Top 10 Games Like Shank (Games Better Than Shank In Their Own Way)

Updated:

11 Feb 2019

What are the best games like Shank?

Shank released on the Playstation 3, Xbox PC, Mac, and PC in 2010. It was successful enough to call for a sequel that released in 2012 on the same platforms.

However, perhaps you’ve bested the forces hired by Cesar and toppled The Militia soldiers using every potential weapon you can. Perhaps you’ve beaten both games with a friend, and perhaps you’ve done it alone. And perhaps you just want a new adventure to make baddies lives miserable. But perhaps you don’t want to stray too far from the formula.

These ten games will give you the tools you’re used to, but some new foes to pummel; Or slash; Or shoot.

10) Mark of the Ninja

Mark of the Ninja Gameplay

Mark of the Ninja takes place in a fictional Japanese city and it stars a marked unnamed Ninja. The Marked Ninja has ink on his face that give him enhanced senses. Awakened by a female Ninja named Ora, the Marked Ninja must rescue his mentor named Azai from a team of guards in a similar vein to Shank’s goal in Shank 2. The guards captured Azai as well as members of the Marked Ninja’s clan known as the Hisomu Clan.

The Unnamed Ninja initially comes equipped with nothing but his fists to fight with, but will soon find a grappling hook to maneuver around areas, some darts to take out lights, and a sword that he can use to kill guards

Be careful though, guards are also armed with guns that they can and will shoot you with. And despite being the protagonist, the Unnamed Ninja is far from invincible. A few bullets are all it will take to take down the Ninja.

Navigate in dark areas, take out lights, and prevent yourself from being seen. If you are successful in remaining hidden from guards, you can sneak up behind him and get really satisfying stealth kills with your sword. Make sure you hide the body of the guard you’ve killed though. Otherwise, another guard may come around and alarm others about your presence.

Not only will you have to prevent yourself from being seen. You’ll need to prevent yourself from being heard. You can run through as fast as you can, but it’ll trigger a sound represented by a circle that, if it touches a guard, will alert them to where you are.

Just a little Further: The Marked Ninja is really close to the guard in front of him, hasn't been seen and is about to commence a stealth kill on him if the button prompt is correctly pressed.

Might be Safer to Use the Elevator: The Marked Ninja and the Female Ninja that awoke him known as Ora are prepared for the mission that awaits them.

9) Die for Valhalla!

Die for Valhalla Gameplay

Die for Valhalla! Is an Action RPG set in a world of Vikings. You take control of a Valkyrie capable of possessing a variety of fallen foes. A being known as The Great Old One has threatened to take over the world (OF COURSE!) and it Is up to you to stop The Great Old One and save the world.

There are two ways in which you can choose to experience the adventure of Die for Valhalla! You can choose to play in Normal Mode, which will take place in a larger world where potions will have positive effects, you can revive your friends, and the game will have a nicer difficulty curve. However, you can also choose to play in Hardcore Mode where you will have roguelite elements to deal with such as your friends only having one life, the potions possibly doing more harm than good to you, and a steeper difficulty curve. Hardcore Mode also takes place in a smaller world.

You can take possession of 7 different Viking classes from over 10 different Viking clans. Each Viking Class will play differently and use different combos to go along with their playstyle. Meanwhile, each clan will have special access to different classes.

Die for Valhalla! Can be played solo or with up to 3 friends locally.

That’s One Giant Enemy: The player finds himself against a giant troll-like creature.

Gone but Not Forgotten: One of the warriors that the Valkyrie could control has passed on, but another warrior continues to fight for his fallen friend.

8) Foul Play

Foul Play Gameplay

Foul Play is a side-scrolling action beat 'em up that takes place on the grand spectacle of a play. Are you ready to take down villains with as much style as possible? You take control of a daemon hunter named Baron Dashforth and you must wow the audience by taking down as many enemies as possible.

Foul Play takes a different setting throughout the 20 acts that the game has. Two examples of settings you will visit during this play are the scorching desert of Cairo, and another example is the depths of Atlantis.

