Shank is, for those who haven’t been following the development of this game, a vicious and heavily stylized side-scrolling brawler for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Players control Shank, a thoroughly armed and thoroughly angry former gang member who’s out for revenge, and plans on stopping at nothing to get it.

Canadian developers Klei Entertainment have really made Shank a labor of love, it’s a game that longtime hardcore gamers will connect with almost immediately. It shares a lot in common with older titles like Ninja Gaiden – the NES incarnations, not the current generation series – as well as Double Dragon and Battletoads.

Gameplay in Shank is for the most part, very simple. Players simply move Shank on the X and Y axes – there’s no depth to the environments – while they make use of a growing repertoire of weaponry to slaughter everybody on the screen. Momentum is the name of the game, here. Shank is very, very smooth. From running to jumping and climbing, to his various attacks – everything you can do in Shank flows cleanly from one action to the next. In games of this nature, reviewers are prone to language like “bullet ballet,” but in truth the game encourages players to handle the ensuing gore with grace and style. Essentially, players are most successful as long as they are moving. Always be moving, always be killing – that is the key to success in Shank.

While it makes the action in the game a sight to behold, it’s a shame in a way, because one of the first things you notice about this game is the quality of the visuals and they deserve a good long look.

The game’s lead animator, Jeffrey Agala, is best known for the kids’ cartoon series Atomic Betty. Shank is a long way away from Atomic Betty, but the animation is no less impressive. Inspired by early Jack Kirby work as well as more modern influences like The Venture Brothers, Agala worked with Klei to ensure that the game’s visual style didn’t take a backseat to the action.

And it’s not just the quality of the animation, but the setting and the effects add to the overall look as well. The game strives to evoke a kind of 1970s B-movie aesthetic, and it achieves that goal in the setting and the characters, as well as unique effects like the occasional film grain and a flicker around the edges of the screen, much like what you’d see from an old projector. Ultimately everything comes together to create a tightly packaged, well-polished presentation.

Of course, this stylization comes with a price, in that much of the game is pretty clichéd. You have the bar fight and the church shootout and the final showdown with the mysterious crime boss – but at the same time Shank revels in these clichés, clearly acknowledging where it comes from.

Where the game falls a little flat is in the multiplayer, for one, in that it is local only. The pill is made especially bitter since the multiplayer mode is an entirely different campaign, a prequel to the main game which is eminently playable, but less accessible. The music is fitting, but forgettable. And the boss fights, while interesting at first glance, quickly break down into a quick spot of pattern recognition and repetition. It’s also rather short, on Normal you can finish the game in under four hours.

Shank is definitely not for kids. It’s rated M for Mature by the ESRB and by golly they mean it. While some of the combat is stylistically comical and fun, some of Shank’s combos – especially against the bosses – are particularly gruesome and left this review with a little skin crawl. However, it’s a great way to indulge in some senseless hardcore violence the old-fashioned way.

If side-scrollers and brawlers are among your favorites, then Shank is a game you won’t want to pass up. Get it now, play it and love it.

Shank is available now for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

You and your seven closest PSP-owning friends can get in on this action when the game launches “between now and December.”

[source] Joystiq

Microsoft is planning to launch Windows Phone 7 with a bunch of games – as to when that is, it’s pretty nebulous. All we’re getting is “Holiday 2010,” as the exact timing is going to be determined by the phone manufacturers. So whenever these games launch, here’s what you’ll be playing:

ilomilo
This puzzler is pretty similar to several flash games out there, but this one features a bit of co-op action. Essentially you control two different characters, one red and one blue, and guide them around the levels to unite them. Where this game really shines is the art direction, as well as the level design – some levels shape up like the spherical worlds in Super Mario Galaxy, which is neat.

Harvest
It’s a visual feast for the phones the game runs on, designed to really show off what the phones can do. Otherwise, it’s not that notable – Harvest is your standard isometric shooter/action-RPG. It looks cool, but there’s not a lot else going on.

Max & the Magic Marker
It’s a port of the game that’s seen release on Wiiware and PC already, so now it’s coming to Windows Phone 7. It plays pretty similarly to Kirby and the Canvas Curse where you draw platforms for your character to run on.

