Shank is an oddly compelling argument for style over substance. Unfortunately, on principle, style over substance is a losing argument from the beginning. That doesn't mean that Shank isn't worth your time, because it is. However, it might be worthy of less of your time than you'd think.

Show me someone who hates Shank's visual design, and I'll show you a fool. This is a living, breathing, bleeding interactive comic book that simply oozes style. This animated world has an almost three-dimensional fluidity that can be described to the artistry in classics such as The Iron Giant, The Prince of Egypt, and Beauty and the Beast. Gangland betrayal stories are usually shown through the excessive shots of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, and Shank honors that tradition in its own way. Lighting and color tricks go a long way in this game. One moment has Shank fighting a bunch of goons on a bridge at sunset; they are all reduced to silhouettes. Another has Shank rampaging through a burning building; the entire background is blood-red. Naturally, red is a very fitting color for the entire game: Shank is a brutal game in which you shed gallons upon gallons of life juice.

Bluesy guitar riffs and powerful horn crescendos are standard for the "wronged man seeking vengeance" motif, and Shank ably rises to fit that stereotype. It would be borderline sacrilege to use anything other than that. The voicework is fine, but this isn't a story-driven game to begin with. As far as the sound goes, Shank could have featured nothing but slashing sounds, howls of rage and death screams, and it would have been none the worse for wear.

Shank is Kill Bill meets Once Upon a Time in Mexico. If that doesn't explain it, all you need to know is that Shank has been betrayed and severely wronged. Furthermore, he doesn't give a damn that a million wrongs don't exactly make a right. In fact, he doesn't give a damn about anything except making the ones responsible die painfully. The story isn't the highlight, but what's here is acceptable. The gameplay style is a good fit for the subject matter, with one exception. My issue lies not in what the developers have done, but rather what they didn't do. Put simply, Shank's gameplay is not brutal enough; decapitations and dismemberments are saved only for cutscenes. They've already snagged the "M" rating; why didn't they go all out?

Shank is a 2D side-scrolling brawler with light platforming elements. With titles such as Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World finding comfortable homes on several consoles out there, we may be experiencing a renaissance of the 2D brawler. Shank is purely a "go from left to right and exterminate everything" affair that doesn't offer much in the way of variety, save for environments. So without much variance in the gameplay, a lot rests on the quality of the gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, that is why you see a 75 at the top of the screen.

Shank's cooperative campaign is okay, but it would be much more appealing if it supported online play. While it features all the gameplay flaws of the single player experience, it is a welcome change of pace. Plus, it's new content that you can only see if you have a buddy at your side -- or if you're ridiculously ambidextrous.

Shank doesn't present much of a learning curve because its gameplay mechanics are barebones. If you know how to hammer on the right buttons, vengeance will most assuredly be yours. That is, unless you're playing on the harder of the two difficulty levels. On Hard, enemies know they have the upper hand and waste no time in trying to bury Shank.

Enemies in Shank aren't difficult on their own, but their strength in numbers poses the greatest threat to our pissed-off hero. Unfortunately, Shank's combat system doesn't accommodate for that. The game is at its best when you can actually see what's going on. When groups of six or more baddies gang up on Shank, you'll simply have to dodge out of the danger zones and hack away at the writhing mass of goons, which isn't nearly as fun as it should be. Part of that has to do with how iffy the dodge mechanic is. Most of your enemies can positively fly across the screen in an attempt to get at or away from Shank. Our ripped hero, on the other hand, can only dash about three feet at a time. The same button is used for defense; if you want to learn how to counter enemies, timing is everything. However, it's all but impossible to get the timing down when the screen is over-populated.

A game can look fantastic, sound fantastic, and play like garbage. Shank is not an example of that kind of game; it's quite decent. However, the combat system is seriously disappointing. There's some variety in terms of weapons, but regardless of what you're using, button-mashing makes up 95% of this game. Shank can pounce into the air and carve up the terrified goon below like a Christmas turkey. He can also grapple with them; a successful grapple means Shank can gut them with his daggers or perform special attacks with his secondary weapons, guns, or grenades. Many of these attacks look fantastic, and they are fun to pull off at first. However, the thrill wears off quickly.

Shank always has access to his namesake daggers, but he'll also have a secondary weapon, a gun, and a supply of grenades. As you progress through the campaign, you'll pick up a chainsaw, a katana, dual machetes, and more. As far as guns go, I never let go of the shotgun once I acquired it, and found the Dual Uzis to be completely useless.

As mentioned before, Shank features some brief platforming sequences. These are fun, even though they aren't challenging. I just wish that Klei included more of them. They won't require you to do any more than climb up walls, shimmy along horizontal poles, wall-run along billboards, skid down slopes, and monkey swing across gaping chasms. If you are good enough, you'll be able to kill some enemies before they know you're there. It's neat to burst through a glass window and watch as the shards bury themselves in the face of a henchman.

I can't recommend Shank to everyone, much as I'd like to. The art style is really something to behold, but it's not enough to carry the weight of an otherwise run-of-the-mill brawler. Many will download the demo and be fooled into thinking that the full game offers much, much more. The painful truth is that it doesn't.