Shank 2 Chainsaws, machetes, no mercy

There is no block button. Shank 2 wants you moving, swapping and striking: melee weapons in one hand, a gun in the other, grenades and molotovs for the moments a crowd gets greedy. You can change direction mid-attack, dodge out of trouble and switch weapons on the fly, so a combo can flow from machete to shotgun without breaking stride. The counter system is the new heart of it: when an enemy flashes, you counter, and suddenly his own weapon is yours. Goons come in more varieties this time, some of them stubborn enough to shrug off your first few hits, and the bosses demand timing rather than trading blows. It is difficult, honestly so, and the fights ask you to stay aggressive anyway.

The art is hand-drawn and colorful, all bold lines and saturated backgrounds, which makes the gore land twice as hard: a cartoon world where people come apart. Shank returns to his hometown, finds it occupied by the militia of General Magnus, and joins the resistance led by his childhood friend Corina after his adoptive mother Elena is taken. The plot is simple and moves fast, the cutscenes are staged with real flair, and the environments join in: bring down ceilings, explode barrels, hurl crates, and throw enemies into saws or fire pits. Between the fights there is light platforming, and unlockables tucked into the corners of the levels.

The campaign is Shank's alone, but the survival mode is built for two. You and a friend defend an objective against waves of enemies that get more tenacious as they go, and teamwork is not optional: revive each other, cover each side of the screen, and agree on who buys what, because a shop between waves lets you spend your earnings on gear. You can pick different characters, mess with the environment the same way the campaign lets you, and watch a tidy plan fall apart in the best possible way when a wave goes wrong. It is the mode that keeps the game open long after the story ends, and it is genuinely funny in the way only local co-op chaos can be.