Revisiting Kane and Lynch 2: Still a Mixed Bag

 I bought Kane and Lynch 2 on day one. I was excited, the first game seemed like it was so close to being good. Good characters, a story that really ramps up at the end making for an exciting third act and some really fun levels to play. But its gun play never felt right and the enemy AI was lacking at best. Kane and Lynch 2 came along and I couldn't wait to see what IO interactive did to improve the series. I was enamored with the games visual style and how fully they fleshed it out to set it apart and I couldn't wait to play as these characters again.

Kane and Lynch 2 launched with a myriad of technical problems, some buggy gameplay and was plagued with some middling to bad reviews (66 meta critic). I still made the day one purchase, after some extensive PC fiddling I got the game to run well. I finished the game over the course of two play sessions, taking about five and a half hours total. I was disappointed, really disappointed, the gun play still felt wrong. The weapon balancing was even worse (long range shotguns?) and the enemy AI was at best stupid. But something strange happened, I fired it right back up again playing the game on hard, running through the streets of Shanghai again shooting untold numbers of triad members, running across rooftops and desperately trying to get Kane and Lynch out of Shanghai.

I had fun, lots and lots of fun and then I realized why, the game is committed. It committed to the story it told, the  two deeply flawed characters who have no place in this world and their struggle for survival. The first play through I was only thinking about everything I didn't like about the game, second time around I got invested. It was the little visual and audio touches that helped. Headshots results in a little blur screen around an enemies head, the lens flare that pops up during firefights and the frantic shaking of the camera when running or jumping from cover to cover. The audio has less noticeable touches, music playing through a radio sounds fuzzy when playing, Lynch, muttering to himself through the whole game trying to keep himself calm, telling himself everything will be OK.  Kane trying to wrap his mind around everything thats going on longing to just get this last job done so he can go home.

Multiplayer was just as frantic, the "fragile alliance" modes create a real sense of paranoia while playing. Are one of my teammates going to stab me in the back for a bigger payout, or even worse is one of them an undercover cop? Playing as the undercover cop and trying to systematically take down your teammates without them noticing was one of my favorite gaming moments from last year. Unfortunately, hardly anyone was playing and finding a game was tough.

There is one moment in the game that I want to touch on because it was also my most memorable moment in games last year. No, not taking down Cronos, not riding through Red Dead while Jose Gonzales plays in the background and not even watching some real human interaction between Trip and Monkey in Enslaved.

Spoiler ahead

The first half of the game has Kane and Lynch trying to get back to Lynch's girlfriend in order to save her from the triad members looking to get to her. About half way through the game you finally get back to her only so the three of you can get captured. The screen goes black and only voices can be heard. You hear all three people screaming, Kane and Lynch both threatening to kill their captors and then you hear something else. You hear Lynch's girlfriend screaming, pleading with you "make them stop" and then some other unsettling sounds. When the screen comes up you see both men naked and Lynch's girlfriend lying dead and naked in what appears to be a shower, I was immediately enraged, not at the game for taking such a dark turn, but I just spent hours trying to save this girl only to have her brutalized in a way that is so grotesque i only had one thing on my mind.

Revenge.

See, killing Cronos was just awesome, you feel like the dam king of the world, systematically taking down this huge monster. Red dead just made me feel good, its one of those rare moments when everything falls into place and you feel completely immersed in what you're doing. Watching Monkey try to console Trip by a fire was a touching moment where you forget you are playing game. Kane and Lynch 2 had me pissed, how dare they? Not only killing her but leaving us to assume the worst of what happened to her before she died. The rest of the game thats all I could think about, Lynch's girlfriend made him normal, it gave him a place in this world. Losing her made the character lose whatever shred of humanity left in him.

Now not everyone will have the same reaction to Kane and Lynch 2, some will be unable to look past the games shortcomings and I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone paying full price for it. But, with only a couple weeks left before the huge releases of 2011 overwhelm us I would highly recommend spending some time in Shanghai.

If I had to give it a review score I'd give the game a Bad Boys 1 out of Bad Boys 2, so close to greatness but lacking the polish necessary to be truly entertaining. I really hope IO gives us Kane and Lynch 3 I hope they can deliver on the promise that this series can be great.    

