Power On Games

Shank "had me at hello" due to its ultra-stylized and violent debut back when it was first announced at PAX. Recently picked up by EA, Klei Entertainment's endearingly brutal brawler (coming to XBLA, PSN, and PC this summer) has a lot of things going for it.

Right off the bat, Shank just feels extremely smooth. With its simple attack commands, you're able to focus on actually tearing enemies up rather than fumbling around with complicated button presses. You have three basic modes of attack to play with: The namesake shank for quick (yet not extremely powerful) strikes, the slower chainsaw that's perfect for inflicting lots of pain, and dual pistols that are great for keeping enemies at bay. You're also given a pounce attack to pin enemies to the ground while you rip at them, as well as the ability to grab foes to make sure they don't get too far away. To round out your attacks, you've got a finite number of grenades to use against some of the tougher goons.