There are also a variety of side characters in Foul Play such as a giant man with a braided beard and 2 blades named The Foreman, and a giant military man with a cannon named General Cain among others that you will have to fight.

Perform a variety of stylish takedowns and reversals to please the crowd and get the best score that you possibly can.

If you choose, Baron Dashforth can work with a backup actor in this play due to local co-op where player two will play as the sidekick known as Scampwick.

Hungry Like the Wolf: Baron Dashforth finds himself against a few actors dressed as wolves.

Need a Ride? We’ve Enough Room for Two: A brawl is about to take place near a travelling wagon.

7) I Am The Hero

I Am The Hero Gameplay

I Am The Hero is a pixel art beat 'em up style game with some fighting game elements such as EX-Skills. I Am The Hero stars a human that is known as the “Hero”, but the hero has a very mysterious past behind him. Who is this guy? And is there another side to him that we just don’t know about? Only one way to find out.

Rush down on your enemies and juggle them to get a really high combo count that could potentially reach the triple and maybe even quadruple digits.

You can also play as a variety of characters with a variety of playstyles. One such example is that you can play as a beefy boxer that specializes in rushing the enemies down to jab, hook, and uppercut them.

If you want, chain even higher combos with a partner since I Am The Hero has local co-op as well as an online co-op survival mode where your only goal is to survive.

His health bar is longer. No Fair: The Hero is up against a horde of larger and smaller enemies alike. That’s still one rather large health bar. Hopefully, that enemy isn’t too OP!

The Combo that Never Ends: The Hero has accumulated a high combo count with the potential to get that number even higher by chaining more hits on enemies.

6) Bully Beatdown

Bully Beatdown Gameplay

Bully Beatdown is a side-scrolling beat 'em up that has an emphasis on story. You play the role of an overweight child simply known as “Fat Kid” that gets picked on by everybody. However, with the player’s input, this child can get even with his bullies. Don’t start harming innocent people though or you’ll be labelled a bully yourself.

There are many combative techniques that “Fat Kid” can use to pummel his bullies. He can punch them, kick them, belly bump them, and spin dash... I mean roll like a bowling ball over them just to name a few techniques.

There are 9 different levels set in different areas such as a school, the streets of “Fat Kid's” home city, and even the depths of Hell where you can get revenge on the bullies that tormented you.

In addition, there are bosses to fight in these different areas such as a robotic spider, and a giant stage set of a man worked by a woman known as the Drama Queen.

Robo Spider with Only Four Arms… Odd: “Fat Kid” is inflicting damage on a giant robotic spider with flatulence.

Belly Smashing Lawbreaker: Wonder what the police think of “Fat Kid” beating up on this group of bullies with this belly?

5) Bladed Fury

Bladed Fury Gameplay

Bladed Fury is an action game inspired by Chinese mythology, Chinese history, and a pinch of surrealism. It takes place in an Ancient Chinese civilization known as Qi and it stars an exiled princess named Ji who fell for a trap sprung by an officer that serves the Kang of Qi named Tian. Tian also murdered Ji’s father Kang (who is also the Duke) and placed Ji’s older sister Shu under house arrest.

To succeed in your journey of revenge, you will need help from deities such as Hou Yi and Jingwei among others. They will give you a variety of weapons with different powers on your journey. For example, Hou Yi will give you 2 blades that have a few different combos from your standard weapon.

Fight off a variety of enemies in your quest to get revenge on Tian including guards that have lances ready to poke you, and larger soldiers that have a sword and shield to slash and block you.

Tian will also have some bosses that will do anything they can to stop you. For example, there is a giant spider that you will have to overcome.

Arachnid Attack: Ji finds herself at odds with a giant spider. Hopefully, neither she nor the player has a severe case of arachnophobia.

Win by Doing Nothing?: Ji may want to consider moving and/or dodging so that she doesn’t get hit by that soldier.

