Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days takes the previous experience of the first game and refines the third person perspective so that it resembles RE4 more than Spec Ops: The Line. After having played the first game, I appreciated how much more responsive and focused the gunplay was in Dog Days. I also really liked the found footage effects in the graphics, how the camera distorts when bullets fly and the mosaic censoring of stuff deemed "inappropriate" to show the film. That's about where my praises end, because unfortunately Dog Days takes the formula from Dead Men and somehow takes a few steps back. The story is too simple and doesn't have the same weight that Dead Men has, and even that was basically a ripoff of a Michael Mann film. It's serviceable, but it could have been more. Gameplay-wise, each of the levels are going to feel like a meatgrinder: unloading bullets and tearing into flesh until the bodies pile up on top of each other. It's purely a numbers game, and the only other thing it does to up the challenge... is to add tougher enemies along with the huge number of enemies. After a while, it becomes mindless shooting, but not in a way that's satisfying - just empty. So: I played this game literally day one in 2010, and while I don't regret playing the game, I definitely regret paying full price for what I got. If you're interested in the game itself or for the sake of completion with Dead Men, wait for a sale (currently $5.24 USD, marked down from $20.96).
I revisited this entry after having put it down back when it was brand new and releasing episodically. I remember the moment I lost interest from all those years ago, but decided to give it another chance. I really enjoyed the first season (though I had some issues with the constant decisions where somebody was gonna be inconvenienced by what you chose) and the different twists and turns that it took me. Naturally, I expected Enemy Within to refine the formula and tighten up the experience for the player. The gameplay definitely has a leg up from the first in terms of gameplay and QTEs, but that's about where my praises end. For the most part, this critique is based on the game's selling point: the story. And this story irritated me. I can pinpoint the exact moment halfway through episode 1 that I had a bad gut feeling about where this was going, and by the time the episode ended, that feeling only got stronger. Of course I wasn't expecting anything to be faithful to the comics; this is its own thing. But there's making changes for originality, and then there's making changes just for pure shock value... and a bunch of these changes feel like they only exist for shock and awe, followed by a flimsy justification to explain it. Too much change can be a bad thing, and I point to this as a prime example. Not to mention the graphical bugs I encountered in episode 2. The camera really doesn't like being stuck in a tight space with Harley and it would break the scene and characters. I basically had to sit through it until the scene changed and fixed itself. I don't know whether it's because I played in Shadows mode or something else, but it didn't do the game any favors. So: I'd recommend sticking with the first season, and then pretending it got cancelled despite the critical reception
This is a cute little adventure game with a playfulness that I kinda enjoyed at times. The cartoonish art style reminded me of the late 90's Sierra/Lucasarts titles when they were trying for that Saturday Morning Cartoon look, so that was a positive. Unlike those titles, however, this game tends to be on the easier side... which is not necessarily a bad thing. I guess I just expected more difficult puzzles. Unfortunately, I didn't finish the game because it would keep crashing for me as soon as I made progress. By the fourth or fifth crash, I decided to move on to something else. I'll probably return to this game at some point
