Ah, Kane and Lynch, what fine pair of upstanding gentlemen. Judging from the original game, there was no doubt that Kane and Lynch would likely still be a couple of criminals who apparently have secret agent combat training and wear wife-beaters made of Kevlar. These dudes are utter greaseballs. Right down to the gritty video filter, everything about the presentation of Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days has grime written all over it.
At the onset of the single player demo, Kane (or Lynch?) is sitting in his briefs and t-shirt waxing intellectual about something (disclaimer: I wasn’t paying attention). At some point, riot cops break into the place in a vain attempt to take Kane and Lynch down. Ducking under cover and attempting to outflank the police looked like it was going to be a total joke. Running out from cover and attempting to Rambo oncoming attackers proved to be a failed experiment. The feature that allows a dying Kane or Lynch to “get up and cover” if properly positioned generally allows you one more chance to save your careless ass.
In Kane and Lynch 2, if you do it wrong, you die. The enemy AI is completely unforgiving – if you’re attacking from your cover from the right, the cops will flank you from the left. They won’t give it away either; the riot police especially enjoyed being on the sneaking side of things. Paying attention to movement in every direction is more important even than your aim, by the time you realized that you’ve messed up, you’re face down in puddle of your own grease blood.
Kane and Lynch eventually battle their way to the mean streets of Shanghai which look lively and fantastic. The game aims to portray a storyline that shows the new money of versus old money of slums of Shanghai. Though I’ve always found it difficult to take these characters seriously, the theme and environment they exist in is nothing but.
Through a series of unintentionally humorous banter, Kane and Lynch decide to “act cool” as they hit the streets. Problem is that they don’t acknowledge the fact that they’re toting automatic weapons on their backs. Obviously, the city cops engage; interestingly, they aren’t nearly as coordinated as the riot police and are taken down quite easily. The varying degrees of AI were one of the more intriguing aspects of Kane and Lynch 2.
Controls remained a bit sluggish, as did the previous game. Gameplay, on the whole, is hiding and shooting. While some of the best-hide-and-shoot gameplay I’ve seen in a while (thanks to the AI), Kane and Lynch 2 still feels derivative. The ability to grab a human shield to ward off oncoming cops is a nice addition, but the game lacks any other type of melee option.
If a little more gameplay variance shows up throughout the experience, and controls are loosened up a bit, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days might be a solid ride.
