Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days

Kane & Lynch was a game with a lot of style and a good story but lacking gameplay... Kane & Lynch 2 delivers more polished gameplay with the same style, making for a more robust experience. While the cover mechanics and shooting in the original felt rough and old, they feel pretty much perfect in the sequel. There's an actual cover button now, which works great, and the shooting is more precise and fun. Cover does not make you invincible, which some professional reviewers disliked, but I like that... if your arm is sticking out, it makes sense they can shoot your arm.

The campaign uses the same gritty Michael Mann style to great effect. You'll fight your way through back alleys, apartment complexes, restaurants and other real-world locations while Kane and Lynch spout off some very well-written Resevoir Dogs-style dialogue. It's not for everyone, just like the first game wasn't, but if you're a fan of this style then you will like the way this game handles story and immersion. The graphics are surprisingly well done considering the original game lacked in this area. The environments all look detailed and real while the characters mostly look unique and move well. There is a grimy YouTube video style filter on the game to make it look even grittier, but on PC you can disable this if you like... go back and forth and see what you prefer. Also turn on the "steadycam" option if you have motion sickness issues.

The main problem with the campaign is it's only about 5 hours long and that's playing on hard mode. I tested normal mode and it was even faster-paced and more "run n' gun" so maybe it would take even less time to complete. To round out the package though there is multiplayer and "arcade mode" for singleplayer offline play of the same basic multiplayer game. The basic premise with both is you play a random criminal who works with a team to infiltrate a place, take some money or equipment, then get out to a getaway van. In arcade mode you do this with AI partners against AI cops, trying to get as much money as you can with three lives to get high on the leaderboards. In multiplayer the other crooks and cops are actual players, looking to help or stop you as the case may be. Other criminals in multiplayer can stab you in the back and take your money, which in the games I played ends up being annoying as every player feels the need to do this. In arcade mode the AI will not turn on you unless you repeatedly fail to get any money, making it a better experience overall for people who are not hardcore multiplayer competitors. Arcade mode is something I will likely play here and there over time, which adds some length to the game. The campaign mode is also rather replayable, which can boost the value.

Still, at the end of the day Kane & Lynch 2 feels like it should be cheaper than $50. I tetered on the edge of giving the game 3 or 4 stars, but I went with 4 based on how fun the campaign is and how unique the overall tone and style still is. However with a 4-5 hour campaign and an arcade mode that is fun but nothing amazing, along with multiplayer I found more annoying than fun and that is hardly populated, I'm not sure there is $50 worth of value here. Your mileage may vary and I personally plan to replay the campaign and set some high scores in arcade mode, but most people will play the campaign and quit and they should wait for a sale. If you really enjoyed the tone and style of the original game though and wished it was more solid in the gameplay area, Kane & Lynch 2 granted your wish. I urge you to grab the game when the price reaches what you find acceptable for what the game offers.

DRM Alert: Kane & Lynch 2 uses Steamworks DRM, meaning every copy is a Steam copy. This requires online activation for install and ties the game to an account preventing resale, but it also gives you achievements, DLC support and Steamworks multiplayer features. Make up your own mind on how this effects you, it is not used in scoring.

This will be based on the SINGLE player campaign.

Kane & Lynch 2 is a graphically improved game compared to its predecessor.
However, that's not saying much. Even though the game graphics look better, the designers decided to add a series of effects as if everything you see is being recorded through a camcorder. Your view shakes up and down, left and right as you move, sometimes the image becomes intentionally blurry, out of focus or even pixelated. After a few minutes of this you either want to throw up or desperately navigate the menu looking for the option to turn this off! Thankfully they did include a "steady cam" option which mostly removes these annoying effects. Without the steady cam, the game looks like a shaky blurry mess that won't let you focus on the action nor enjoy the game, kind of like the Cloverfield movie.

Another bad choice that the developers decided to implement was censoring some of the violence and all of the nudity in the game. For example, whenever you land a headshot, all you will see is a pixelated mosaic filter over the head of whoever you shot. Same thing happens with nudity. The designers included an entire episode where there is nudity only to have it all blurred out. I mean, c'mon. Isn't this game already rated "Mature"? The censoring just seems like a stupid way of making players feel cheated out of getting the entire experience. Maybe once they realize they screwed up they will release a code or patch to remove this.

As for the story.... well there really isn't any. Kane & Lynch get together again, things go bad and the have to escape, The End. Don't expect to feel gratified by the time the game is over (the ending is pretty damn lousy, feels kind of like they ran out of ideas or time).

And finally the gameplay. From beginning to end, all you will do is shoot hordes and what seems like endless armies of generic baddies, soldiers and police in close corridors and alleyways with weapons that are extremely inaccurate. It gets old pretty fast as there is almost no variation. There is only one single level in which you get in a chopper and vary things a bit, but it all ends too soon and you're back to the same-old "shoot the bad guy hiding behind the column".

My conclusion of the Single player campaing is that "Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days" is just another generic shooter with hardly anything new to offer.
I will start looking into the Co-Op and Multiplayer options since they do look promising, plus it always helps to bring a friend on a boring ride to make it more fun and interesting!

I'll admit I bought this because of all the horrible reviews. Sometimes it is fun to laugh at a bad movie, ya know? The problem with K&L II is the targeting. Man is it bad. there is just no way to really aim the weapons, at least not with the weapons I've found on the first two levels, it is strictly "spray and pray" and you will sometimes go through three clips without being able to hit a guy 30 feet away. Not fun. But it was worth the whole $4 with shipping I paid to laugh at it and the MP is kinda fun if generic. A word of warning though, the game is tied to Steam so if you don't have a Steam account or don't like Steam then this isn't for you.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews  2.6 out of 5 stars