Rocket Riot
An arena-based shooter using a sort of virtual dual-stick format, you fly around with a jetpack and launch rockets at opponents who are doing the same thing. Straightforward stuff!

Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst
This game actually has very little to do with the Crackdown series, other than its use of Freaks as the baddies involved. It’s a tower defense game, with the interesting twist that it operates on Bing maps – so instead of playing in the setting of the original games, you’re playing using maps of Los Angeles or Detroit or whatever city you like. It could be interesting, though we’re reserving judgment on its visual fidelity right now.

Of course, we could just talk games but it wouldn’t be a complete discussion without touching on Windows Phone 7′s Xbox Live integration. We’re told that setting your Xbox Live account up on a Windows Phone 7 device is as easy as logging on to xbox.com, all you need is a Windows Live ID and password. It works whether your a Silver or Gold subscriber, which is a nice gesture from Microsoft to get more people using the service.

As far as just what Xbox Live on the phone can do for you, at this point it’s still pretty cosmetic. You can’t join voice or video chats with your friends on consoles via your phone, nor can you transport profiles or content from console to console via your phone, although it’s said that none of this functionality is being ruled out for the future. A lot of it is being left up to individual developers. Bluetooth adapters aren’t locked out either, so if a developer wanted to create and make use of that technology they can do so. Phones that have QWERTY keyboards can make use of them as well.

As far as some unique bits of information, when purchasing content via Windows Phone 7, you’ll be able to pay the exact amount in cash or add the price of the content to your monthly bill. Microsoft Points don’t exist here. Also, Windows Phone 7 will support Mac OS “in some way,” though it’s not yet clear what that will be.

Achievements will be capped at 200 Gamerscore per game, much like Xbox Live Arcade games. And to that end, Xbox Live features will only be available to developers who go through Microsoft, similar to XBLA – Indie Games can be placed on the phone for whatever devs want to set the price at, but will lack the Live functionality.

Will gamers jump on the mobile version of Live when it launches this holiday season? We’ll see soon enough! Already hungry for more? Check out our image gallery of even more Windows Phone 7 games being teased for release “in the future!”

The Behemoth announced today that Castle Crashers will arrive on the PlayStation 3 on August 31, almost two years to the day after it hit the Xbox 360. It’ll run you $15.00. Welcome to 2008, PSN fans!

Well, you’re not the only one there, friend. But don’t worry: We’re here for you. Check out this trailer for Atlus’ upcoming erotic action-adventure!

‘Catherine’ is the first HD game from Atlus, and focuses on a 32-year-old salaraman named Vincent, who has no ambition in life. One night he runs into the titular Catherine, and from that point on he begins to have nightmares. Within Vincent’s nightmares are where the action takes place, and players must guide Vincent to the top of a never-ending stairway. If he falls or cannot make it to the top, he will never awaken.

According to producer/director Katsura Hashino, the team was excited to try out something new for their first attempt at an HD game. Hashino also said that the game will be more adult-oriented than previous games they’ve worked on, although he promised that the game will feature plenty of gameplay innovations and not just purely a stylistic endeavor. Hashino was most recently the director of the excellent Persona 4.

With that said, character designer Shiganori Soejima said that there are some scenes in the game that are “shockingly adult. When you play these scenes, they’ll be even more stimulating.” The game’s composer, Shouji Meguro echoed these comments, adding that the game will feature 5.1 channel surround sound. Meguro was most recently credited as the composer on Persona 4.

Meguro also noted that because of Catherine, he expected that fans would leave questions about the next Persona alone for the time being. That may change at some point next year, however. “Regarding the RPG, Hashino and I are…” Meguro trailed off. It seems Atlus plans on leaving us in suspense a little bit longer.

[source] Famitsu

This latest ViDoc introduces gamers to the faces of Noble Team, via a video diary of Dr. Catherine Halsey, creator of the Spartan Program. Check it out here!

