Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days – Preview

Despite the lackluster reviews of the original, Danish developer 10 Interactive is hoping that Kane & Lynch 2’s brave and, in all fairness, innovative approach to achieving gritty ‘YouTube-alike’ realistic visuals will be just the ticket to restoring faith in the over-hyped and under-delivering series. And it isn’t just the art style that’s been given a once-over for the sequel, but seemingly the entire game mechanics too.

Let’s be honest here, you have every right not to be after the original Kane & Lynch. A travesty of epic proportions, Dead Men was a game so full of promise, yet one that failed to deliver in almost every department. So when 10 Interactive humbly held their hands up and presented us with a list of improvements as long as our arm to be implemented in its sequel, our confidence was surprisingly restored. Revamped shooting mechanics, refined aiming, improved AI, a button-activated cover system, a new ‘Down Not Dead’ bleed-out and multiple new multiplayer modes are but a few, while the silky smooth 60fps tops off 10’s intention of polish.

Lynch takes the starring role this time, with players getting to grips with his psychopathic personality traits. And with this in mind, 10 has chosen to focus on more ‘up close and personal combat’ as the gruesome twosome deal with the shady underworld of Shanghai.

It’s a still primarily a co-op third-person shooter, of course – Dog Days hasn’t departed that rapidly from its predecessor – but it seems a confident one, inspired by both recent cinema and real-life amateur footage. 10’s claims of ‘redefining the way players experience an action shooter’ seem justified, given the Miami Vice-alike shaky cam and decidedly Cloverfield-alike cutscenes that precede each mission. It’s still too early to tell whether the game will be every bit the game the original should have been of course, but the sheer cinematography and pulse-pounding gunplay we’ve seen so far has done just enough to convince us that Kane & Lynch 2 could finally be a return to form for 10 when it hits this summer.