Shank 2 is the sequel to the 2010 Shank and let me tell you that the sequel is better and bigger than the first one.
You take role of Shank, a dude on steroids with an immense desire to kill people. The story is simple. Shank must rescue his old friend but in the way of doing so he become part of the rebellion to overthrow the dictatorship of Magnus. He goes into a killing spree, destroying everything in it's path, be that thugs, amazonian warriors and even animals. He is fueled by rage. There are some epic moments in the game like Shank cutting a helicopter in half with the chainsaw or ripping the jaws of a shark.
The style of the game hasn't changed. The 2D graphics are really awesome. So are the animations of Shank and he has a lot of them. The levels are really detailed and varied like towns, villages, jungles, rocky mountains etc. Some times when Shank is directly in front of the sun the game goes to a silhouette mode, it is really cool. Also the sound effects like guns firing, explosions and the sound of shangs hitting people or metal are really cool. The music really fit with the game.
This game is all about mowing down waves and waves of enemies. To help you with that, Shank has a new set of weapons to choose from. Other than his old and trustworthy shanks, he also has 2 other weapons, a heavy weapon and a ranged one. So you can use the machetes, a chainsaw or a sledge hammer as a heavy weapon and throwing knives, dual pistols or a shotgun as ranged weapons. Every weapon has different attributes and special attacks. Shank can also throw grenades, molotovs or place mines. An addition to the sequel is the ability to counter-kill. Just before an enemy attacks, an exclamation mark pops over their head prompting you to grapple them. The counter-kills are brutally epic as you shove a baseball bat down a throat of an enemy or executing them with their own gun.
And then is the platforming. Shank's aggility helps him to get through the stages really fast. Wall jumping, sliding, vaulting makes the platforming really enjoyable. But the game could have used more of it.
The campaign is short, you can easily beat it in 3 hours. The campaign has 2 different difficulties, normal and hard. Playing in hard is really fun. At the end of the stage Shank must defeat the boss. The boss fights are really cool and the ending execution are really fun to watch. Also during it Shank can find secret collectibles so you might want to explore the stage a little more. Also you get to play as Corina, who has her own of weapons and own animations. Other than the campaign the game features a Survival Mode. You and a friend can fight in specific arenas mowing down enemies waves after waves, using different costumes which have different attributes. It is a really fun experience. Definitely try it with a friend.
Shank 2 doesn't do much that's new or original. Klei Entertainment just took the original Shank and made it more epic in every way. This is a must buy for everyone
9.5/10-Editor Choice
