Game Review: Shank 2
What’s a man to do after he’s gotten his fill of revenge? Head back home and try and sort things out, of course. However, things don’t go as planned and Shank must once again do what he does best.
Time to tear them a new one with a chainsaw.
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The story for this second outing is even more Spartan than the last, with Shank returning to the orphanage where he was raised. The whole area is now under the the rule of the corrupt General Magnus and militia. Magnus’ takeover was swift thanks to Shank taking out his only competition, and now only a few rebels stand in his way. These rebels are led by Corina, Shank’s childhood friend from the orphanage. Elena, Corina’s mother and owner of the orphanage, is captured by Magnus, which is his last mistake. Now Shank is out for revenge once again, and nothing will stand in his way for long.
Gameplay is very similar to the last game, with some very noticeable differences. The one that stands out the most is that you can now aim ranged weapons in any direction at will, which definitely comes in handy. Shank is also a lot more tight in how he controls, making the action seem a lot more frenetic. To compensate for these changes, the enemies are a lot tougher and will require a lot more quick-thinking to defeat. Expect to die a lot, but at the same time to be able to learn from these deaths.
Shank’s arsenal from the last game returns, more or less. You start out with only machetes, throwing knives and munitions (grenades, molotovs, and mines), but gain access to other weapons over the course of game’s eight levels. Shank will get access to his trusty chainsaw and a sledge hammer as heavy weapons. Ranged weapons Shank will be able to gain consist of pistols and a shotgun. I would have liked to have had access to the weapons Shank got from the last game, or some of the Boss’ weapons, but no such luck. I’m also rather frustrated with the tried-and-true trope of having to start from scratch at the start of a sequel. There is a section of the game where you take control of Corina, who has her own arsenal, but Shank doesn’t get access to these weapons.
A lot of the more memorable moments from Shank don’t seem to be present in any form in this sequel, with many of the areas blending into the next within a given stage. The stage design is still really well done and varied, but it just doesn’t feel as striking. The music, as it was in the previous game, is still rather stoically awesome and fits the mood perfectly. Aside from the better looking art used in the animations before and between levels, it doesn’t seem that much has changed on the audio visual front. It would have been nice to have a little more flare, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right?
Aside from the main story campaign, there is also a Survival mode where two players must fend off waves of enemies and also keep supplies from getting destroyed by bombers. This mode tends to get hectic fast, with several positions needing defense and several enemies trying to kill you, all the while trying to keep bombs from being planted or disarming them. With all this to keep track of, getting overwhelmed and confused seems to happen more often than not. There were several moments where I lost track of where I was, where the bombers were, and how much health I had. The only solace from this chaos comes in the form of the shop where you can purchase things like tequila for health, or weapons for defense. By completing waves, more items will be unlocked for purchase, though each of them bears a timer before they can be used again. While this mode is sure to appeal to some, I don’t see it as anything all that special.
Shank 2 has a lot of improvements, but at the same time seems to be missing a lot of what made the first Shank good. It’s hard for me to say if the improvements truly outweigh the shortcomings. If you enjoyed the first game and have the cash, I definitely think it’s worth getting. On the other hand, if you weren’t thrilled by Shank, this sequel isn’t going to really help sell you on the series.
GO Rating: 3/5
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