Minutes ago during the EA press conference at the German Gamescon convention, BioWare founder Ray Muzyka announced that Mass Effect 2 will be released for the PS3 in January 2011. While Mass Effect 1 was an exclusive game to Microsofts 360 console, EA’s acquisition of BioWare had opened up the possibility of the game going multiplatform, though when the game was announced and released soley for the 360 many gamers thought that the series would stay exclusive to Microsoft.

With the announcement of the game heading to PS3 this only confirms that the PS3 will also see the release of the final chapter of the saga as well.

No word was made of Mass Effect 1 being ported, but chances don’t look good on that since it was distributed by Microsoft themselves and they still retain publishing rights.

More info as it becomes available.

For many children, fear of the dark is a tangible thing, for some this basic fear bleeds into adulthood where even the barest lit room can cause fits of terror. Max Payne creator Remedy taps into that phobia in their latest thriller Alan Wake – proving that there is something in the dark that can kill you.

The game casts you as popular crime novelist Alan Wake who has fallen into a long stretch of writers block after killing off his most popular character in his previous book. As his block continues, stress builds in Wake’s life leading him to violent rages and countless arguments with his understanding wife Alice. Trying to figure out ways to push Alan into writing again, his agent Barry convinces Alice that a romantic vacation away from city life may be just the thing Alan needs. So the couple head off to the Pacific Northwest to a town called Bright Falls to see if “getting away” is the motivation Alan needs.

Bright Falls is home to many eccentric characters and was the basis for a “Twilight Zone-esque” television show also called Bright Falls. Alan and Alice find accommodations in a lovely cabin set on a small island in the center of “Cauldron Lake”. Their idyllic vacation seems off to a wonderful start – but it doesn’t last. As the sun sets on their first night, the power to their cabin goes out, and Alice suffers from severe fear of the dark. As Alan leaves the cabin to investigate the power loss things take a turn for the worse. Hearing a scream, Alan runs into the cabin, only to witness Alice falling from a back porch into the lake. As he dives in after her an almost sentient seeming fog starts to engulf the cabin.

Just as Alan breaks the surface of the water he wakes up in a car about to veer off the road. Confused and scared – Alan doesn’t understand what is happening around him. All he knows is that a week has passed since he dived in the water after his wife and he has no recollection of what has occurred in the seven missing days. As he searches the car wreckage he finds a page from a manuscript that is in his writing, telling about the events that he just lived through – yet he doesn’t remember writing it. Before he can even begin to get a handle on it all, the sun sets and night comes – bringing with it living shadows that have taken the form of the townsfolk and are intent on killing Alan before he can find out what exactly has to his wife. The Darkness, it seems, is alive.

Alan Wake has an interesting history. It is one of the first games shown off for the Xbox 360 and has spent many years in creation. It has gone from an open world game to a survival horror game infused with the spirits of horror author Stephen King and cult television show Twin Peaks. With all the ups and downs in its development lifecycle gamers wouldn’t have been surprised if the game had been released as an unplayable train wreck. In a surprising turn, Alan Wake comes off as almost a reinvention of the entire horror game genre, an intelligent game that has a fantastic story with game mechanics worthy of emulation.

Quite a few games have used light and dark well, creating an atmosphere and setting a tone, but never before has light been the only weapon that can save you. Like children needing a night-lite to protect them from the dark, Alan uses his flashlight to fend of the creatures of the dark. While the Taken (the games name for the enemy) are surrounded by shadow they are invulnerable, so Wake must use the light of the flashlight to banish the shadow so that he can use his firearms to subdue the enemy for good. This brings an element of fear into the mix, as the player is rarely attacked by just one Taken, you must use your wits to push enemies back with the light. The game even allows you to “boost” the light to weaken enemies quicker, but the boost comes with the cost of batteries which you must constantly find so your flashlight doesn’t die. Any form of light will weaken the Taken, so the game constantly gives you new avenues of light dispersal, from flares and flare guns to flash grenades and spotlights. Wake will also find more powerful weapons at his disposal, usually starting out with just a standard hand gun, but finding Shotguns and Hunting Rifles along the way.

