Shank

Shank goes straight for the kind of side-scrolling brawler that lives on timing, range, and ugly little weapon choices. By our assessment, its best quality is the punchy combat feel: attacks land with weight, enemies come at you in numbers, and the game keeps asking for quick reactions rather than fancy systems. The downside is that this sort of action can get repetitive if you want more variety than hit, dodge, and finish. In practice it is loud, physical, and built for short bursts of aggression, with a comic-book style that matches the scrappy tone. It sits in the beat-’em-up tradition more than in modern action-RPG territory. Shank is the one to reach for if you want a blunt, fast brawler and do not mind that the depth is mostly in the rhythm of the fights, not in a wide toolkit.