Do video games these days need to be enjoyable to gain their success? Sit down and contemplate about it for a few seconds: we give movies the imaginative freedom to bring us down into points of depression even though we still favor the movie on different kinds of levels. When it comes to a similar yet different platform video games, I am not quite sure if we empathize ever so dearly.  For people who have never been introduced to the Kane and Lynch franchise let me just break down the sequel in it's own slate. Eidos's intense third-person crime game Kane and Lynch 2 features unlikable men doing things I don't agree with, in a location I don't want to be. As I fought  waves of thugs and police men, swat teams and army men. My main idea was that it would be great if both Kane and Lynch just went ahead and took bullets to the head. They are the bad guys...I didn't want them to win, and of course, I certainly did not want to be them.

Also, it does not help that the presentation of the game shoves your face up front in the ugliness of its world. In which could have provided a purpose, as some sort of statement, but the end result was a feeling of schizophrenia, dizziness, disgust and discomfort. The game feels like it doesn't want to be enjoyed, and puts you in a hell breaking obstacle course which makes you ask yourself, "How long do I have to play this game."

Sh*ts about to go down!

Kane and Lynch introduces the game in Shanghai trying to "scare" down a thug, and things quickly go...obviously sh*tastic. Before you know it, the whole city including their grandma's are trying to kill you. It's almost a little "extreme" to take in—is Shanghai really hiding 100 gun-toting gang bangers around every corner? Streams of enemies come at you non-stop and when I say non-stop I mean non-stop, and from what feels like every direction. Everywhere and anywhere you go, it's a mother f*cking war zone.

This leads to a huge problem that I have, the game has one mechanic and only one: you shoot everyone you see, move to the next bit of cover, and then shoot and kill more people. The End. Every set is the same thing, gun fire exchanges using whatever cover is available. Over and over and over and over and over again. You can play the game with another player in co-op (online or offline), so you can both shred down wave after wave of people as you hide behind cars, tables, concrete slabs, etc. It's repetitive and mind numbing; the game throws a bucket of blood  at you constantly while everyone curses at everyone else.

The game is presented to look like you're observing the action through a amateur camera man or a cellphone camera of some kind, even though the disgruntled view follows the main player. Just think and imagine someone with a grainy low quality video camera running behind you at all times: the colors are washed out, quality is not even worth sh*t, you'll get varying levels of static and lens flaring, and the "camera" bobs around whenever you move (Cloverfield effect). If you hate shaky-cam in movies, this is going to make you sick. Of course, you can turn on a alternative "steadycam" effect in the options to alleviate this, but the camera still sadly moves way too much when you sprint. Why, Yes it gives the visuals a very rough edge, but if you're trying to keep an eye on the action (in which this game has very limited), it's all just a little too discouraging.

When someone gets incapacitated, or when a character is showing nude lascivious, parts of their body are replaced with large pixels obscuring the details. This is supposed to make things look like "video" with identifying features removed but ironically the effect is nearly pornographic and just in bad taste. If you just showed a breast it would be matter-of-fact, underlining the world these men live in. Blurring them out makes the images feel grotesque and full of sin.


Now, don't be surprised when the game ends rather abruptly, as there is less than 6-7 hours of single-player content here. The multiplayer modes include a game where you take part in a heist, steal money, and then escape with your gang-mates unless of course (because you are a greedy bastard) you decide to murder them and take their share. Also, in this mode, killing cops nets you $5,000 or more in bonus money. As Sean and Jacob would say FANTASTIC! There is also a variant in which a player is an undercover cop, along with a standard cops-and-robbers mode. Online play is more fun than the joyless single-player, but it's not enough to salvage the experience plus online just gets you in a whole other category of rage.

Just in case this isn't enough to sour you on the game, there are ALREADY  slots for content you can't play because you don't own the DLC. There is nothing quite like getting a brand-new game fresh from the expensive glass case of Gamestop or wherever you buy your games, installing a patch, and being told you have to pay for content that is listed in the options.

This is a short and unsweetened game that rubs your innocent little faces in violence and bad language without using the imagery for a strong purpose. There are certain scenes where things are stolen from the characters, but are we really supposed to feel miserable for these men after watching them kill each and every single person to get out of a situation they themselves created? Different Games like the original Manhunt or Condemned plunged you into a world of hate and violence, but the game made some strong points about voyeurism, fright and our love of turning death "for your entertainment" (As Adam Lambert would sing.) Kane and Lynch 2 is not aware of itself enough to rise above a few interesting—but ultimately hollow decisions. I had high hopes for this game, but sadly hope is not what this game needs.




HOW DOES IT LOOK? Kane and Lynch 2 didn't make it in the looks department. I think it spoils the game whole, and sadly the camera look as refreshing and new as it is does not fit the game all to well. Featuring the "steady cam" option is a plus but even that doesn't solve the problem.

HOW DOES IT SOUND? Voice acting is up to par, and top notch as it was on the first game. The sound of gun-fire is what it is and explosions sounds like what it's supposed to be.

HOW DOES IT PLAY? Sadly, controls does not make up for the down fall of this game. Sometimes the controls can get clunky and just plain silly. Run and gun that's the whole point, run and gun.

HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? Sadly, it only lasted 7 hours single player. Dissapointed? Yes. Surprised? No.

HOW IS IT PRESENTED? If you want a bad gang style shoot out, maybe wait for Mafia II to come out because in my honest opinion the developers focused more on Multi than Single.