So, recently, I got my hands on Shank 2. I loved the original Shank when I played it, so as you can guess, I was excited to play Shank 2. But first, a brief (without spoilers) description of what Shank is.

Shank is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up starring, well, Shank: A former mob hitman. On a quest for revenge, he travels through several stages creatively -and brutally- killing many goons via combos, throws, and environmental weapons. Has a memorable soundtrack, and comic-book-style visuals that look great, and make the most ordinarily-mundane of scenery look interesting.

So, how is Shank 2? Well, everything has received a bit of an upgrade since Shank. The visuals look cleaner, the combat and (minimal) platforming feels smoother, music sounds like it’s in a higher-quality format, and the gameplay feels a little more satisfying.

Like the original, this is one of those games that, while technically playable on a keyboard, I would highly recommend an Xbox 360 controller. The whole side-scrolling beat ‘em up genre is played best with controllers (usually), so this is no surprise.

You have three main forms of attack: Your shanks, your heavy weapon, and your ranged weapon. For the heavy weapons, you start with machetes, and later on unlock a chain saw and a sledge hammer. For the ranged weapons, you start with throwing knives, and later on unlock pistols and a shotgun.

The game revolves around, well, killing goons and making your way through the stage. Using the three main attack types (X for shanks, Y for heavy weapon, B for ranged weapon) to string together combos, while dodging to avoid getting attacked yourself. It has a level of complexity to it, in that it isn’t as mindless as many old-school side-scrolling beat ‘em ups (like Golden Axe, where you could air-attack everything to death without getting hit). Different enemies have different ways of dodging, different weapons with different means of dodging them. Enemies you have to destroy their shield first, enemies who shoot you, you get the idea. There’s variety. You can’t just use a single tactic to get through the entire game and do well.

The game’s visual style and setting is interesting as well, and never really gets boring to look at while you’re playing. Lots of tiny details in the scenery, including bits of continuity from Shank. The story has an “old-school” feel to it, like it would feel at home among the action movie classics of yesteryear. While it does all boil down to “kill the big bad guy”, there are interesting bits in between. It has a certain charm to it that I can’t really describe well because I’m avoiding dropping spoilers.

Would I recommend Shank 2? Well, that depends. If you like side-scrolling beat ‘em ups, this game’s for you. It’s a rather specific genre, that I’ve noticed interest in has been dying for some time since the conception of the 3D brawler. If you like this kind of game, get it. If not, there’s probably not much in it for you.

Also, I feel I should add that, at the time of posting this, it’s available and the current Humble Indie Bundle, with other games, obviously.