Though it hasn't exactly become a trend, there have been several Tarantino-inspired, super-violent action romps in gaming as of late. The most recent of which is the beat-em-up Shank. Which may be arguably the best game of it's kind.
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| SHANK! |
The game's story is ripped right from the pages of a Frank Miller comic. You play as Shank, a man on a quest for revenge. Your former partners turned on you and killed the one you love, now you must massacre hordes of criminals, find those who betrayed you and exact bloody vengeance. The story develops as you progress through the many levels, via opening cutscenes and an occasional video box that appears in the corner of the screen.
When it comes to Beat-em-ups, there's always a gameplay issue. Sluggish controls, shoddy combo-systems. Shank is a gem in that it doesn't suffer from any of those, Shank is a near-perfect example of how a beat-em-up should play. The game is fast-paced and responsive, the combo system is fluid and precise. The sheer amount of violence mixed in with the vast number of ways to decimate your foes brings the games' "OH SHI-" factor to it's maximum. The massive variety of weapons also serves to keep the gameplay fresh as well as exciting. Each weapon has it's own specific elements, and it's fun to mix and match different weapon set-ups to see how effective they can be. The games' difficulty also serves to keep things interesting, it has just enough challenge that keeps you wanting to play. The only drawback the game contains are the load times, which are the longest that this reviewer has experienced with a downloadable title. Fortunately, there is no repercussion on the gameplay, just a slight annoyance.
Though the gameplay is a strong aspect, the real winner is the visual style. Shank feels like it was genuinely pulled out of a pulp comic, everything is tight, over-the-top and gory. The backdrops feel very cartoon-ish, which is cool, and the characters are all stylish and unique. This especially shows in the cutscenes, which have fantastic animation. The audio in the game is a mixed-bag, the voice acting is fantastic and fits the characters perfectly, but the music is forgettable, simply serving as sub-par background noise.
Another noteworthy element is the games' Co-op mode. It's set as a prequel, leading up to the events of the Single player story. It's unfortunately restricted to local play only, so you'll need a friend in the same room in order to play it. But that's how we did it back in the day, it's old-school baby!
Overall, Shank is a magical ass-kicking adventure. And it's unequivocally one of the best downloadable games to come out on either downloadable service so far, and that's saying a lot. You can and should pick it up for $14.99 on the Playstation Network or 1200 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Arcade. Do it! Right now!
- Kyle K.
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