Tuesday, September 29, 2020

"Shing!" Review


A breezy hack-and-slash romp, "Shing!" lives up to the onomatopoeia of its title with kinetic action, dazzling combos and over-the-top thrills.

Developer Mass Creation ratchets up the silly, raucous intensity as you guide your demon-slashing ninja into battle.

Smarmy humor pulses through the game, which hurls you from one breakneck bout of bloodshed to the next.

There's a bit of a learning curve to the stick-based control scheme, which is nuanced enough to take significant time to master, while free-flowing enough to satisfy button-mashers.

The side-scroller has a tendency to wear out its gimmicks, but manages to stay fresh with subtle twists and paradigm-shifting confrontations.

As with most games of this ilk, you'll get more out of it if you bring along a buddy for co-op. Like recently-released genre rivals "Streets of Rage 4" and the "Battletoads" reboot, there's a heavy reliance on well-worn conventions of the past -- quite possibly because there isn't much new under the sun in the beat-em-up realms.

"Shing!" won't turn any heads of those who are focused on more sophisticated experiences, but those who are down for some quick, rough and dirty action will feel right at home.

Publisher provided review copy.

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