Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days Hands On

The original Kane & Lynch game back in 2008 was met with mixed reviews, including my own which saw great potential but poor execution from IO Interactive. The game had a thrilling storyline and epic gun-battles but was ultimately let down by numerous AI bugs and an awkward control system. But since that time, a lot of big things have been happening in the franchise. On top of IO working on a follow-up game, there has also been the announcement of an uber-budget Blockbuster film staring Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx as Kane and Lynch, respectively.

Now following the brief appearance of Dog Days at E3, IO have now released a short but revealing demo available to Xbox Live subscribers. Dog Days switches the focus of the story to Lynch’s saga as opposed to the first game, where Kane took centre stage. While Kane is the loveable scoundrel, Lynch can be described as the drug-binging, emotionally unstable psychopath who looks like he would knife you in the back over a piece of burnt toast. Of course being the balding raving loon with a short, violent temper makes for some promising situations from the get go.

While the first title took place in areas of Los Angeles and Havana, Kane & Lynch 2 is set over in Shanghai, China. A popular choice of locale for two player co-op shooters at the moment for those who remember this year’s Army of Two sequel. In fact, it’s quite hard not to compare Dog Days with The 40th Day as even their names have some cross-over. But the main area where Dog Days really stands out is in the presentation.
For those who witnessed the trailer, Kane & Lynch 2 is looking incredibly stylish. Not to mention gory, with one scene depicting Lynch using a police-man’s face like a frying pan. The just-released playable demo also packs a visual punch, littered with the neon glow of Shanghai streets, slick and intensive camera angles and stunning action scenes that are sure to get the pulse racing. This level of presentation flows into the audio aspects of the game as well, mixing distorted echoes, jarring gunfire and moments of complete silence beautifully into a juxtaposition of euphoria and nail-biting tension.

In the gameplay department things are a bit less dramatic as Dog Days can be summed up as a “shoot and cover” routine. But while we may have seen dozens of these in recent memory, Kane & Lynch 2 does it oozing style and chewing tobacco with a sweet looking hat on. While a lumbering Lynch is anything but graceful, watching him plough and blast his way through a room of enemies, he still emanates a sense of flair and awe.

Apart from the emphasis on style, there wasn’t a huge amount of substance to the playable demo. The short-lived singleplayer was certainly enjoyable and left me wanting a lot more, but clocking in at under 10 minutes, this wasn’t exactly surprising. It was a pleasure to see that IO Interactive have kept the high standard of story telling with a script and plot that even surpass the original.

There are also some very promising things to come in the multiplayer department. Dog Days is expanding on the original’s online support which introduced the celebrated Fragile Alliance mode. This time round, players will still get thrown together in an attempt to escape with as much loot as possible, except the risks and rewards will be greater. If one of your team decides to betray you and take the money on their own, you will get respawned as a cop with an opportunity to take them down in the name of the law. Dog Days expands on this, with an additional mode called Undercover Cop, where one of your team is a mole working for the opposite team and from the inside. This mode perfectly sets up the paranoia and ruthless “dog-eat-dog” mentality of the Kane & Lynch series.

With the game being released in about a month, there is certainly a lot more yet to see about Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. The tasty appetiser that is this demo should get a lot of eyeballs drooling over the graphics, but it’s difficult to confirm whether all of the flaws from the first game have been ironed out. The demo also features a couple of awkward scene-jumps and clumsy on-screen button prompts that don’t quite sit right with the glossy exterior visuals. But these could be remedied before final release and NZGamer.com will get stuck in again to give you the full review next month.