Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days review

Shock value is a funny thing.

You either have a piece of entertainment that has an unfounded beauty in the way it can physically and psychologically unnerve you. Controversy bleeds through every pore, and you feel a sense of respect for how far films/books/anything with a primary focus to promote procrastination has gone towards tackling dark and disturbing topics.

Then there is what I like to call the “Manhunt 2” side of the spectrum. Imagine a comedian who’s failing on stage trying to pop out some dead baby jokes for some shock laughs and you’ll see what I’m getting at. Focussing entirely on disturbing content to disguise a faltering lack in the actual enjoyment of the game.

What happened to you IO? You got it just right with Hitman; but Kane and Lynch 2 falls into the second of these categories a good majority of the time.

 The narrative tries so hard to pull you in emotively, a much more streamlined (and, therefore, better) story compared to the original. In Dead Men, you’re lost halfway through; whereas you can tell that some proper effort has been put into making an edgy, dark and all round gripping plot. Half the time this works, and at some points better than you’d expect. Watching a sole character on screen cry as they have been left with nothing in life is something you don’t expect to work in a game. But it executes an awkward feeling and really manages to crawl under your skin. It’s one of few beautifully crafted moments of a disturbing psyche that this game’s adult theme pulls on you as if out of nowhere to be swiftly accompanied by the player’s dumbfounded silence.

This is also helped by a distinctive “handheld camera” visual style of play. Harsh lighting creates white balance changes, the camera shakes rather violently as you sprint across the line of fire, and a grainy visual quality makes this an interesting experiment in providing a critical homage to the “youtube” generation, and adding an uncomfortable realism to the whole experience that compliments the atmosphere wonderfully.

It’s just a shame that the gameplay manages to make a good 75% of the game lack the same self terrorisation that makes the small moments that shine really uncomfortably entertaining. The needless complexity has gone; no more heists and stealth sections...thank Christ. What we have now is a very simple run-and-gun affair with cover/flank tactics. The game controls are snappy and easy to grasp, with only a very small amount of glitches. I say this as if broken sections in a game are excusable; but in a game that relies so heavily on shocking the audience, you have to expect it somewhat, and they don’t derive from the experience at all.

This is a blessing in disguise; as the enjoyment value wears off fast. The whole game becomes tiresome as you’re led to doing the same thing over and over again, only with what I would wish to say is different backgrounds; but turns out to be mainly recycled Chinatown backdrops.

And then we have the multiplayer mode: which is broken down into three modes. Fragile Alliance: a Four minute heist challenge, Cops and Robbers: basically a game of Capture the flag with one life, and Undercover cop: definitely the most interesting out of the three. In a heist, one player is selected out of the group to be the undercover cop: the mission being to stop the heist from succeeding. It’s an interesting dynamic that breeds paranoia on a level close to what “The Thing” created. Granted, the modes on offer don’t produce the same gripping multiplayer experience you expect from Halo or Gears; but it’s certainly a good diversion for a couple hours.

Looking back on the journey we’ve gone through, Kane and Lynch 2 is a game that breeds much more style over substance. IO interactive really went out their way to provide an experience of significant shock value, with scenes that have the capability to unnerve many of us who play. But it’s all undermined by what is, essentially, boring game play.

For sure, a whole lot better than the original, and some real new inspirations and interesting innovations; but there’s always next time.