When I was 16, The Way of The Gun was released in theatres, and I had to sneak in to see it.  Chris McQuarrie, after winning his Oscar for The Usual Suspects, wanted to make a movie about unlikeable characters doing unlikeable things - in this case, kidnapping a pregnant woman for $15 million dollars.  The two characters hate each other, but in a desperate dichotomy, trust each other completely.  It was a gritty and realistic crime thriller without being sloggingly boring...  It was my perfect movie. 

Kane and Lynch 2 speaks that same tone to me - from the desperate plot to the tiniest details, this game is perfect to me.

Much maligned is its short storyline game length - indeed, the hardest difficulty level can be hammered out in 8-10 hours.  But this suits the tone of the game and plot.  There are no vehicle plot lengthening devices, no RPG-style progression.  You're on the run from gangs and corrupt government officials, there's no time to upgrade to Wife Beater +2 for an extra 15% armor bonus.  It's a blurred, greasy run for your life after a terrible bender - it had better only last a few hours. 

The "youtube-inspired shakeycam aesthetic" fits perfectly for the title as well.  I recently played Red Dead Redemption - and while an amazing game for different reasons, the camera threw me off.  When skinning an animal, blood will spatter onto the camera.  Look up during a rainstorm, and drops get on it.  This completely shears the illusion of the game, to me.  I KNOW there's no cameraman there, so what kind of lens is getting all bloody?  With KL2's style, it feels like you're being followed by someone with a bad camera - and when blood or sweat gets on it, it doesn't break the illusion of being there.  It feels like it should be that way.

Adam and James aren't overmuscled bodybuilding soldiers, they're two thugs.  They're old, balding, and broke - who among us with those traits has the time to do P90X?  And as for the rest of the crew, such as the multiplayer ex-pats, they fit perfectly as well.  In the storyline, when you meet them to break into a gang-run sweatshop, you can tell these are the muscle in your boss's operation.  One hacks open a door with an axe.  Close-ups reveal weathered faces, old men, and a tired, jaded desperation.  These are thugs who've seen the worst of humanity (and have been the worst of humanity), and they look the part. 

I don't think I've heard a game with audio this good since GTA: Vice City's stellar voice cast.  From the minimalist music you only hear on other people's radios to the voice acting in multiplayer, every sound is near-perfectly nuanced.  Out of the audio, my favorite two instances are the multiplayer ex-pat voicework, and the Dead Men in story mode.  With the ex-pats, the way they shout immediately before and after the heist is committed is amazing.  From what to do and then the sudden "$#!&$ things went wrong!," it is perfectly placed and cast.  But even better then that are Kane and Lynch during the game.  When things go wrong, really wrong, in a firefight, the crazy in Lynch and the mercenary in Kane come out.  Lynch mumbles to himself, telling himself to keep it together, or slowly counting from one to ten, in an effort to stay focused.  Kane, meanwhile, shouts strategy and orders (such as "they're flanking right, cover right!") in the thick of combat - his priority is on staying alive and getting his stake.

Ever since I met him, I knew there was something wrong with him.  His off-kilter speech, his pile of crap, his complete lack of interest in anything besides me..  Stockpile Thomas just rubbed me the wrong way.  Whenever anyone just wants to "hold onto your things" without any sort of payment in return, I become suspicious.  Especially if that person is a demon in disguise.  
 
When we first meet Stockpile Thomas, he regales us with his origin story - he was fleeing from the Scourge and the fog, when he blacked out...  and came to in the Nexus.  He doesn't remember anything besides leaving his wife and daughter behind to run, in his own words, "like a madman."  We're often reminded that the demons of the fog steal your soul, which then drives you into madness - which Stockpile Thomas freely admits.  This soulless madness is the first step to becoming a demon.  He is also quite callous if you deny him his daughter's jade hairpiece, laughing oddly and saying that he's over it anyway.  Furthermore, this jade hairpiece is not even found on a little girl!  It is found on a lynched demon (lynched probably for abandoning its post, much as Thomas did), next to a cross-dressing male demon with witch's clothes on.  He also claims that The Maiden in Black nursed him back to health, which seems altruistic until it is made apparent that she only helps other demons, or those corrupted by demon's souls.
 
Perhaps the most damning evidence against Thomas comes from Yurt, the assassin.  He is sent to kill those Mephistopheles wishes dead, and after he slays a number of people in the Nexus, he says "I have murdered every human left, except for one..." and then attacks you.  Yurt does not go after The Maiden (who is obviously a demon) or Boldwin (who, by conjecture, is also a demon due to his ability to consume souls - when he says "with your souls, I can eke out a living").  Yurt also does not go after Stockpile Thomas, even after he tells us he's killed every human.  
 
