Get Shanked!

Shank is the best character named after a blade since, well… Blade

Sometimes it’s not enough to merely stab your enemies. Sometimes you want to throw them in the air, riddle them with bullets, then eviscerate their descending carcass with a chainsaw. For those precious moments, try the new videogame Shank. And, y'know. Maybe some anger management classes.

One of the most ludicrously awesome looking games in recent memory, Shank mixes a retro side-scroller format with comic-book inspired graphics and grindhouse movie levels of mayhem. Your blood-fogged mission: To dismember the underworld’s deadliest assassins—and their most stabable henchmen—as you seek vengeance for the murder of your beloved. The game’s designers, Klei Entertainment, sought to make the levels look like a playable graphic novel, and they revived the 2D side-scroller format of yore by juicing it up with insane combos. Watch one of the trailers to see how quickly Shank’s attacks can go from stabbing to manhandling to chainsawing to blasting double pistols. And look at how much gore spurts from his enemies as he wales on them.

For those eager to play, the game is available for download on the PlayStation Network starting today, on Xbox Live starting tomorrow and on PCs starting at some point in the fall. That is, assuming the internet doesn’t run out of digital blood by then.

Forward to a Buddy Invite a Buddy