nvkhkhr
Prime VIP
Ever since I saw Shank in a hotel room at PAX last year, I've been optimistic. With visuals that cross the grittiness of graphic novels with the strong design sense of cartoons like Genndy Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack, Shank makes a hell of a first impression. Developers Klei have made some pretty big promises (whether inadvertently or otherwise), and expectations were built up pretty high. Now that Shank is here on PC courtesy of a deal with EA's Partners program, Shank lives up to some of that promise, but stumbles where it counts most.
Shank gets up in your face right away and stays there with huge helpings of profanity, violence, style, and dare I say it, loving craftsmanship. From Shank's public debut last year on, developers Klei have stressed that it was created and animated not by veteran game personnel but by traditional animators and artists, and, honestly, it shows. There's a visual unity and easy flair in Shank that you don't see in games with 20 times the development budget. There's nothing out of place, and it all conveys a great sense of place and character. You'll understand Shank's world right away, whether you're familiar with its influences or not.
More Shank News & Previews
At its heart, Shank is a combination of Strider and Ninja Gaiden. Levels are pretty simple - you run from one side to the other, generally beating the holy hell out of anyone dumb enough to get in your way, using a combo system that surpasses those found in most 3D action titles at retail. This is probably one of Shank's biggest achievements. Generally, downloadable action titles use fairly simple mechanics; it's rare to see this kind of game give titles like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta a run for their money in the combat department. Combat is difficult, but immensely satisfying once you get the hang of it (and once you're racking up 160 hit combos).
PC gamers get the best version of Shank from a visual standpoint, with super high res assets and support for more bells and whistles visually than you'd expect from most 2D titles. It ran flawlessly at 2560 by 1600 on my Core i7 system with dual GTX260s.
It's not all roses though. While Shank will feel instantly familiar to fans of character-centric action titles for players using a gamepad, certain omissions are glaring, namely the lack of a dodge move. After playing Dante's Inferno and God of War 3 earlier this year, there were moments when I would subconsciously tap left or right on the right analog stick in an abortive effort to roll out of danger.
Shank's dodge move is a little... er, dodgy. You execute it by holding block and pushing left or right; it often behaves in unpredictable ways, leaving you as likely to get knocked on your ass as it is to get you out of trouble.
This is a PC review, I hear you saying, so why focus so much on a controller? Because the developers strongly urge you to play with one. Unfortunately, this is one of the areas where Shank's PC transition feels a bit lazy. While an Xbox 360 controller works perfectly well technically speaking, all of the tutorial text that was matched to buttons in the console versions lacks that context here. Last time I checked, my controller didn't have a button labeled "guns" or "tequila".
Shank's animation can also be a problem, as you wait agonizing fractions of moments for Shank the character to finish turning himself around with the shotgun, or to rev up his chainsaw. Watching Shank sort of wind up to perform the aforementioned wonky dodge is even more maddening, especially later in the game where you're suddenly forced to run instead of fight with little real explanation or warning. Meanwhile, platforming sections start out as fun palate cleansers between hectic brawls, but two-thirds of the way through the game, they become virtual crucibles of patience and occasional controller-throwing fits of rage - especially when there are semi-random rockets raining from the sky that can knock you off whatever thing you're climbing on or running along into a nebulous abyss below.
Bosses are also all over the place; while these encounters often make for some of the more enjoyable fights in the game (Cassandra in particular is intense and a lot of fun), they sometimes devolve into tedious games of patience as you wait to see what robotic weakness can be exploited to make the fights easy.
Multiplayer was heralded by interested parties as a great addition to Shank, and conceptually, it has its charms, but in execution it feels tacked on and poorly thought out. It's difficult to figure out what's happening thanks to two very similar characters with identical move-sets and a dozen enemies or more on-screen, and the boss battles are spectacularly punitive. I didn't finish the multiplayer campaign because I just couldn't find anyone in the office willing to put up with the frustration for long, and that's kind of a bummer.
Closing Comments
Last year, I fell in love with Shank based on its promise and presentation, but after finishing the game, the honeymoon is over. I can appreciate the things Klei pulled off, and in many ways, they’re achingly close to something magical. However, the fundamental level design issues later in the game, combined with the eventual tedium of the combat it relies on, makes Shank a good game for a particular audience rather than a great game worthy of everyone’s attention. For PC players, the best looking version is plagued by an interface that feels a bit lazy in transition from the consoles. Fans of character action titles should pull out their virtual wallets without hesitation, but otherwise, Shank might just be too sharp to handle.
