VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Published by: Square Enix
Developed by: Io Interactive
Release Date: August 17, 2010
Available on: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

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INTRO: A sequel to a game which brought a fair amount of controversy when it was released, Kane and Lynch 2 promises to ameliorate the last game’s problems. For those of you who don’t remember the kerfluffle that erupted when the first game hit the scene, simply Google ‘Gerstmanngate’ and you’ll find out all about it. With that being said, I’d like to preface this review by saying that I have been completely paid off by Eidos and this review is 100% biased. Heh.

Anyway, the first game came out in 2008 and was really only okay. It sported a great storyline and some despicable characters but the game itself wasn’t very good, reaching points of ‘meh’ at best. This sequel has a lot of hope going into it and the basic plot here is that Lynch (the crazier one) is in Shanghai and ends up getting himself into some trouble, which forces Kane to help out along the way.  So grab a pal and dive in- are these Dog Days worth living?

GAMEPLAY:

The first thing I’ll say coming out of the gate is that this game is better than the last one and is entirely more playable. If you were looking for that one line, you’ve got it and now you can run out and pick up the game. If you’re looking for more detail, read somewhere else.

No, I’m not serious. This game plays more or less like the last one in terms of the things you’re supposed to do- encounter wave after wave of enemies and kill them. With that said, the game is presented in a different way, coming off like strange surveillance footage of a snuff film. When you kill dudes, instead of gore splattering everywhere you’ll find the enemies going immediately blurry. The screen has a camera filter laid over it and looks grimy and grainy. It doesn’t look bad, in fact it adds a lot of rich atmosphere to the game. Cutscenes to load levels come off movie-style with conversations being laid out over various pictures coming together on the screen.

And I know you want to know about gameplay, so here’s the meat and potatoes. I went into this game expecting to have a good amount of fun and left it thinking ‘eh, it was okay’. You can carry two weapons only, and those will change a lot throughout the game. No weapons are particularly badass,  and most weapons feel strangely weak. You’ll find yourself wondering why enemies are still alive after all the shooting you’ve done. Even more bizarre is that when you use a shotgun, you can blast a foe from far away- ever hear of a long range shotgun? You can also occasionally throw an explosive canister, but that’s not super exciting.

Also new this year is a cover system, which seems to be a must-have in games these days. It isn’t perfect, but it works a hell of a lot better than the first game did. There’s a ton of stuff to hide behind in order to kill foes and you’ll need it because if you don’t use it you’ll be perforated quickly. Like Gears of War, you can be knocked on your ass and your partner can come and save you and this comes in handy more than once or twice if you’re as good as my friends and I because I died a lot. Precision be damned, this is a manic game that never lets up, but at least it feels relatively responsive.

Anyway, the big problem here is that the game is really repetitive and unfortunately it isn’t awesome enough to overcome this. You are going to be spending a ton of time carefully hiding behind something and waiting for your foe to poke out to be shot. And be ready for a lot of the protagonists screaming out that “they can’t believe this” or “this isn’t happening” or “you owe me a serious explanation”. because it happens throughout the whole damn game. I get it! Sometimes you get to split up from your partner and go it on your own, but that doesn’t vary things enough to merit any real praise. Don’t get me wrong, the game isn’t poorly done but the single player campaign isn’t very long at only 4 or 5 hours and even it becomes tedious.

As an addendum, let me also mention Fragile Alliance, a game designed for multiplayer that can also be played alone. This is an awesome mode where you have to steal something from a certain location and then get away. The big deal here is that you can be turned on, just like the Joker’s thugs turned on each other in The Dark Knight. It sounds limited, but it is really fun and keeps the game’s replay value high. There’s also two more modes, Cops and Robbers (team based combat) and Undercover Cops (Fragile Alliance with a cop in the midst) to add to the fun.

Gameplay: 7/10

GRAPHICS:

The graphics here are alright, but the game benefits from presentation more than graphical detail. When an explosion rocks the screen, the graphics pixellate purposely and the blurring effect works better than you’d think.  The characters look really bland and their faces are not very impressive. Background characters are animated poorly, but Kane and Lynch look decent enough. 

Graphics: 7/10

AUDIO:

There’s a ton of realistic weapon sounds, background noise and top notch voice acting here. The game sounds really quite good.

Audio: 8/10

FINAL VERDICT:

Ultimately, this is a better game than the first effort but I wouldn’t rush right out and buy it yet. Take it home and give it a play through with a friend, then dive into the multiplayer to see if it suits your fancy enough. For my money, the game was a bit too repetitive to be really great, but I enjoyed one good play through and you might too.

Final Score: 7.5/10

BUY THIS GAME HERE