With guns comes the fun of finding Ammo, which brings on a staple of survival horror in your limited ammunition. But in Alan Wakes case the game does an outstanding job of making you feel like you are going to run out of ammo, but then just as you may run out you’ll find a cache of refills. Other games have tried this route, but all to often you either just plain run out of ammo causing a reload to a previous save or the game gives you way too much, defeating the purpose of limited resources. As Alan Wake walks that fine line with grace you will experience the extra thrill of running out without the aggravation of needing to start over.

Having mentioned Stephen King and Twin Peaks as inspiration it would seem an injustice to not talk about the story which is done extremely well and will keep you playing long after you intended to. The tale of Alan Wake is told as though it was a show on television over the course of an entire season. As such the game is told in 6 chapters or “Episodes”. As you’d expect from this type of story telling the game frequently builds to crescendos and cliffhangers during each of the 6 Episodes. You’ll even get awesome little “Previously on Alan Wake” teases as you begin each episode, summing up the previous episode just like a television show would. There are also several licensed songs that play over the radio or at the end of each show – some of the songs being an almost perfect compliment to the portion of the game you just got through.

Being based around an author and with over 100 pages of readable manuscript to find the writing in Alan Wake could have quickly devolved into examples of “Creative Writing 101″, but that just isn’t the case. While not being quite up to the level of Mr. King, the tale told in the game and the book are quite entertaining and quite good. The one caveat is that the pages Wake finds often tell of something that is about to happen to him and some may see that as a spoiler to the game – I found it was just the opposite as after I read each page I wanted to keep playing to see exactly how the writing on the page came to fruition. In addition to a great story and good writing, Alan Wake also boasts a wonderful cast of voice actors. You’ll never feel like you are listening or watching a bunch of video game “voice actors”, instead the level of production and acting is nearly on par with the best of video games or even animated movies. Remedy really strived to make Alan Wake look and feel like a scripted television show and they succeeded hands down. My only minor gripe with the story presentation was the somewhat odd look all the characters have during cut scenes, and the sort of marionette movements of their bodies. But after a while even that starts to feel intended, as most of the residents of Bright Falls are generally creepy.

Graphics-wise the game also excels. Oftentimes you are running through the forest along mountain trails, even riding a couple of gondolas as you try to figure out the Darkness, and it actually perfectly captures the look and feel of the Pacific Northwest. From the swaying of the trees in a breeze or the way those very same trees are ripped out of the ground and thrown at the player by the supernatural presence, nothing looks or feels fake. And even though for the most part the path laid out before you is pretty linear, you never feel like you are being guided through the game, it always seems like the entire forest is waiting for you to explore it. Yet since the game is a game about the Dark it shouldn’t be too surprising that the overall game is dark. At times the only source of light is from the flashlight that your character holds, or the streetlights in the distance that act as your next destination/checkpoint. Though to be honest I did play a good portion of the game during the daylight hours with the sun out in full force and never had any problems seeing where I was going. Even though the game is “dark” you’ll never feel like you can’t see what is on the screen – unlike other games in the genre.

Along with the graphical goodness comes an almost religious experience when it comes to the sound field the game creates. Everything from the wind to birds to the cracking branches of trees in the wind is represented in the full surround sound Alan Wake offers, only to be torn to shreds by the tornadic sound created by the Dark Presence as it hunts down the games protagonist. Everything is always clear and in the channel it needs to be, even the voices of the other characters. If you are facing someone talking the sound comes directly from the front and as you turn the camera the voice follows through the speakers, moving from side to back to side and front again. If one of the Taken comes from behind, you’ll know that they are behind you just because of the sound they make. Granted this really only applies to gamers with full surround sound – but having played other games that advertise surround sound, this is one that actually gets that experience right. This is the sort of game that you’ll want to play at night with the sound blasting.

Alan Wake may have suffered from being released in a game heavy season, but there is no reason anyone should skip this, especially if you are a fan of the survival horror genre and may have wondered where the “horror” went in some of those other games. Go out now and buy this game, or rent it if the budget is tight – Alan Wake is the game that just shouldn’t be missed.