: I just recently started playing it again and its just as great the second playthrough as the first. So there may be some replay value as a result
I also got started on the co-op campaign, I'm actually pretty far, might be close to finishing it, its cool to get the backstory and if you've already beaten the game then this is really cool to play and see how things were before the campaign. There's just one problem with it really, the boss fights are ridiculously difficult. With most of them you just have to memorize their patterns, but some of them are just plain frustrating.