 I bought Kane and Lynch 2 on day one. I was excited, the first game seemed like it was so close to being good. Good characters, a story that really ramps up at the end making for an exciting third act and some really fun levels to play. But its gun play never felt right and the enemy AI was lacking at best. Kane and Lynch 2 came along and I couldn't wait to see what IO interactive did to improve the series. I was enamored with the games visual style and how fully they fleshed it out to set it apart and I couldn't wait to play as these characters again.

Kane and Lynch 2 launched with a myriad of technical problems, some buggy gameplay and was plagued with some middling to bad reviews (66 meta critic). I still made the day one purchase, after some extensive PC fiddling I got the game to run well. I finished the game over the course of two play sessions, taking about five and a half hours total. I was disappointed, really disappointed, the gun play still felt wrong. The weapon balancing was even worse (long range shotguns?) and the enemy AI was at best stupid. But something strange happened, I fired it right back up again playing the game on hard, running through the streets of Shanghai again shooting untold numbers of triad members, running across rooftops and desperately trying to get Kane and Lynch out of Shanghai.

I had fun, lots and lots of fun and then I realized why, the game is committed. It committed to the story it told, the  two deeply flawed characters who have no place in this world and their struggle for survival. The first play through I was only thinking about everything I didn't like about the game, second time around I got invested. It was the little visual and audio touches that helped. Headshots results in a little blur screen around an enemies head, the lens flare that pops up during firefights and the frantic shaking of the camera when running or jumping from cover to cover. The audio has less noticeable touches, music playing through a radio sounds fuzzy when playing, Lynch, muttering to himself through the whole game trying to keep himself calm, telling himself everything will be OK.  Kane trying to wrap his mind around everything thats going on longing to just get this last job done so he can go home.

Multiplayer was just as frantic, the "fragile alliance" modes create a real sense of paranoia while playing. Are one of my teammates going to stab me in the back for a bigger payout, or even worse is one of them an undercover cop? Playing as the undercover cop and trying to systematically take down your teammates without them noticing was one of my favorite gaming moments from last year. Unfortunately, hardly anyone was playing and finding a game was tough.

There is one moment in the game that I want to touch on because it was also my most memorable moment in games last year. No, not taking down Cronos, not riding through Red Dead while Jose Gonzales plays in the background and not even watching some real human interaction between Trip and Monkey in Enslaved.

Spoiler ahead

The first half of the game has Kane and Lynch trying to get back to Lynch's girlfriend in order to save her from the triad members looking to get to her. About half way through the game you finally get back to her only so the three of you can get captured. The screen goes black and only voices can be heard. You hear all three people screaming, Kane and Lynch both threatening to kill their captors and then you hear something else. You hear Lynch's girlfriend screaming, pleading with you "make them stop" and then some other unsettling sounds. When the screen comes up you see both men naked and Lynch's girlfriend lying dead and naked in what appears to be a shower, I was immediately enraged, not at the game for taking such a dark turn, but I just spent hours trying to save this girl only to have her brutalized in a way that is so grotesque i only had one thing on my mind.

Revenge.

See, killing Cronos was just awesome, you feel like the dam king of the world, systematically taking down this huge monster. Red dead just made me feel good, its one of those rare moments when everything falls into place and you feel completely immersed in what you're doing. Watching Monkey try to console Trip by a fire was a touching moment where you forget you are playing game. Kane and Lynch 2 had me pissed, how dare they? Not only killing her but leaving us to assume the worst of what happened to her before she died. The rest of the game thats all I could think about, Lynch's girlfriend made him normal, it gave him a place in this world. Losing her made the character lose whatever shred of humanity left in him.

Now not everyone will have the same reaction to Kane and Lynch 2, some will be unable to look past the games shortcomings and I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone paying full price for it. But, with only a couple weeks left before the huge releases of 2011 overwhelm us I would highly recommend spending some time in Shanghai.

If I had to give it a review score I'd give the game a Bad Boys 1 out of Bad Boys 2, so close to greatness but lacking the polish necessary to be truly entertaining. I really hope IO gives us Kane and Lynch 3 I hope they can deliver on the promise that this series can be great.    

I do love the look of the game. I love the gritty quality of the series, but yeah the game aspect of it is average at best.  
 
