Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days starts off with a rather disturbing opening scene, which quickly sets the tone for this relentlessly violent trip through the Shanghai underworld. And while it’s a hell of a ride, it’s also extremely short even by today’s shooter standards. Clocking in at just about four hours and with a fairly enjoyable but short-lived multiplayer mode, it’s a very tough game to recommend. There are a few things it does better than the first game and some it doesn’t, but it’s largely the same affair as its predecessor.
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Unlike the first game, where you played as Kane, the single-player mode of Dog Days puts you into the shoes of Lynch, who is now a little less violent than he was the first time around. The story is set in Shanghai and is centered more on Lynch, with Kane being more of a secondary character. But that’s not to say he doesn’t have an important part to play. After a routine deal goes wrong, the partners-in-crime find themselves hunted by the who’s who of the Shanghai underworld. There are a few predictable twists as the plot progresses, but the story never really takes off and just when it does, the game ends quickly and rather abruptly.
The writers have tried to add an emotional element to the narrative, but it falls flat in the midst of all the blood and gunfire. The characters, however, are what elevate the mediocre plot to some extent. The conversations between the two leads are always enjoyable and the dialog is straight out of a gritty crime movie with f-bombs thrown around with reckless abandon. But apart from Kane and Lynch, none of the other characters are given any room for development; they’re about as generic as they come. It’s a shame, because the first game actually handled this quite well.
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Kane & Lynch 2 features a rather interesting presentation. The entire game is presented like a grainy low resolution internet video; not unlike the ones filmed with crappy cameras you’d see on YouTube. In addition to that, the third-person perspective is tweaked in a way that it appears as if some guy with a camera is following the two characters at all times. The “shaky cam” effect creates a sense of urgency in the frantic gun battles. Smaller details like light distortion (when looking at bright light sources) and the pixilated video when you get hit gives the whole thing a neat “caught on camera” feel. Even the loading screens show the text “buffering” with a YouTube-like loading icon. Whether you like it or not, the presentation is definitely something that the game will be remembered for, and it does a great job of hiding the mediocre graphics, which are pretty much the same as the first game.
The shooting and cover system have been revamped a bit, but they’re still not perfect. The cover system works, but there are many times when you’ll be hit by enemies while in cover even when your position appears safe. Sometimes enemies take an impossible number of bullets to kill. On the contrary, this time the guns pack a punch, sound appropriately loud and the gunplay itself is almost satisfying enough. Overall, the game plays better than Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, but it still doesn’t feel like a better experience overall. The single setting (the entire game is set in Shanghai) also doesn’t allow for more varied set pieces like in the previous game. There is a decent variety of locales, but you’ll still be spending most of your time wading through dirty back alleys, warehouses and grimy apartments. The game, however, does a decent job of making you feel like a part of a larger environment, especially when the police are on your tail.
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As expected, Kane & Lynch 2 is an unflinchingly violent game. Not only are the two leads hardened criminals, with one of them being a violent psychopath who can snap at any moment, but there are certain moments that will make you squirm if you don’t have a strong stomach. In addition to that, there are many sections where innocent civilians will be caught in the crossfire and killing them won’t really affect your progress. The shaky caught-on-camera style of the game and the complete absence of in-game music also adds to the raw gritty nature of the game. One sequence in the game can only be described as a bizarre mix of the movies Saw and Heat and a Blink 182 music video. Unfortunately, apart from that and an extended helicopter sequence, there aren’t many memorable set pieces in the game. Most of the levels play like a linear shooting gallery with very little to do besides moving from cover to cover, shooting and kicking down doors.
The entire story mode can also be played co-operatively with a friend either locally or online. Co-op is fun especially considering how useless your AI-controlled partner is during the single player. However, co-op is a completely separate mode and the game does not save your progress while you are playing co-operatively. In addition to co-op Kane & Lynch 2, also features a rather unique multiplayer element. The Fragile Alliance mode from the first game is back and this time there are two new modes for it – Undercover Cop and Cops & Robbers. Fragile Alliance plays like a heist where you and your player controlled team mates need to steal as much cash as you can while fending off AI-controlled cops. The player who grabs the most cash by any means (and this could mean killing your own team mates) wins the round. In Undercover Cop, one of your team-mates is actually a cop and is tasked with stopping the other players from escaping while in Cops & Robbers the cops are also player controlled.
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The multiplayer modes can actually get quite interesting (especially Undercover Cop) as your team members can’t always be trusted. You’ll have to face off against AI-controlled policemen as well as watch your own back as your own team-mate can kill you and take your money or turn out to be a cop. Kane & Lynch 2’s multiplayer may prove to be a fun distraction for a while, but will hardly end up becoming your go-to online shooter once the novelty wears off. There is also an Arcade Mode which is similar to the multiplayer modes but with bots instead of human players. Once again, there’s only so much fun you can have with it before you move on to something better.
Conclusion
As a pure shooter, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days more or less gets the job done, but as a sequel, it barely improves upon its predecessor, especially with its disappointingly short single player story mode. It’s fun while it lasts, but for a story-driven shooter, it’s just inexcusable to have a four-hour campaign despite the presence of multiplayer. With a fleshed out story and more memorable levels, Kane & Lynch 2 could have been a much better experience. It stands now as a game you could borrow for a day and be done with it before lunch.