very easy and fun game....just got my 1000gs in it today....
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days review
Game Review | August 27, 2010 12:02 am
By Meta
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is a third-person shooter developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive under Square Enix, released August 17, 2010.
The two bad boys are back for another shooty romp, and this time they improved everything except game length. Dog Days opens with Kane joining Lynch in Shanghai for an arms deal. The pair make a detour to take care of a "quick job" and, as is typical for high crime dramas, everything goes to hell in a hurry.
The good news here is that Dog Days is better in almost every way than its predecessor Dead Men. As the first player and primary protagonist, you play Lynch who controls and shoots much better this time around, perhaps because he's seemingly lost his prescription drug habit and penchant for freaking out right in the middle of tense situations.
There's nothing really new to the gameplay mechanics but they are solid and well-executed. You can have 2 weapons at a time, using one and storing the other, and you can pick up various items like fire extinguishers and gas cans to use as improvised grenades. There is a button for cover now and while the destructibility and visibility of the cover spots is inconsistent, overall the system works and isn't too sticky or floaty. It's all about moving through set pieces, taking cover and popping up to shoot at opportune moments.
The guns are a little unbalanced, the array of shotguns being absurdly powerful even at long range and close quarters "spray and pray" tools like Mac-11's and Skorpions being damn near useless. At all but the highest difficulty the health regeneration system is very forgiving, and when you are knocked down you can continue to shoot while you hobble to cover or allies, or just spring back up if you can finish the job yourself.
The campaign is playable solo or with a friend locally or on Xbox Live and it is a blast to go through. The pacing and action are top-notch, and there are some really crazy moments. Nothing here is frustrating or irrational like the dump truck behemoth in the first game, and even though most of the levels have a realistic feel to them the designers do a good job of funneling you in the right direction so you rarely wander.
The bad news is that this game is short. You're looking at maybe 5 hours for the campaign done alone; if you have a second player, you can cut that in half. The unique multiplayer from the first game, Fragile Alliance, is back with 2 new modes, one where you play Cops & Robbers and one where a person secretly becomes an undercover cop at the beginning of a round and has to dispatch the other criminals while keeping a low profile and not killing other police.
You can also play Fragile Alliance offline in "Arcade Mode" which lets you grind out ranks and kills in increasingly difficult rounds and also contributes to your overall standing online. This is fun at first, but soon becomes nothing more than tedious practice since the AI-controlled criminals never betray you.
The visuals of Kane & Lynch 2 are one of its hallmark features. As has been widely touted, Dog Days has a "shaky cam" feel to it where the screen bobs and weaves as if you are viewing the action from a hand-held camcorder, with appropriate lens flares and fluids on the screen. The view pixellates and distorts during violent explosions, and becomes grainy and color-separated in low light areas. This unique presentation, coupled with the nicely destructible environments, high framerate and stark lighting all come together to give this game a very distinct look that has to be seen first hand to really appreciate it.
The sound is very well-balanced despite the gritty visual presentation. Explosions are loud but not deafening and won't bottom out your sub-woofer at low settings, and the different weapons each give off their own report that lets you know what you're up against. The music is minimal and out of the way, and the ambient sounds of Shanghai, particularly when you are in crowded city segments, is very well executed.
The gameplay is where K&L2 really improves itself over the original. The improved cover system and smoother aiming make the constant gunplay much more engaging, and the overall tightening of controls all but eliminates frustrating moments--when you die in this one, it is probably because you did something wrong and not because the controls got wonky or bugged out. That's not to say the game is without minor glitches, but what I encountered was minute enough that I could overlook it. The 4 selectable difficulty levels are nice: Easy really is easy, and Extreme will have you saying horrible and probably irrational things at your console.
Overall, I give Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days a 7 out of 10. The campaign really is terrific fun, it's just far too short. There are only 6 multiplayer/Arcade maps available by default, with more being advertised as $DLC, and this did not help the score any. You should definitely get your hands on this game somehow so you can play through it at least onceand then do some crimes with friends, just don't pay $60 for it. $30 would be about right, especially if the multiplayer stays as popular as the first game's has.
Extras: No extras here. No gamerpics, no themes, no nothin'. There is already $DLC announced though, so yay!
Achievements: You will get about half of this title's Gamerscore just by completing the story on any difficulty under Extreme. If you finish everything on Extreme, and with a co-op partner, that will be another 100-200G. The rest of the Achievements are for specific actions and attaining ranks online, although you could also grind it out solely in Arcade Mode. I would estimate a solid 12 or so hours for 1000G.
+edit+ I'll post some screenshots once my internet decides to stabilize.
Rating: 7.0 of 10
Reviewed: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
Keywords: kane & lynch, eidos, io interactive, square enix, dog days; review