That said one of my fav moments from last year had to be when I slid into cover, blind-fired at some cops pouring out of a little convenience store only to have the most amazing visual lock-up with crazy static and artifacting blanket the action. I thought it amazingly cool.

 I bought Kane and Lynch 2 on day one. I was excited, the first game seemed like it was so close to being good. Good characters, a story that really ramps up at the end making for an exciting third act and some really fun levels to play. But its gun play never felt right and the enemy AI was lacking at best. Kane and Lynch 2 came along and I couldn't wait to see what IO interactive did to improve the series. I was enamored with the games visual style and how fully they fleshed it out to set it apart and I couldn't wait to play as these characters again.

Kane and Lynch 2 launched with a myriad of technical problems, some buggy gameplay and was plagued with some middling to bad reviews (66 meta critic). I still made the day one purchase, after some extensive PC fiddling I got the game to run well. I finished the game over the course of two play sessions, taking about five and a half hours total. I was disappointed, really disappointed, the gun play still felt wrong. The weapon balancing was even worse (long range shotguns?) and the enemy AI was at best stupid. But something strange happened, I fired it right back up again playing the game on hard, running through the streets of Shanghai again shooting untold numbers of triad members, running across rooftops and desperately trying to get Kane and Lynch out of Shanghai.

I had fun, lots and lots of fun and then I realized why, the game is committed. It committed to the story it told, the  two deeply flawed characters who have no place in this world and their struggle for survival. The first play through I was only thinking about everything I didn't like about the game, second time around I got invested. It was the little visual and audio touches that helped. Headshots results in a little blur screen around an enemies head, the lens flare that pops up during firefights and the frantic shaking of the camera when running or jumping from cover to cover. The audio has less noticeable touches, music playing through a radio sounds fuzzy when playing, Lynch, muttering to himself through the whole game trying to keep himself calm, telling himself everything will be OK.  Kane trying to wrap his mind around everything thats going on longing to just get this last job done so he can go home.

Multiplayer was just as frantic, the "fragile alliance" modes create a real sense of paranoia while playing. Are one of my teammates going to stab me in the back for a bigger payout, or even worse is one of them an undercover cop? Playing as the undercover cop and trying to systematically take down your teammates without them noticing was one of my favorite gaming moments from last year. Unfortunately, hardly anyone was playing and finding a game was tough.

There is one moment in the game that I want to touch on because it was also my most memorable moment in games last year. No, not taking down Cronos, not riding through Red Dead while Jose Gonzales plays in the background and not even watching some real human interaction between Trip and Monkey in Enslaved.

Spoiler ahead

The first half of the game has Kane and Lynch trying to get back to Lynch's girlfriend in order to save her from the triad members looking to get to her. About half way through the game you finally get back to her only so the three of you can get captured. The screen goes black and only voices can be heard. You hear all three people screaming, Kane and Lynch both threatening to kill their captors and then you hear something else. You hear Lynch's girlfriend screaming, pleading with you "make them stop" and then some other unsettling sounds. When the screen comes up you see both men naked and Lynch's girlfriend lying dead and naked in what appears to be a shower, I was immediately enraged, not at the game for taking such a dark turn, but I just spent hours trying to save this girl only to have her brutalized in a way that is so grotesque i only had one thing on my mind.

Revenge.

See, killing Cronos was just awesome, you feel like the dam king of the world, systematically taking down this huge monster. Red dead just made me feel good, its one of those rare moments when everything falls into place and you feel completely immersed in what you're doing. Watching Monkey try to console Trip by a fire was a touching moment where you forget you are playing game. Kane and Lynch 2 had me pissed, how dare they? Not only killing her but leaving us to assume the worst of what happened to her before she died. The rest of the game thats all I could think about, Lynch's girlfriend made him normal, it gave him a place in this world. Losing her made the character lose whatever shred of humanity left in him.

Now not everyone will have the same reaction to Kane and Lynch 2, some will be unable to look past the games shortcomings and I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone paying full price for it. But, with only a couple weeks left before the huge releases of 2011 overwhelm us I would highly recommend spending some time in Shanghai.

If I had to give it a review score I'd give the game a Bad Boys 1 out of Bad Boys 2, so close to greatness but lacking the polish necessary to be truly entertaining. I really hope IO gives us Kane and Lynch 3 I hope they can deliver on the promise that this series can be great.