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Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
Release Date: August 28th, 2010
Reviewed On: Xbox 360
Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Square-Enix
ESRB Rating: M
PEGI Rating: 18
OFLC Rating: MA 15+
Kane and Lynch 2 is not a perfect game, and I think that is for the best. Frankly, I hated the first one but was drawn into the storyline of two of the world's most messed-up mercs trying to complete "one last job" so they could go back to living a normal life. Then again, normal to them is probably psychotic in our eyes. Developer IO Interactive has a long-standing track record with bad men doing bad things. These are the guys who brought us the highly lauded Hitman series and...heh...Mini Ninjas. Well, for the most part they deal with jerks doing jerky things.
STORY
Like I said before, Kane and Lynch 2 isn't a perfect game. It has its fair share of design issues and even some framerate stutters, but I can applaud a game that is willing to push a narrative envelope in a new direction. The story picks up after the events of the first game, with Lynch living in Shanghai with his lover. Kane flies to Shanghai to complete "one last job" so he can build a better life for he and his daughter and what do you know, **** happens and once again the boys are on the run. There's a decent amount of twists and turns in the plot to keep you interested, though the endgame isn't anything too exciting. This game is more about the journey than the destination. (But if that destination ends up as DLC, then I'll be pissed.)
PRESENTATION/GAMEPLAY
What seems to be the focus of most people's attention in KL2 is the presentation style the game embodies. Through the use of several different filters and camera tricks, the game looks like it is being played out on a Handheld Camcorder, like a HD Flip Cam or something like it. The lights bleed when you look at them, and there's glare from bright objects. Also, a shaky cam effect is implemented for whenever your Kane/Lynch are running. All these effects running congruently create a dynamically new experience for the playing and it achieves something innovative that we haven't seen before.
While the game is heavy on presentation it is lacking in level design. This is very much a bland cover-based third-person shooter with some dicey characters thrown in. You'll continuously run through long corridors and hallways with plenty of scenery conveniently thrown down for you to take cover behind, all the while wafting in their air of someone too lazy to think of something more inspired for our characters to plow through. At first it won't seem too noticeable because the variety of the locations is quite hefty, but by the last level you'll fall into a very formulaic method of progressing through each stage. An average playthrough should only run you around 4-5 hours though, so noticing that the game's design is pretty lacking is a pretty glaring example of how flawed the game can be. Like I said, this game is far from perfect.
GRAPHICS
On the bright side of things, what the visuals don't do the presentation more than makes up for. Character models are nicely detailed at the cost of having bland textures on most environments, and the Shaky cam effect doesn't let you linger on the shoddy stuff to really complain. Without their new presentation style I'm sure the game would suffer a far worse fate to graphics whores, but here the accompaniment works like bread and butter. It would really be something if they kicked up the visuals for the eventual KL3 but for now the presentational style makes up for somewhat lackluster textures.
SOUND AND AUDIO
I'm always a big fan of good quality voice acting and once again the guys they hired to speak for Kane and Lynch deliver in spades. Good voice acting really goes a long way in giving the story more believability, and without such honest real actors behind the mics the story might have seemed ham-fisted or tired, but they succeed in making the situation seem dire. There's not a whole lot of music to speak about to be honest. The only real musical track is one that plays for Lynch's alarm clock and around his apartment. It doubles as the menu music so you'll be hearing it A TON. I don't mind it, but over hours of online play I can imagine getting sent back to a menu might give you an audio conniption.
Guns sound real, explosives go boom, but something must be said to the game's audio lead for giving a great sense of ambiance on the streets of Shanghai. There may not be much to speak of but the sound design goes a good way in capturing the environment.
MULTIPLAYER
Where KL2 really brings the goods is the multiplayer. Being hailed as an auxiliary story to the main quest, the multiplayer gives you three very different modes of play. There's Cops & Robbers, where you may decide to turn on your robber friends and steal their loot before the cops catch you. In Undercover Cop your objective is to stealthily take out your entire team before they complete a heist. The returning mode, Fragile Alliance is just as fun as it was before, but repetitive levels make chokepoints and betrayal spots all too recognizable for people who log in a lot of hours online.