4) The friends of Ringo Ishikawa

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa Gameplay

The friends of Ringo Ishikawa is a sidescrolling beat 'em up with school sim elements that takes place in a Japanese high school. It stars a senior high school student named Ringo Ishikawa who is a gang leader and he is trying to live through his last year of high school before graduation.

Experience a story where the main goal isn’t just about being a gang leader or where the aim is to take down rival turfs. Experience a story where you simply live through the life of Ringo Ishikawa.

You will also be able to play a variety of mini-games throughout the journey of The friends of Ringo Ishikawa such as ping-pong, pool, video poker, and even a console game in a PC game.

However, at the end of the day, Ringo Ishikawa is a gang leader and there will be opposing gangs to try to take him down. Also, they don’t exactly seem like the type of people who are going to yield to words.

Stripes or Solids?: Billiards is one of many mini-games that Ringo Ishikawa can play in his senior high school year.

It is a beat 'em Up After All: Ringo will have to beat up a lot of people from different gangs in his adventure.

3) The TakeOver

The TakeOver Gameplay

The TakeOver is a beat 'em up with 3D backgrounds and high-definition pre-rendered sprites that takes heavy inspiration from classics such as Streets of Rage and Final Fight.

The TakeOver stars 4 characters that you can choose from. You can play as the very powerful and durable, but slow Connor, the well-rounded Ethan, the slightly speedier but slightly less powerful Megan, and a guy who is more useful from a range named Jackson as you try to rescue a woman named Vanessa.

Lay the smackdown on a variety of foes such as thugs, sumo wrestlers, and boxers that have their own names and will try to beat you down, as well as zombies that will hunt you down.

Beat down some unique foes by yourself or with some local friends through co-op mode.

Zombies? You don’t see those every day: Connor is shooting at some zombies.

Time to lay the beatdown: You will meet many thugs on your journey to save a girl named Vanessa.

2) Bud Spencer & Terence Hill - Slaps And Beans

Bud Spencer & Terence Hill – Slaps And Beans Gameplay

Bud Spencer & Terence Hill – Slaps And Beans is a 2D sidescrolling beat 'em up with platformer elements and mini-games where you play as Bud Spencer or Terence Hill and your goal is to beat up thugs and experience the world of Bud Spencer.

You’ll find yourself in a variety of locations in the world of Bud Spencer & Terence Hill such as the fairground, the Western Saloon, and Miami Downtown among other areas.

There are a variety of mini-games that you will be able to play in the world of Bud Spencer & Terence Hill such as a top-down racing game and a side-scrolling horse racing game among many others.

You can experience Bud Spencer & Terence Hill – Slaps And Beans by yourself or with a friend through local co-op.

Everybody’s Super Sonic Racing: Racing is one of many different mini-games featured in Bud Spencer & Terence Hill - Slaps And Beans.

Clean up on Aisle Twelve: Bud Spencer & Terence Hill will find themselves in many locations including a grocery store. At least you don’t have to endure this adventure alone.

1) Strider

Strider Gameplay

Strider is a 2D Action Platformer set in the year Meio 0048 in a metropolis known as Kazakh City that has been taken over and governed by a floating figure named Grandmaster Meio. You play as a Ninja named Strider Hiryu and it is your goal to take down your eternal foe and save the world.

Strider Hiryu is very agile and he comes equipped with a sword known as the Cypher. In addition, he has a lot of abilities in his arsenal such as a faster run, a slide, and a cart-wheel. Throughout his adventure, he can also unlock new abilities to reach new areas such as a double jump and a mid-air dash among other abilities.

There are plenty of enemies that Strider will find in his way along his journeys like the many cybernetic soldiers and the hordes of biomechanical creatures scattered through Kazakh City.

There are a ton of different bosses that Strider Hiryu will need to fight on his journey to defeat Grandmaster Meio including three out of the four female freelance bounty hunters known as Tong Pooh, Nang Pooh, and Pei Pooh that make up a group known as the Four Winds.