kane and lynch 2: Dog days
Matthew Cash
Sometimes, a man can break by the simplest thing. A funny look, a person's sexuality or race, the way they're dressed. It can take a man to the worst he can be. Now, take that same broken person and double cross him, run from him when he "wants to talk", hurt his loved ones, multiply it by 2, and you have the expletive-loving duo that is Kane and Lynch.
After Kane accidentally kills the daughter if a corrupt Chinese official, all hell breaks loose. Lynch's criminal boss almost gets murdered, they get kidnapped, and a crap load of people's bodies end up filling the streets' puddles of water with blood. The plot is at first confusing for someone who has not yet played the first one (but that'll be the next game I play), but picks up about 2 hours in this 6-7 hour campaign. To me, the story was damn good.
The adventure may be short, but it is packed to the brim with non-stop action, save for the 30 seconds of cutscene or travel time to the next location of mass murder. To many people, this is far too long a game for something that consists of run, duck behind cover, shoot enemy, find new cover, shoot enemy, repeat. But Gears of War does the same thing, yet everybody loves it. Bias at work, anyone? To support this gameplay, the gunplay needs to be refined to perfection. Yeah, we've got that. Its an non-stop adrenaline rush of excitement. I don't see what else you'd need.
Another feature that has received mixed reception is the presentation. In pretty much any other game out there, it has a crisp, movie-like cutscene. In Dog Days, the presentation is closer to that of someone holding a camcorder and running behind you as you play through. That means the camera's filters will go haywire in different situations. A bright light might make a long line, while a low light could make the picture go a little fuzzy, among a great deal of other things that could affect the visuals. It is a very different perspective (literally) for video games and should be used a little bit more frequently. It makes the experience that much more believable. So, I love it. Though, the graphics do look a little bit dated.
The music is awesome. It has a nice mix of hardcore gunfire with the beautiful melody of Lynch's yelling. Yeah, there isn't any music in the game, probably to keep with the camcorder aesthetic. The voice acting is fantastic from the duo and the gunfire sounds nice and heavy. Look, if the sound quality gets it's own paragraph, it must be awesome.
With the first game, everyone pretty much agrees that the gameplay was broken at times. That isn't to say it was a HORRIBLE game (though I have yet to find that out), but it could be broken. The second game isn't without it's own flaws. Your AI enemies are smart, but Kane is a retard who never kills a damn thing. Also, some clipping of the weapons occurs and you can melt into other people. Still, this is evidently a much more polished game than it's predecessor. IO Interactive seems to release a new franchise, look at the problems, and fix them within the game's sequel(s).
With enough time, great games do come out. They require a lot of time and energy to push it out into the gamer's hands. But when we actually play them and see just how good a game it is, we appreciate what they've done and how the developers have done it. Kane and Lynch 2 comes out with a bang and is, simply put, one of the greatest pure third-person shooter games I've played in years.
Score: 8.5
Sometimes, a man can break by the simplest thing. A funny look, a person's sexuality or race, the way they're dressed. It can take a man to the worst he can be. Now, take that same broken person and double cross him, run from him when he "wants to talk", hurt his loved ones, multiply it by 2, and you have the expletive-loving duo that is Kane and Lynch.
After Kane accidentally kills the daughter if a corrupt Chinese official, all hell breaks loose. Lynch's criminal boss almost gets murdered, they get kidnapped, and a crap load of people's bodies end up filling the streets' puddles of water with blood. The plot is at first confusing for someone who has not yet played the first one (but that'll be the next game I play), but picks up about 2 hours in this 6-7 hour campaign. To me, the story was damn good.
The adventure may be short, but it is packed to the brim with non-stop action, save for the 30 seconds of cutscene or travel time to the next location of mass murder. To many people, this is far too long a game for something that consists of run, duck behind cover, shoot enemy, find new cover, shoot enemy, repeat. But Gears of War does the same thing, yet everybody loves it. Bias at work, anyone? To support this gameplay, the gunplay needs to be refined to perfection. Yeah, we've got that. Its an non-stop adrenaline rush of excitement. I don't see what else you'd need.
Another feature that has received mixed reception is the presentation. In pretty much any other game out there, it has a crisp, movie-like cutscene. In Dog Days, the presentation is closer to that of someone holding a camcorder and running behind you as you play through. That means the camera's filters will go haywire in different situations. A bright light might make a long line, while a low light could make the picture go a little fuzzy, among a great deal of other things that could affect the visuals. It is a very different perspective (literally) for video games and should be used a little bit more frequently. It makes the experience that much more believable. So, I love it. Though, the graphics do look a little bit dated.
The music is awesome. It has a nice mix of hardcore gunfire with the beautiful melody of Lynch's yelling. Yeah, there isn't any music in the game, probably to keep with the camcorder aesthetic. The voice acting is fantastic from the duo and the gunfire sounds nice and heavy. Look, if the sound quality gets it's own paragraph, it must be awesome.
With the first game, everyone pretty much agrees that the gameplay was broken at times. That isn't to say it was a HORRIBLE game (though I have yet to find that out), but it could be broken. The second game isn't without it's own flaws. Your AI enemies are smart, but Kane is a retard who never kills a damn thing. Also, some clipping of the weapons occurs and you can melt into other people. Still, this is evidently a much more polished game than it's predecessor. IO Interactive seems to release a new franchise, look at the problems, and fix them within the game's sequel(s).
With enough time, great games do come out. They require a lot of time and energy to push it out into the gamer's hands. But when we actually play them and see just how good a game it is, we appreciate what they've done and how the developers have done it. Kane and Lynch 2 comes out with a bang and is, simply put, one of the greatest pure third-person shooter games I've played in years.
Score: 8.5