Shank returns in Shank 2, shanking very likely

Last year’s Shank was a gleeful journey of violence and bad-ass-itude, wrapped in wonderful, hand-drawn animation. Realizing that gamers really liked stabbing baddies in the gut, developer Klei Entertainment is gracing us with a second installment, aptly named .

Let’s ignore the unenthusiastic line reading in the trailer and the unnecessary plot details of Shank being forced to protect those dear to him in order to focus on the return of what made the first game great: the old ultra-violence, which seems to be back with a vengeance. Klei claims to have rebuilt everything from the ground up to improve the controls. The developer is also adding a new arcade-style survival co-op mode, which looks more Horde-styled than the usual co-op.

Shank 2 is set for an ear꧑ly 2012 release on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and൲ PC.