Each game is dynamically different because allegiances shift with every round. You could be hunting the undercover cop one round and then be selected as the informant for the next two sessions. It varies your play style and keeps you on your toes. With a fresh batch of teammates every time you log on, you're always in for something new. Though a slim offering of just six maps is included on the disc, DLC is already up on the marketplace. Nickel and Diming you shouldn't be the way of the world, but unfortunately publisher Square-Enix knows a good online component when they see one. If the game takes off online like it should, these new maps will almost be essential to enjoying a varying multiplayer experience in the months to come.
Also included is a simple arcade mode where you run through the story mode with or without a partner trying to earn points. The mode is there, but almost plays like an afterthought. Definitely needs a friend to be considered a fun viable mode.
CONCLUSION
Overall, and this is where I tend to have a soft spot for the game, the narrative succeeds a lot because these characters are people we don't usually play as and that makes KL2 unique. These are bad men. They aren't heroes, or even anti-heroes. They're just bad men who continually make bad choices. Do we want to see them happy in the end? I guess some will and some won't care. I personally want to see a third installment putting a nail in the coffin, a definitive ending to their criminal careers. With the game adopting a very gritty 70's gunporn type approach to how things play out for characters, anything can happen. The single player can be completed in a day, though I can imagine blazing through it with a friend in co-op would be more fulfilling. I can definitely recommend this to shooter fans simply because KL2 is unlike anything out there on the market in terms of presentation and multiplayer. There's no regular deathmatch, they're replaced with smart and innovative head to head modes. In a world of Halo and Call of Duty, KL2 is a breath of fresh air.
Though you may be put off by its Metacritic rating, I will urge you to play Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. The multiplayer is just different enough to hook you, and maybe we can all show the industry there's more to shooting your friends online than team deathmatch and capture the flag.
Release Date: August 28th, 2010
Reviewed On: Xbox 360
Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Square-Enix
ESRB Rating: M
PEGI Rating: 18
OFLC Rating: MA 15+
Kane and Lynch 2 is not a perfect game, and I think that is for the best. Frankly, I hated the first one but was drawn into the storyline of two of the world's most messed-up mercs trying to complete "one last job" so they could go back to living a normal life. Then again, normal to them is probably psychotic in our eyes. Developer IO Interactive has a long-standing track record with bad men doing bad things. These are the guys who brought us the highly lauded Hitman series and...heh...Mini Ninjas. Well, for the most part they deal with jerks doing jerky things.
STORY
Like I said before, Kane and Lynch 2 isn't a perfect game. It has its fair share of design issues and even some framerate stutters, but I can applaud a game that is willing to push a narrative envelope in a new direction. The story picks up after the events of the first game, with Lynch living in Shanghai with his lover. Kane flies to Shanghai to complete "one last job" so he can build a better life for he and his daughter and what do you know, **** happens and once again the boys are on the run. There's a decent amount of twists and turns in the plot to keep you interested, though the endgame isn't anything too exciting. This game is more about the journey than the destination. (But if that destination ends up as DLC, then I'll be pissed.)
PRESENTATION/GAMEPLAY
What seems to be the focus of most people's attention in KL2 is the presentation style the game embodies. Through the use of several different filters and camera tricks, the game looks like it is being played out on a Handheld Camcorder, like a HD Flip Cam or something like it. The lights bleed when you look at them, and there's glare from bright objects. Also, a shaky cam effect is implemented for whenever your Kane/Lynch are running. All these effects running congruently create a dynamically new experience for the playing and it achieves something innovative that we haven't seen before.
While the game is heavy on presentation it is lacking in level design. This is very much a bland cover-based third-person shooter with some dicey characters thrown in. You'll continuously run through long corridors and hallways with plenty of scenery conveniently thrown down for you to take cover behind, all the while wafting in their air of someone too lazy to think of something more inspired for our characters to plow through. At first it won't seem too noticeable because the variety of the locations is quite hefty, but by the last level you'll fall into a very formulaic method of progressing through each stage. An average playthrough should only run you around 4-5 hours though, so noticing that the game's design is pretty lacking is a pretty glaring example of how flawed the game can be. Like I said, this game is far from perfect.
