The greatest thing to happen to this generation of consoles has undoubtedly got to be downloadable games. Cheap, innovative titles from smaller developers getting their chance to shine is never a bad thing, and indeed, some of the best games coming out this summer are downloadable. DeathSpank, Limbo, Sam and Max, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game, Plants vs. Zombies XBLA and of course, Shank.

Shank is a sidescrolling shooter/brawler that undoubtedly has its roots in flash animation, looking almost like an updated, prettier Metal Slug in its unadulterated violence. The game, penned by Marianne Krawczyk of the God of War franchise, tells the story of a man named Shank who was betrayed and, well, shanked, and sets off to murder everyone who did him wrong.

We were just sent over this brand new co-op trailer and screenshots to show off how Shank and his sidekick Falcone do things. It sure is pretty, and won a ton of awards at E3 this year.

Shank hits PSN on August 24th and XBLA on August 25th.