Critical Reception: Square Enix's Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to Io Interactive's third-person shooter sequel Kane & Lynch 2, which reviews claim is "tough to recommend as a full-priced purchase." Kane & Lynch 2 currently earns a score of 69 out of 100 at Metacritic.com. IGN's Arthur Gies scores Kane & Lynch 2 at 7 out of 10. "Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is releasing in a somewhat unenviable position," he explains. "After controversy surrounding the last game and a generally lukewarm response from critics, some were surprised that a second game was greenlit so quickly. "It's good then that Dog Days makes such a strong first impression, with its handheld video style visuals and the return of the violent, mature themes that defined Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. But what everyone wants to know is whether Dog Days solves the problems that plagued Dead Men: the dodgy controls, the story that fell apart, the lack of online co-op, and more." Gies notes that the sequel addresses many of the problems found in its predecessor. "Dog Days is a considerably streamlined affair in comparison to the first game," he writes. "There are no more heists, not much in the way of stealth missions, hell, there's not even much variety in the whys of what you're doing. You're pretty much always shooting and moving forward. In a way, this is refreshing - that other stuff was not executed well in the last game." "Of course," Gies continues, "the flaw there is increased repetition. The shooting mechanic in Dog Days is more functional than it was in Dead Men, but it still feels a little behind the times in comparison to third person shooters in 2010, and the cover system still frustrates as much as it helps. This is compounded by weapons that have been hobbled in effectiveness by IO's desire to make them feel more realistic." Gies praises Kane & Lynch 2's storyline, in particular. "Where the original game's narrative collapsed under its own weight about halfway through, Dog Days actually holds itself together remarkably well," he says. "It's rare that a game can make you flinch. Jump scares, sure. They're easy, and movies have made us all numb to them after the initial shock. But for a game to really crawl under your skin, to sit there and disturb you, where you'll watch awkwardly as a character sobs like everything has been taken from them, because it has, that's... unexpected." "If the story and characters haven't caught your interest yet, or if you're just not interested in crime thrillers, then there's probably not going to be enough in Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days to keep you playing," Gies admits. "Outside of the story it tells, how it tells it, and the interesting conceit of its multiplayer modes, Dog Days is just a passable third person shooter. But if you appreciated the promise of the last game, or you're looking for something darker and more sophisticated content-wise than your usual shooter fare, then Kane & Lynch 2 is just the thing." Justin Calvert at GameSpot rates Kane & Lynch 2 at 6.5 out of 10. "This gritty cover-based shooter is better than its predecessor," he says, "but as a package, it's light on content." The single-player campaign is noticeably short. "Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days looks better, sounds better, and plays better than its predecessor," he says, "and while its story mode clocks in at an all-too-short four hours or so, a handful of other modes are fun to keep playing for a while after the credits have rolled." Kane & Lynch 2 excels in terms of multiplayer offerings, however. "In multiplayer matches and the new Arcade mode you also have the option to purchase better guns between rounds," Calvert explains. "Because your goal is always to finish the game with more money than anyone else, spending significant chunks of change on firearms makes for an interesting risk-versus-reward mechanic." Calvert continues: "There are three competitive multiplayer modes in Dog Days: Fragile Alliance, in which up to eight players attempt to pull off a robbery and have the option to betray each other; Undercover Cop, which works in exactly the same way except that one player is randomly chosen as an undercover cop who must foil the robbery; and Cops and Robbers, in which up to 12 players split into two teams so that while one team is attempting to commit a robbery, the other is trying to stop it." "Sadly," Calvert writes, "while multiplayer modes in Dog Days are well designed and succeed in making you cooperate with players only for as long as it serves you, they're not everything that they could be. Games end unceremoniously anytime a host decides to quit; the lag that affects online co-op games is even more pronounced when there are between eight and 12 of you running around in competitive play; and the same six, short levels (each designed to last no longer than five minutes) are used in all three modes." "For as long as it lasts, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is a good game," Calvert says. "Its biggest problem is that there simply isn't enough of it. The story mode isn't likely to take much more than four hours on your first play-through; the Arcade mode takes even less time than that to get old; and while the multiplayer options are fun, they suffer from lag and there simply aren't enough of them to compensate for the shortcomings of the solo offerings." Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann gives Kane & Lynch 2 3 out of 5 stars. "Kane and Lynch's return to action sees the duo placed in Shanghai, but more importantly it sees the criminal duo placed in a better third-person shooter than 2007's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men," he begins. "But the more intense and satisfying action of the sequel doesn't last. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days suffers from a general lack of content across all of its modes. It also has a crazy and unique visual style that really makes the game worth seeing, but its length (and some seemingly rare but decidedly crippling issues in the 360 version) makes the game's $60 price tag feel high." "The gameplay in Dog Days is fine, but you've played this game before," Gerstmann writes. "This is a cover-based third-person shooter with very few frills. You hit a button to get into cover, back away to get out, and you'll use the left trigger to pop out and the right trigger to shoot." Gerstmann continues: "Without grenades, it's tough for the enemies to flush you out of your position, and though they'll occasionally try to flank you, it's not especially difficult to keep them at bay. As a result, the game usually only gets difficult if you're out of patience and trying to rush ahead." Gerstmann finds that Kane & Lynch 2's aesthetic is unique and appealing. "While it's a bit lacking on the content side, the visual style of Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is really amazing," he praises. "The whole game looks like it's being filmed on a busted-up cell phone, with plenty of MPEG compression artifacts, color separation, streaky lighting, and so on. Watching the frame rate deliberately take a dive during huge explosions is especially cool." The Xbox 360 version of the game has a significant technical issue, however. "It seems that some sort of profile or save game-related issue causes the game to completely seize up for a few seconds when you kill someone, often with a shotgun or via the game's human shield mechanic," Gerstmann warns. "I'm no QA guy, so I won't try to speculate too much about what's going on, and perhaps it's not the sort of thing that will happen to every single Xbox 360 owner, but it happened here on multiple machines." "Kane & Lynch 2's visual style really sets it apart in ways that its standard take-cover action can't," Gerstmann concludes. "It'd be a really cool game that would actually be pretty easy to recommend if there were a little more to it. While there are definitely aspects of the game that are very much worth seeing, the game's lack of content (and potentially severe Xbox 360 issue) make it tough to recommend as a full-priced purchase."