Shank gets up in your face right away and stays there with huge helpings of profanity, violence, style, and dare I say it, loving craftsmanship. From Shank's public debut last year on, developers Klei have stressed that it was created and animated not by veteran game personnel but by traditional animators and artists, and, honestly, it shows. There's a visual unity and easy flair in Shank that you don't see in games with 20 times the development budget. There's nothing out of place, and it all conveys a great sense of place and character. You'll understand Shank's world right away, whether you're familiar with its influences or not.
More Shank News & Previews
At its heart, Shank is a combination of Strider and Ninja Gaiden. Levels are pretty simple - you run from one side to the other, generally beating the holy hell out of anyone dumb enough to get in your way, using a combo system that surpasses those found in most 3D action titles at retail. This is probably one of Shank's biggest achievements. Generally, downloadable action titles use fairly simple mechanics; it's rare to see this kind of game give titles like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta a run for their money in the combat department. Combat is difficult, but immensely satisfying once you get the hang of it (and once you're racking up 160 hit combos).
PC gamers get the best version of Shank from a visual standpoint, with super high res assets and support for more bells and whistles visually than you'd expect from most 2D titles. It ran flawlessly at 2560 by 1600 on my Core i7 system with dual GTX260s.
It's not all roses though. While Shank will feel instantly familiar to fans of character-centric action titles for players using a gamepad, certain omissions are glaring, namely the lack of a dodge move. After playing Dante's Inferno and God of War 3 earlier this year, there were moments when I would subconsciously tap left or right on the right analog stick in an abortive effort to roll out of danger.
Shank's dodge move is a little... er, dodgy. You execute it by holding block and pushing left or right; it often behaves in unpredictable ways, leaving you as likely to get knocked on your ass as it is to get you out of trouble.
This is a PC review, I hear you saying, so why focus so much on a controller? Because the developers strongly urge you to play with one. Unfortunately, this is one of the areas where Shank's PC transition feels a bit lazy. While an Xbox 360 controller works perfectly well technically speaking, all of the tutorial text that was matched to buttons in the console versions lacks that context here. Last time I checked, my controller didn't have a button labeled "guns" or "tequila".
Shank's animation can also be a problem, as you wait agonizing fractions of moments for Shank the character to finish turning himself around with the shotgun, or to rev up his chainsaw. Watching Shank sort of wind up to perform the aforementioned wonky dodge is even more maddening, especially later in the game where you're suddenly forced to run instead of fight with little real explanation or warning. Meanwhile, platforming sections start out as fun palate cleansers between hectic brawls, but two-thirds of the way through the game, they become virtual crucibles of patience and occasional controller-throwing fits of rage - especially when there are semi-random rockets raining from the sky that can knock you off whatever thing you're climbing on or running along into a nebulous abyss below.
Bosses are also all over the place; while these encounters often make for some of the more enjoyable fights in the game (Cassandra in particular is intense and a lot of fun), they sometimes devolve into tedious games of patience as you wait to see what robotic weakness can be exploited to make the fights easy.
Multiplayer was heralded by interested parties as a great addition to Shank, and conceptually, it has its charms, but in execution it feels tacked on and poorly thought out. It's difficult to figure out what's happening thanks to two very similar characters with identical move-sets and a dozen enemies or more on-screen, and the boss battles are spectacularly punitive. I didn't finish the multiplayer campaign because I just couldn't find anyone in the office willing to put up with the frustration for long, and that's kind of a bummer.
Closing Comments
Last year, I fell in love with Shank based on its promise and presentation, but after finishing the game, the honeymoon is over. I can appreciate the things Klei pulled off, and in many ways, they’re achingly close to something magical. However, the fundamental level design issues later in the game, combined with the eventual tedium of the combat it relies on, makes Shank a good game for a particular audience rather than a great game worthy of everyone’s attention. For PC players, the best looking version is plagued by an interface that feels a bit lazy in transition from the consoles. Fans of character action titles should pull out their virtual wallets without hesitation, but otherwise, Shank might just be too sharp to handle.
