Klei Entertainment’s sequel to their beat ’em up, shoot ’em up, shank ’em up brawler Shank is more than just a return to character. While the core game remains untouched, it’s clear from this gameplay preview that many things have changed and been reworked. Ranged weapons can be aimed freely, pickups are now done via the right bumper, and there’s a revamped counter system. However, the multiplayer is the star of the show here.

The video shows off a character select screen with a selection of 16 characters, some of which were blacked out. While this could be for the sake of not spoiling things, many of them draw parallels to unlockable costumes from the first Shank. Each character seems to come with their own set of stats, including discounts on store items and other attribute changes. While the discussion in the video says otherwise, it would seem that each character has a different weapon selection. At the very least player 2 and player 1 have different stuff. Shank 2 will be releasing on February 8th of this year, and much like with the the original Shank, we here at XBLA Fans just might have some guiding to do.