Kane & Lynch 2 doesn’t load, it buffers; never before has a game tried so desperately to ape the medium of film, and in this case it’s hard boiled, gritty, gangster movies that form the basis of what IO Interactive have tried to do. Right from the off, with the handheld shaky cam footage underneath the superstylised menus, you know you’re in for something a little bit different, and now we’ve had a couple of weeks or so with the near final version of the game we’d like to tell you about it.
For the uninitiated, Kane & Lynch 2 Dog Days is a third person shooter set in Shanghai’s criminal underworld. The two eponymous protagonists are polar opposites (Kane is calculated and Lynch is borderline phycotic) but they play off each other brilliantly, the rich, colourful dialog between them a convincing background to the action. Which is hard, and brutal, and coupled with the filmic visuals quite possibly creating one of the most exciting games I’ve played all year.
I’m a sucker for graphical effects, though, so the Youtube-esque low resolution, artifacting blockiness won’t be for everyone. Nor will the way downed foes are filtered out so the ‘camera’ doesn’t pick up their faces. Even the roadie run, pulled almost wholesale from Gears, feels fresh and innovative when the aesthetics scale down to match the rapidly updating action. It’s all very clever, but it’s at a cost – the game looks poor in screenshots – which is presumably partly why Eidos are so keen to push out demos.
Once seen in action, thankfully, Dog Days plays as distinctively as it looks. I’ve been mainly concentrating on the single player story for this write up (if only because the multiplayer modes are freely available in the aforementioned demos) but I’m happy to say I’ve been having a blast so far. I’m limited to what I can talk about (as the publishers want to keep everything a surprise) but I’m going to chance my arm and tell you that things go from bad to worse for the gun toting duo really, really quickly.
Which is for the good, because whilst the game handles the exposition neatly and swiftly, it’s when the action hots up that Dog Days is at its best: precise, intuitive controls and clear cues help highlight the enemies and there’s rarely a shortage of ammo despite a few limitations governing what you can pick up. There’s a decent cover system too, but for the most part (based on what we’ve played) you’re encouraged to keep moving and take out the enemies up close and personal.
That’s not to say it’s a one-trick pony: the game likes to throw curve-balls at you continuously and some levels descend into havoc long before they’ve spun a quick twist to the plot. Things change quickly in Kane & Lynch’s world and, on a first play-through at least, the developers have managed to uphold an almost constant stream of innovation and smart ideas. Things might go downhill after the sections we’ve had access to, naturally, but we’re willing to bet that they don’t. At least, we hope they don’t.
Regardless, that’s just the single player mode, of course – where you play as Lynch, in contrast to the first game – the game’s vast array of brilliant multiplayer modes will present some excellent value for money. Not least of all a full online co-op run through, but my favourite is Fragile Alliance where you form two teams and take part in a heist, with the twist being that the money at the end is shared with all the survivors – taking out a few friends bags you more cash, but brands you a traitor. A clever twist.
It looks like we’ll have a final review copy soonish, so we’ll be back with more impressions as quickly as we can.
BIGAL-1992
I’ll get my pre-order in.
bunimomike
Great news, nofi. I always thought this franchise could really succeed (and earn suitably high review scores). Seems like the sequel is well on its way to doing just that. I utterly love the trailers. Any other game that attempts to be “real” or “gritty” needs to look at K&L to see how it’s done.
Shakugan
I didn’t really like the shaky cam thing and some of the weapons must be in medium/close quarter to hit and of course cover mechanic need some work, when you’re on rooftop and in cover you try to shoot enemies down below with hip-fire, but it only shoot straight forward.
djhsecondnature
Based on the demo only:
I loved the style, it was quirky and gritty.
Combat however was horrible and the controls were very sticky, so I’m still undecided.
benny boy
I thought the film-effects and shaky-cam were really cool at first too. But after playing for about 15 minutes, it really gave me a headache and actually made me feel a bit motion sick.
And then the controls became annoying. And then it started to feel more and more like the film effects were there just to cover up the fairly poor graphics. And then I got bored with the same backdrops and greyness. And then I decided not to buy the game.
I’d say it’s got some potential and if they could maintain the initial interest I had in it and fix some of these problems, I think it could be a really good game, because I really thought the cut-scenes and drama was interesting.
nemesisND1derboy
Looks better than the first at least, demo was good
tonycawley
I played through the single player demo and have to say i was very pleasantly surprised. Very much like the visuals, and the gameplay was very good too. The online features such as co-op etc really entice me too. I expected this to be rubbish but it looks like i’m going to be wrong (again)
Colinbarr66
Liked the demo. If I have the cash I’ll definitely be buying this for the co-op.
scavenga
I liked the demo, I really, really liked it. Yup, there were some control issues, but I loved the grit, and the absolute authentic feeling of getting in deep, deep trouble. It’s the first time ever in a game I’ve thought “oh no, I gotta start shooting at cops”.
And when the demo was done, the final trailer outro made the final sale for me.
Looking forward to this something fierce.
Danza Di Fuoco
Never bothered with the first. Its demo was decent but it didn’t send out the message to my brain to buy this…
The 2nd seems ok then but I guess I will have to play demo first.
Severn2j
I enjoyed the demo and I may well get this. It reminded me a lot of the “getaway” scenes in Reservoir Dogs. The MP side seems really intriguing, with lots of short, few minute ‘heists’ as opposed to the long drawn out battles that most MP modes consist of.