GameXplain reviews single player and multiplayer separately

Will Cause Nausea

Does anyone remember the original Kane & Lynch for anything other than the debacle that occurred at GameSpot because of it? Did it really sell enough copies to warrant a sequel? Was the original game really that bad? These were the questions that ran through my mind when I was assigned Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days for review. I had never played the original game, mostly because I was simultaneously scared off by the bad press and lured by other better games, but preview material made me hopeful that this sequel would at least be average. Apparently that was setting the bar too high. Now I haven't played every game that's been released this year but this is by far one of the worst games I've played in a long, long time. There are hints of a better game in here somewhere, but that's little consolation after trudging through this gutter heap.

The story begins with Kane's arrival in Shanghai with the promise of a lucrative smuggling operation by Lynch. No sooner has Kane stepped out of the plane than Lynch drags him along to deal with an informant against the English mafia he works for. Everything goes horribly wrong from that point with the incident creating even bigger problems for the two men and potentially ending the smuggling deal. The game tells this basic story seriously, as if it's meant to be a grand tale, but it fizzles quickly and by the end becomes entirely pointless. Nothing is learned about Kane or Lynch and nothing is accomplished, making the plot feel like an excuse to kill the population of Shanghai.

And killing is pretty much all you'll do. The game is a standard third person shooter that uses the same mechanics that's used in every other game; a two gun limit, a cover system, and regenerative health. The only original idea is the lack of grenades, instead forcing players to grab gas cans or fire extinguishers to throw at enemies and then shoot. A lack of anything distinctly original isn't exactly a bad thing though as long as everything plays well. Unfortunately, Kane & Lynch can't even pull that off. The first problem is the camera, which is meant to imitate the shaky cam prevalent in YouTube and cell phone videos. Nudity and more intense headshots are even covered by mosaics to preserve the feel. It'd be an interesting idea if it were limited to the cutscenes but the entire game uses the effect throughout. I don't normally get motion sickness but seeing the camera wobble back and forth whether I'm running or taking cover started to make me nauseous. Thankfully there is an option to turn this effect off.

The second major problem is the aiming system. A reticule is provided but it may as well be invisible for all the good it does. Every gun, with the exception of the sniper rifle, is a potshot  to whether your bullets will hit or not. Time after time, I would line up a headshot and the bullets would go wide. Sometimes I'd get lucky and actually hit what I was aiming for but that was a rare instance. Compounding this problem is the fact that every enemy has a ludicrous amount of health. Entire clips would be unloaded into these guys and they would still keep coming. Thankfully ammunition was in plentiful supply to keep pelting them, but it got frustrating quickly especially since their bullets seemed to hone in on and kill me like I was nothing.

But we're not done yet, friends. In order to make the game look even more like it was filmed on the fly, a static-like filter was put into place that made everything much harder to see. Unlike the shaky cam, this could not be turned off and in darker areas (which there are a lot of) made enemies incredibly hard to see. Water droplets and blood would also end up on the camera making everything look even blurrier since it would take up to five minutes for it to finally be wiped off. It is near impossible to see clearly in this game and I suspect the developers meant to do this when they realized how cheap their game looked. Hair looks like clay and character models are stiff and unimpressive. Level designs are well done however and there is some limited destructibility to certain structures. It's meant to keep the player moving and ducking behind cover but the cover system only works about half the time. It does the job when it works but when it doesn't, you're stuck being shot while your character decides that this is something he'd prefer not to hide behind.

Other than the campaign, which only lasts around six hours, an Arcade mode is available to single players. It basically simulates Fragile Alliance with computer opponents through a series of rounds in order to earn large heist score. These scores can be uploaded to a leaderboard but otherwise the mode feels lifeless. It lacks the inherent danger present in the online version of Fragile Alliance since no one tried to betray until the eighth round. By that point I was bored of doing the same strategy over and over and always coming out on top. 

Finally there's the sound design, which may just be Kane & Lynch's strongest asset. There is very little music in the game as most levels just consist of the sounds of the level and constant gunfire. The only music present are a few Chinese pop songs and low key instrumental pieces. It works for the style the developers were going for and the environment effects really pop. Shattered glass and wood, bullets striking metal and stone, and constant explosions all sound great. The problem is the guns all sound muted, like your listening to them fire through ear plugs. It's strange that everything else sounds good except this one thing. As far as voice acting, it gets the job done. There's nothing inherently bad about it but nothing struck me as fantastic.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is a disaster. There's potential here, but none of it seems capitalized on. A game done in the style of an off the cuff video is a novel idea. It could make the player feel in the moment or along for the ride with the character. In this case, it just muddies up the visuals and makes it much harder to see what's going on. Stay away from this dog. It just needs to be put down.

Great ideas throttled by poor execution.

Multiplayer doesn't fare much better and in the case of the local co-op it's actually worse. Having all the problems detailed in the single player spread over two separate screens can be headache inducing and even more enemies are tossed at you than before. There isn't really any sense of cooperation either since there's only a few instances where the two split up or have to use advanced tactics. Mostly it just feels like you have a slightly smarter A.I helping you. And that's exactly the case with online co-op. Without a reason to help each other, players will often find themselves racing against their partner to kill the most enemies.

The competitive multiplayer is the sole redeeming feature of Kane & Lynch 2. Three different modes are available: Fragile Alliance, Undercover Cop, and Cops & Robbers. Fragile Alliance tasks a group of players to grab as much cash as they can, shoot through the A.I. cops, and escape. The problem is that at any time, the other players can turn on you in order to steal your take. It's an exciting thought because you have to work together in order to escape but bigger rewards are available to the traitors. Undercover Cop is mostly the same as Fragile Alliance except one player is randomly chosen to be a cop. It's his job to kill all the other players before they escape without being discovered. This mode is especially nerve wracking for both sides. The criminals don't know which person among them is the cop and the cop has to find a way to take out the criminals without being detected. Finally, Cops & Robbers puts players on opposite teams in a Team Deathmatch variant. The cops continually respawn until all the robbers are killed or they escape while the robbers respawn as long as there are others still alive. In addition there is a leveling and reputation system in place so other players know your skill level and how likely you are to betray them. All three are interesting new takes on the standard multiplayer modes, but they aren't without their problems.

These problems all stem from the basic game mechanics found in the single player. Most of the same problems return except that the screen looks less grainy and the accuracy seems more in line with other third person shooters. Still they're not great and with only six maps available, the modes are bound to get old quickly. There's very little of anything new to see and there's little room for new strategies. It can also take quite a while for a match to start since the community isn't exactly thriving.

The multiplayer is certainly better than the single player game, but there just isn't enough there to sustain it beyond a rental. More maps are being promised to be released but only those who truly love this game will stick around. From what I've experienced, there won't be too many people in that category.

Note: This game was reviewed on Playstation 3