After I discovered this, I confronted Thomas, who told me he was worried, and that I had a heart of gold.  I struck with my Magic Sword Makoto...  and it turns out Thomas has over 2000 hit points, and a limitless supply of grass to heal himself with (I'm pretty sure he was dipping into my stocks).  After a trying battle, he fell..  and relinquished 250 souls. 
 
Where would I keep my unused crap, you may ask?  Thomas can take the 15 slave shields, useless darkmoonlight stones, and extra suits of armor I never wear to the grave.  I'm a demon hunter, I don't need a bank - and I definitely don't need an evil demon to watch my stuff for me.  One more demon down on my quest to put the Old One back to sleep.
 

Jan 4, 2120.  Off to Mars to mine with my brother Dan.  Dan gets into a lot of trouble and fancies himself a revolutionary.  Good thing there’s no strife on Mars. 

Jan 10, 2120.  Dan got gunned down by a helicopter thing, and then I smacked some dude with a hammer.  Maybe it’s the Martian gravity or something, but that SOB went FLYING!  I wish I had a camera.  I would’ve YouTube’d that shit.  Bummed about Dan though.  He owed me 60 astro-bucks.

Feb 1, 2120.  These EDF guys seem to be major jerks.  I’m just minding my own business, smashing buildings for scrap material so I can get Sam to turn them into a sweet rocket launcher, and they come over with their “this isn’t your house why are you hitting it with a hammer” bullshit.  So I electrocuted a bunch of them.  For the cause, of course.

Feb 3, 2120.  Got really hammered last night.  Hahah, get it, hammered?  But seriously, I need a good hangover cure.

Feb 22, 2120.  Why are they called the Earth Defense Force, anyway?  Isn’t this Mars?  Also, I thought I saw a tree, but it turned out to be some minerals.

March 11, 2120.  Hit things with my hammer.

March 17, 2120.  So I followed a marauder into their stronghold, but there were none there.  Just a little nano-thing on top of a cow skull.  How the hell did they get a cow onto Mars?

March 18, 2120.  We kidnapped this EDF colonel today – it was the first day I really felt like I was doing illegal stuff.  Gotta ask Hugo about this…  We went from freedom fighters to torturers?  This guy gave us solid info, why not release him a few weeks later?  That interrogator lady…  I still have nightmares about what she did with those astro-pliers.
 
March 22, 2120 .  So that nanokerjigger is in a rifle that erases matter.  You'd think those marauders would protect it better..  But I guess that would also explain why they fight with shovels while I have a machine gun.

April 1, 2120.  I decided to leave Red Faction and join the EDF!  They do have much nicer uni—hahah, April fools! 

April 9, 2120.  Headed into Eos now.  I asked about the ‘red bandana on the arm’ thing, and how it kinda gives us away.  Hugo told me “everyone needs a banner, Alec.  This is ours.”  You’d think the EDF guys would spot these and just arrest us.  I guess they have more important things to do, though.  Like make up fake news stories.

April 10, 2120.  Just saw my wanted billboard.  SCAR ON LEFT CHEEK?  Great, thanks for bringing that up.  I feel just like Tina Fey now.  PLEASE STOP ASKING ABOUT IT.

May 4, 2120.  So I hear some guy with a similar name is beating up zombies or something in New York City?  Real original, ALEX MERCER.  Sorry, there’s only one Alec Mason, and that’s me.  Don’t try to pull my “want to see my REAL hammer, baby?” line either, or I will SO come back to Earth and kick your ass.

May 16, 2120.  Blew up a building with a fancy new thermobaric rocket.  This building apparently had a bunch of captain of industry types in it, like the Five Families, except of legitimate businesses.  Thermobaric rockets can’t be good for the environment, though.  We’ve been terraforming for a while, sure.  But each one consumes so much oxygen!  Hope the CO2 scrubbers around here are working…  and also, I hope I haven’t blown them up or hit them with a hammer.

May 17, 2120.   Fuck it’s cold! 

June 2, 2120.  Went on a raid to blow up a shopping mall.  Even the other insurgents were wondering out loud about this one.  Sure, there was an EDF presence there (ya know, since we started shooting and blowing shit up), but it was a mall…  I was hoping to grab some Sbarro there too, guess I’ll have to go to the one way the hell in Parker.