When I first heard this was being released I had to ask why. Why release a follow up to a game that was so damned irritating, not to mention clunky and hard to control? Well, the simple fact is it sold a lot of copies and made enough money to warrant a sequel. I never really played a lot of the first mainly due to those reasons (I gave it an hour, got bored and switched it off to be perfectly blunt about it) so this second one needs to be a damn sight better to hold my interest this time.
The signs from the demo were pretty good. A Gears of War style covering system and a really gritty visual style made for a good degree of satisfaction, enough to make me look forward to reviewing it. Now that I have been through the story mode, let me tell you just what I think of it.
Lynch has made a life for himself in Shanghai. He has now got himself a girlfriend, a flat in the city and is doing well enough to live in a comfortable environment. How he does this though, as you come to expect, isn’t exactly legit. To share this wealth he’s invited his old friend Kane along to help out in a deal between himself and Grazer, a big man in China, who is more or less a bald Michael Caine wannabe. Anyway, to cut a long story short they both accidentally kill the daughter of a Chinese mafia boss who then wants their head on a platter. Our psychotic duo now have one mission, to stay alive long enough to leave not only Shanghai, but China itself.
As much as it doesn’t look like a jaw dropping title, Dog Days does have a really dark and moody feel to it, much like Michael Mann’s classic film, Heat. The gunfights are plentiful and the storyline does get rather juicy in some areas, and the look of the game does contribute a lot, with shaky camera angles and some fake imperfections put in to simulate a home video feel. As you’d expect the two protagonists rub off each other well and help to keep things interesting from their point of view, as well as some rather subtle and nicely done ambient effects, especially through the narrow streets and shopping malls in the game.
Unfortunately this is where all the good stuff ends and Kane & Lynch’s faults begin to appear, and it isn’t like they’re small either. The biggest problem is the time it takes to finish, which for a game that until recently was about £40, is unforgivable. I timed myself playing this on the medium difficulty setting and had the whole thing licked in about 4 hours, just to be generous. I know that in this day and age online gaming plays a bigger part in how long a game lasts, but that does NOT mean you should skimp on the single player because of it. Add to that the almost abrupt ending as well, which is something you’re just not expecting and you begin to feel rather deflated about things.
Looking towards the online modes and we see some decent game modes, all three of them. Two of which are more or less the same, with a third being a simple team deathmatch styled cops and robbers mode. Undercover Cop and Fragile Alliance are more or less money raids, with the option being to take as much money as possible from a stricken cash source and escaping with it at a certain point. Undercover Cop has you as a mole within the group and you must take out everyone before they make off with the cash, whereas the Fragile Alliance merely gives you the option to do it.
The game modes, albeit thin on the ground are ok, but the AI isn’t. Much like the single player game, they’re stuck in the middle ages with their small brains only allowing them to do the old “find piece of cover, poke head up and hide until dead” routine. I’ve also seen instances of them standing still until a shot is fired, walking straight past you so that you know they’re around to shoot and much more. What makes it all the more intriguing is that it’s the same team behind the Hitman series that make Kane & Lynch, that series involving strategic killings and loads of stealth, which this doesn‘t have at all. In fact there is so much repetition that you feel you’re playing a broken record. Some say IO Interactive should stick to what they do best; and I’m inclined to agree.
The final big problem I have with Dog Days would be the inconsistency of it all in the weapons department. The enemies seem to have this uncanny ability to hit you with almost every bullet that’s spewed from their arsenal. Even though you may well have a similar gun or one that totally beats it hands down I can guarantee that you’ll be unable to match their precision and accuracy.
It isn’t hard to say that Kane & Lynch 2 is better than the first one, but it is really difficult to warrant this as an addition to anyone’s purchase list. As I mentioned earlier, up until recently this was a game with a full on price tag. Now all the online shops have halved it with good reason. Even at a reduced price you can still pick up games like Uncharted 2 and Gears of War 2 for a similar amount and they offer much more in terms of single and multiplayer options and really show Dog Days’ shortcomings and the inability to create enough fun to keep people sustained for long periods of time.
If I had to sum it up in one word it would be rental, as that’s the best advice I can give ANYONE about this game. Do that and you can be happy you’ve only spent a few quid on it and seen the full game in one afternoon. This will mean you can spend the rest of the money on the other titles I’ve mentioned for your chosen machine and see just what real value for money is. I don’t fault IO for their creative flair and daring to make something stand out visually, but when the rest of the game stands out for all the wrong reasons then you have to think why they didn’t just go back to Hitman again.
VideogameUK verdict: 4.5/10
