In any instance, the duo is back and ready to cut a new deal to finally get Kane out of the life of crime. Only with their luck, things are just not that simple. The guys find themselves being hunted down by everyone from "Chinese Mobsters" to the actual military force within Shanghai. Like I said, only a really good friend would travel and endure all of that without some huge break down of friendship.
But enough of all of that, let's get into what we have in the game.
Graphics:
If you have played the demo or multiplayer of the game, then you have seen what a majority of the game looks like. Not the best looking graphics on the market by far, sans a few scenes. (Let's just say that the cuts covering their naked bodies made me cringe a bit.) But this game isn't trying to be a huge show stopper with the graphics. If Kane and Lynch 2 was billed to be a huge eye opener, then this would be an utter failure.
With that said, there was one thing I absolutely loved about the visuals, the "security cam" grain/glare over everything. Not sure if this was an attempt to hide the fact that the actual models and textures where not full up to snuff or an attempt at something new. It was probably a bit of both, but I actually focused more on the overall look and feel. At most times it actually adds an extra level of grit to the game's immersion. While it was a bit hard to see things at some points, the grain totally made me feel like there was another reason I was hanging over Lynch's shoulder.
Kudos, but I don't think it is going to be for everyone.
Audio:
As would be assumed, the audio of the game had a similar type grain over it all. It fit the style they were trying to accomplish. When you place them in that light, they would blend perfectly and add to the overall aesthetic of the game. Like I said, they do that pretty well, except that they didn't go completely all the way with the grain as they should have to keep the feel.
Granted, I am glad that they didn't fully grain the audio; we all know that security camera audio is extremely difficult to understand. I am glad that I didn't have to replay scenes over and over to understand what was being said due to IO pulling back on the style for the audio - at least where the story is concerned.
Controls:
Kane and Lynch 2 is an over the shoulder action shooter game. That should again be enough to explain to you how the controls should feel and act, or at least enough to get you on the same page so I don't have to go into each button.
In general, the controls suffer and gain from what you would expect of any game in this genre. There were shining and not-so-shining parts to the controls that need mentioning instead of leaving it broad like that.
The aiming for Kane and Lynch 2 is by far some of the tightest and smoothest to control that I have played in quite a while. Even when Aim Assist is turned off, it lets you move extremely precise and score the ever-so-wanted head shot kills. This is generally one of the main issues I have in this style of game, but even with the controller I was able to pretend like I had a keyboard and mouse in hand.
Unfortunately, because of a shaky Cover System I found myself firing blind just as much as I aimed so that I could actually take position to get the kill shot. While it is a simple button press to hop into cover, it seemed that both the camera and the character need to be facing a cover spot to hop into it. If the camera is at a weird angle, you can easily find yourself button pressing to try and hop in and instead get shot up. This issue led to quite a few of accidental deaths for me. You have been warned.
Game Play:
There are pretty much 2.5 forms of game play for Kane and Lynch 2. Wait. 2.5? Yes, that's what I said. You have your story mode and then you have you multiplayer mode. Then you also have your Arcade mode, which is pretty much the multiplayer using all AI controlled partners.
Story mode is exactly what you think it is, so there is not much to go into here. The only cool thing about it is that the whole story plays out similarly to someone reviewing the security recordings of the overall story. Other than that, the story mode plays out just as you would assume it would.
Now, the multiplayer, which was one of the main focuses for IO, puts a new twist on a favored style of multiplayer. Well, not new in the grand scheme as versions of it have been placed in other games, but it is different enough to open a few eyes. The premise is you are a part of a team whose objective is to break in, bag as much cash as you can carry and get the hell out. At the end, take the total amount, divide by the number of people that made it out alive and that's your cut. Of course, being a criminal in the first place, you probably want your cut to be larger. You think to yourself, "If there were less people to divide the money with, my cut would get larger." Pew-pew, you thin out the divisor, but now those players have become members of the law enforcement who are probably unhappy you put them there and will vow to end you. It's all about risk and reward, my friend. What would you do?
I particularly like the fact that you can turn on your team at any time one round, and then be completely helpful to all the next. Leaving a bit more of randomness to those who enjoy playing mind games while playing online. Like me.
To go even further, people get to see what kind of play style you have and plan accordingly. Not only do you have to learn your opponents' play style, at least in the modes that force a side change at death, but you also need to watch your team for future traitors or who the undercover cop is. I like having this whole new level to a multiplayer portion of a game; playing in a Free-For-All type game mode where it starts out team based and can stay team based the whole time, if everyone wants and plays nice.
Finally, there is Arcade Mode. The .5 of the 2.5. It is pretty much playing one version of the multiplayer, but instead of having other people control the 7 others doing the heist, you have the game's AI control them. But it plays just like you would if you were online. By that I mean the AI will actually turn on you at perfect times or at completely random times. There was one time I was running with 1.7 million of the 4 available and had an AI Bot help me kill the cops trying to stop us only to turn and gun me down so it could run with over 3 million in tow.
Overview:
Now comes the point where I tell you my over all thoughts of the game. Something I thought I'd be a bit more torn on. I liked the story in the single player, but it wasn't anything most people's jaws would drop at. If you were a fan of the first installment and enjoy that style of story, then you won't be too let down. Unfortunately, from a casual story player, the 5 hours worth of story will be a bit let down.
On the flip side, and if you know me, this is something for me to say, the multiplayer of the game completely makes up for the short comings to the story mode. In fact, I found myself getting addicted to the multiplayer and arcade modes quickly after beating the single player. I normally hate playing online, but with the ability to be a traitor at random times, I love trying to get others to figure out my next step. If they gun me down because they suspect me as a traitor, but I am not going to turn on the team, their rep goes down. The constant uncertainty and mystery is an excellent addition to the multiplayer experience.
All of that meaning, picking up the game or at least giving it a good few week rent is completely in order for Kane and Lynch 2.
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days was developed by IO Interactive and Published by Eidos on August 17th 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows. It retails for $59.99. A PS3 copy of the game was given to us for review purposes. I played through the main story on Hard difficulty and played about eight hours of Multiplayer/Arcade modes.
