Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

I'd like to start off this review by saying I'm not really huge into the shooter genre like I used to be. I play maybe 2-3 first person shooters in a year, maybe 5-6 third person shooters. I just don't find them terribly exciting of innovative. However, my gamefly doesn't always send me anything from the top half of my list, and this was one of those random games.

So, I guess to sum up my thoughts on Dog Days.. its simple. Remember when I said I don't find most shooters exciting or innovative? This is a PERFECT example of that. This is a game that consists of running from cover to cover and waiting for guys to pop out so you can shoot them. The whole time I am reminded by Army Of Two, but without the weapon customization or the fun (and occasionally touching) partner interactions. Kane and Lynch are more or less two guys who don't care much for each other and probably shouldn't be 'partners'. Here and there you get little snippets of past referencing but for the most part its all "why the f**k am I here!?" or "WTF are we going?!" Needless to say it gets tired really quickly.

Its a very fast paced game. It never stops. Which for some games I think is perfectly fine. However in Dog Days, they try and piece together a story that tries to tug at your heart strings and really make you care about the characters. The problem is, there's just not enough time to make these stories believable or that these guys have dug their own grave and are now shooting their way out of it. The story is super contrived and makes you question if anyone actually looked at the story line and said "yep, this is solid enough." For those who don't know the story, its pretty simple. Kane is in town (Shanghai) to help Lynch with this 'retirement job.' One of the first missions has you going to a low level mobster/gangster and rough him up. This involves chasing him through the streets as he pulls along a naked girl. You chase him down an alley way, he uses the girl as a shield. Girl gets shot and then the guy kills himself. Turns out the girl is the Mob Boss' daughter (you know.. low level thug getting with the boss' daughter doesn't make sense.) And now the mob is after Kane, Lynch, and Lynches girlfriend Xiu. Needless to say it ends with Kane and Lynch killing the mob boss. Its just a paper thin arch that is in place to move the levels along I understand, but it could be better.

I think the one cool thing about the game is the visual effects. And I think that is the one thing that everyone talks about. And rightfully so. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't remember this game unless I was paid to. Its mostly just internet video distortion that pops up whenever there's a large explosion or guys dumping. Its cool for the first hour or so but after that I stopped noticing it.

Its a pretty simplistic game and more likely than not you've played it before. Its only 4 hours which could be a con but I don't know how much more of this game I could play. I can't recommend this game unless you rent it or get it for next to nothing and would like to waste an afternoon. There's some pretty easy achievements so I guess if you're into that, go for it.