Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days - Complete Edition

As a preface: I absolutely love this game's presentation. It's both an interesting take on the Third Person Shooter and a fun little artifact of a time when social media was seen as a novelty. I'm also not squeamish for grittiness - Manhunt is one of my all time faves. But under that gloss is a game with shooting and movement mechanics so frustrating, a story so nonsensical and a duo of player characters that are somehow even more undercooked than in the original K&L that you realize that the gloss is what's carrying it - it's certainly what the positive reviews fixate on to the near total exclusion of all else. The cover mechanics are just awful and finicky and cover that should protect you (i.e: solid blocks of concrete) doesn't due to hitbox quirks. Enemy AI is spotty at best and non-existent at worst. Glitches abound: I died twice to enemies that popped through a wall to blast me at close range. By far the worst part are the shooting mechanics. How bad are they? For the first half of the game, your best option for consistently downing enemies at range is a *shotgun* with zero recoil. Pistols are a much weaker second. As for the automatic weapons, they have such ridiculous spread until the ones encountered in the later half of the game that they're effectively useless. The enemies using the same weapons meanwhile are just about laser accurate with them, can kill you in seconds with them even at lower difficulties, and shrug off multiple shots to the head, but are instantly killed by a pistol shot to the ankle. K&L2 is, effectively, a substandard mid-aughts linear cover shooter some of the worst gunplay in the genre attempting to cover up its bad mechanics with a coat of exquisite varnish. It's clear that the game that needed way, way more time to develop and better QA testing, and for that reason is a frustrating disappointment. If you want it, get it on sale, otherwise, hard pass. Do not believe the nostalgic hype.

I had a soft spot for this game from the start, as I liked the visual aesthetic they chose here. Not only through the choice of Shanghai as a backdrop for the story, with its neon lights filling the otherwise dower and dirty streets of the underworld you find yourself thrown into, its lens flares permeating your view; but also through the found footage style view of the action, which I found quite stimulating (even with the running's shaking effect eventual problems). The simple use of the blood turning the "camera" red, when you're getting shot, to signify your injuries, while not new is interestingly applied within this style. The problem then is that the story and gameplay overall are too simplistic and weak. Even all the moments that take advantage of the setting and cinematic inspiration, like the escape from the highway down into the city streets and the final level at the airport (the movie Heat continues to be a clear inspiration here), feel lessened by the underwhelming gunplay and clunky cover mechanic (too late, I realized sometimes was better to crouch behind something), which are the focus of the entire game. The feedback on the guns is poor, not being exactly clear when you've killed your target, if not for the crosshair indication. And if the inaccuracy of the guns makes some sense with the other style choices, it can be quite jarring when you carefully level your shot with more accurate weapons and only the third consecutive shot seems to hit your target, after a small recoil. Although some good and inspiring levels, with some vertical variations and (in case of Arcade Mode) different paths to take the objective, there are others where I got completely lost, with small corridors where the camera didn't help at all. In the end, the poor gunplay is what you'll be doing the entire game, and unfortunately it's not the most enticing feature, beyond the style the game primarily showed and the great setting and influences it takes inspiration from.

The game is very short, but exiting. Has some performance issues, especially crashing. Brilliant soundtrack, very liminal. This game will be remembered for generations, worthwhile.

Very grateful to GOG for making this game available, Kane & Lynch 2 is certainly a classic that is worth having fun, especially for younger people who still can't enjoy this wonderful action thriller!

This game is 4* or 5* if you buy all what it gives you or much lower, if you dont. Its unique production and therefore it may be not really suitable for anyone. Its a story of two ... partners, who do some mundane mob job before getting into real business. However, things go completly south and both are forced to work together to save their lives from overwhealming wrath of Chinease mobs, police and corrupted officials. Game is extremly intense, with non-stop violent encounters full of blood and dead bodies, adult language and two maniacs, going forward no matter the cost. There're no noble goal, no happy end and no katharsis, only brutal fight for survival. Some more details: Basicly, its a arena shooter - you get into location, goons or police swarms up, you clear the place and proceed to checkpoint, repeat. Unlike previous game you dont have team to move around, you dont have space to flank nor granades to use. Just peek quickly over your cover and mow as much hostiles before they outflank you. Also in compare to previous game, story is more consistent (although simple), both Lynch and Kane gets some deeper development (kinda) and much better dialogs. Weapons accuracy is ok-ish, but for futher distance marksman rifle or pistol (sic) is advisable. You can get some GTA wanted level feeling, as after you whack some thugs, you'll meet respectively more advanced and more deadly law enforcers, meaning game will become hard. I mean, seriously hard. Last few chapters are more like The Edge of Tommorow experience, although it still remain quite satisfying to finish. Game POV is uncommon : though we play as Lynch, whole action is seens like from hand-held camera: colors are bleak, focus is sometimes off, picture may shake or get distorted - it really build some immersion, but in longer run it may be mentally fatiguing. Chinease enviroment is well made and quite unique in games, its always good to see something diffrent. I hope this short list will be helpful.