GRAPHICS
On the bright side of things, what the visuals don't do the presentation more than makes up for. Character models are nicely detailed at the cost of having bland textures on most environments, and the Shaky cam effect doesn't let you linger on the shoddy stuff to really complain. Without their new presentation style I'm sure the game would suffer a far worse fate to graphics whores, but here the accompaniment works like bread and butter. It would really be something if they kicked up the visuals for the eventual KL3 but for now the presentational style makes up for somewhat lackluster textures.
SOUND AND AUDIO
I'm always a big fan of good quality voice acting and once again the guys they hired to speak for Kane and Lynch deliver in spades. Good voice acting really goes a long way in giving the story more believability, and without such honest real actors behind the mics the story might have seemed ham-fisted or tired, but they succeed in making the situation seem dire. There's not a whole lot of music to speak about to be honest. The only real musical track is one that plays for Lynch's alarm clock and around his apartment. It doubles as the menu music so you'll be hearing it A TON. I don't mind it, but over hours of online play I can imagine getting sent back to a menu might give you an audio conniption.
Guns sound real, explosives go boom, but something must be said to the game's audio lead for giving a great sense of ambiance on the streets of Shanghai. There may not be much to speak of but the sound design goes a good way in capturing the environment.
MULTIPLAYER
Where KL2 really brings the goods is the multiplayer. Being hailed as an auxiliary story to the main quest, the multiplayer gives you three very different modes of play. There's Cops & Robbers, where you may decide to turn on your robber friends and steal their loot before the cops catch you. In Undercover Cop your objective is to stealthily take out your entire team before they complete a heist. The returning mode, Fragile Alliance is just as fun as it was before, but repetitive levels make chokepoints and betrayal spots all too recognizable for people who log in a lot of hours online.
Each game is dynamically different because allegiances shift with every round. You could be hunting the undercover cop one round and then be selected as the informant for the next two sessions. It varies your play style and keeps you on your toes. With a fresh batch of teammates every time you log on, you're always in for something new. Though a slim offering of just six maps is included on the disc, DLC is already up on the marketplace. Nickel and Diming you shouldn't be the way of the world, but unfortunately publisher Square-Enix knows a good online component when they see one. If the game takes off online like it should, these new maps will almost be essential to enjoying a varying multiplayer experience in the months to come.
Also included is a simple arcade mode where you run through the story mode with or without a partner trying to earn points. The mode is there, but almost plays like an afterthought. Definitely needs a friend to be considered a fun viable mode.
CONCLUSION
Overall, and this is where I tend to have a soft spot for the game, the narrative succeeds a lot because these characters are people we don't usually play as and that makes KL2 unique. These are bad men. They aren't heroes, or even anti-heroes. They're just bad men who continually make bad choices. Do we want to see them happy in the end? I guess some will and some won't care. I personally want to see a third installment putting a nail in the coffin, a definitive ending to their criminal careers. With the game adopting a very gritty 70's gunporn type approach to how things play out for characters, anything can happen. The single player can be completed in a day, though I can imagine blazing through it with a friend in co-op would be more fulfilling. I can definitely recommend this to shooter fans simply because KL2 is unlike anything out there on the market in terms of presentation and multiplayer. There's no regular deathmatch, they're replaced with smart and innovative head to head modes. In a world of Halo and Call of Duty, KL2 is a breath of fresh air.
Though you may be put off by its Metacritic rating, I will urge you to play Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. The multiplayer is just different enough to hook you, and maybe we can all show the industry there's more to shooting your friends online than team deathmatch and capture the flag.
Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 9/10
Multiplayer: 10/10
TOTAL GAMING NETWORK REVIEW SCORE: 8.0/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Graphics: 7/10
Audio: 9/10
Multiplayer: 10/10
TOTAL GAMING NETWORK REVIEW SCORE: 8.0/10