Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days

Let me just start off by saying that this game is a rental, not because it plays poorly or is full of bugs, but because the single player story is under 5 hours long. That's right laddies and gentlemen, it took me under 5 hours to beat this game. It is absolutely abhorrent that the developers/publishers are getting $60 for this. If anyone else out there is like me, just based on the shear irritation I experienced upon finishing this game in under 5 hours, I will more than likely not play through it again. I bought this game because I enjoyed the first game (even though it was buggy and full of little technical issues), and that it took me a couple of days to finish it.

Now on to the performance of the game. The shooting mechanic is vastly improved in this game, and the cover system works perfectly. About 99% of the game runs beautifully at a very constant frame rate and the action blends nicely into the ongoing dialog the two characters, Kane and Lynch, carry on throughout the game. Also, I actually enjoyed what they did with the camera, making it look like the entire experience was recorded.

So in closing, if you really, REALLY want this game, go ahead and throw $60 out the window. But if you can be patient, and learn from my horrible mistake, either rent it or wait for the price to come way down.

Kane & Lynch 2 demonstrates what happens when a development team tries to form an entire game around one glimmering fragment of a good idea.

The story is almost non-existent. It's Mario Bros. Two guys fighting their way through each level, trying to rescue the girl. That's it. It, obviously, continues with the same two irredeemable and unlikable lead characters from the first game that one feels no connection to or interest in.

Also, like the first Kane & Lynch, it tries far too hard to be edgy. As a fan of cleverly applied foul language, I'm put off when a game is so blatantly trying to appeal to twelve year old boys with excessive use of the 'F-word'. It comes across fake and insincere and patronizing.

It has one note of gameplay. You run through hallways shooting people, until you get to the other side. Then a new level loads and you shoot through another hallway, shooting more people. Four hours later, the game is over.

Many have rightfully complained that while length is not everything, it's hard to justify a full retail price for a four hour game. I agree, but I also would not have wanted to sit through another four hours of the same tiring, boring, monotonous action. In fact, I started looking forward to the end arriving, by about the third hour.

Multiplayer has potential, but falls flat. Part of that is due to the poor matchmaking, which seems dated. You'll spend a lot of time waiting in lobbies for people to join and games to start. The loading screens between games, joining lobbies, leaving lobbies, returning to lobbies from games are lengthy and a bit frustrating. There also isn't any host-migration, which has come to be expected in modern multiplayer games. This results in a _lot_ of prematurely ended games due to the host dropping out. I tried playing Cops & Robbers for four hours last night and I never completed a game. Cops and Robbers is four rounds long and in every game over those four hours, the host left before the third round.

The concept of the multiplayer in this game is interesting, though. I'd like to see someone expand on the idea and execute it much better. It could use some polish and definitely could use more maps (there are five or six, I think - though it feels like only three). There are three additional maps, but you only get those if you pre-ordered the game from certain retailers. Even then, you only get ONE of the three locked maps; not all of them. If you ordered from Amazon, you got a special assault gun, instead of any maps. I believe that you can play on those maps if the host has the map, but I have not come across any games where that is the case. You also can't buy the maps as DLC.

There is also a Co-Op mode. It's nothing to write home about. It's just the single player game, but with the other person playing Kane. So instead of one player falling asleep with their finger constantly yanking the trigger and pushing forward through the path, someone else can suffer along with you.

All that said, Kane & Lynch 2 does a couple things right. First, while the graphics often look very dated (especially the faces and animations, if you stop and watch Kane running around) -- the "camera man" filters they apply cover it up. In fact, the effects they apply can be absolutely stunning and go a long way toward improving realism. (Of course, there is never any explanation for why some guy with a camera is following two murderers around with a camera, risking getting himself killed by stray bullets the entire time, and witnessing to countless crimes by these crooks). Still, the effect is very cool.

I also like that the game, except for frequent long loading screens, has a bit of a "one long tracking shot" feel to it. Think of the scene from Children of Men, but much longer. If they could have found a way to stream-load the game, instead of having loading screens, it may have been memorable for presenting that sort of "game starts at point A and goes to point B and you never stop at any spot in between" experience.

So, in conclusion, Kane & Lynch 2 is a one-note game with a couple intriguing elements that belong in a much better game. I suspect this game will appeal to the same kind of mindset that gets off on all the weed references in Modern Warfare 2 or buys Bayonetta just because it features a naked chick in a "hair suit" standing in stilettos. These people probably wouldn't even realize they're being patronized, though.

For everyone else - I suspect they will find it boring and repetitive and wish they'd spent their money elsewhere (even despite the couple of interesting elements that could have had potential). Rent it or pick it up at no more than half of retail price. Otherwise, skip it.

It really seems like IO Interactive had a brainstorming meeting and they came up with one good idea that had enough content for one level of the game and that was the last brainstorming session they ever had, until the game was released. As for why they spent so much time making so little game? There seems to be no explanation for that.

The other day I was reading an interview with a game developer who said he wanted to work on a game with sensibilities that echoed the movie Heat [Blu-ray], because no one had done it yet.

First things first. When people fantasize about a "Heat"-esque game, I'm sure there's only one thing that comes to mind: epic street-level shootouts involving scads of ammo, automatic weapons, cops, shattering glass, screaming pedestrians and duffel bags slung over the shoulder. I'm pretty confident no one wants to play a "Heat" game that revolves around your ruined relationship with your wife and stepdaughter, or meetings in diners with arch-rivals.

If we can agree on that, then I'm here to tell you that Kane & Lynch 2 is as close as you're going to get to a Heat-esque experience in the gaming medium. The entire single player story is one brutally violent street-level shootout after another, while the multiplayer modes masterfully evoke the tense feeling of being in a gang of like-minded criminals who will do anything to go home with a bigger cut - including killing their teammates in cold blood.

Kane & Lynch 2 also inhabits its own game space with the kind of confidence few games can manage. That is to say, everything is of a piece and seems the result of a singularity of vision so rare in these times when games seem content to come to you, when it should be the other way around. So few games challenge players to really accept things on the game's level - also see Dead Rising, Bioshock and Demon's Souls Greatest Hits.

Because of this, many people have criticized elements of the game as flaws that are actually deliberate design decisions - including the woefully inaccurate weapons you start the game with, the briefness of the story mode, and the nausea-inducing camera. That's not to say the game isn't without its flaws. It's loaded with them. But if you can get past them, you'll enjoy it for what it is, not what you want it to be.

Two caveats: One - I did not pay full retail for this game. It's been out for nearly 8 months, so I picked it up on the cheap. This may color my opinion somewhat. Two - online communities are notorious rovers, and due to the fact that this game underperformed at retail, it's kind of difficult to find a lively online game with any consistency at this point. Still an enjoyable experience though.

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