To emulate the experience of Kane & Lynch 2, it is best advised that you take TV's power cable and jiggle it in and out while watching a muted episode of That's So Raven while listening to the Wu Tang Clan. It has all of the gore and language a crime game will have, while pixelating the female body and some of the more grotesque head shots as if you were a twelve year old. Perhaps I missed the part about a game where you can wield automatic weapons, swear like a sailor, and shoot cops being kid-friendly. You can see all the violence in the world but nudity is out of the question. I half expected a death penalty to have been me getting sent to my room to time out. The game has no problem treating you like a child on the otherwise case anyway. It's like watching Godfather on Cartoon Network. This isn't a game for kids, quit acting like we're kids. I only just got through two hours of Kane and Lynch before turning it off and possibly never touching it again. Two hours, only because this brilliantly refined game froze on me and my brand new copy. Usually you're supposed to tweak the bugs out before you release it so your buyers can get more than two hours packed in it. In my short-lived two hours, I was already overwhelmed by a pretty major bug: audio. It's not there. If there's important audio in a cut scene, I'd like to hear it. Couldn't at least make the characters use sign language to guide me? What about pop-up cards to act as a visual cue? Clearly this game is intended for the deaf-lip reading gamer. The controls are clunky. It feels like I need to add half a pound of WD-40 to my controller just to get my character to move. The whole cover system is schizophrenic and only works when it's in a good mood to, on the otherwise case, it decides it wants to ping pong the player between walls of cover while you're trying to get off of it. In terms of level design, the game is like this. Linear corridor, random obstacle, linear corridor. Yeah, that's basically it. Every now and then, I get to kick in some random door off the main path that led me into a -- get this -- linear corridor. Since I didn't get to finish it due to my glitch-messed copy, the plot will be summarized like this. "Hey, want to chillax in China?" "Sure." "Wait, let's shoot this guy's girlfriend." "Okay." "Oh hi weird British friend whom I've known for 12 seconds." "You killed a mob boss's daughter." "Damn!" Then it froze on me. To end, maybe I would be easier on it if this weren't my very first impressions. The first game was spectacular. A gameplay nightmare, but plot gold held together with great dialogue and brilliant character progression. This game froze on me within the first two hours, had audio out of synch (sound travels over 700 MPH, I know that if I'm 10 feet from the guy and he axes a door, I shouldn't hear the sound 4 seconds later), and had no audio at all during important a cutscene. I can't read lips. I can't control my idiot character from running smack into a wall or a volley of bullets. I can't actually play through more than two and a half hours of the game. That short amount of time I just spent struggling with this trash really were the dog days. Kane and Lynch, prepare to collect dust!… Expand

I didn't know a game shorter than Call of Duty existed. This game proved me wrong. The visual 'artifacts' are just used to cover up the crappy textures and shoddy AI. The animation of the characters was horrible as well. Its just a poor shooter overall, when you can play games like Gears of War. I admit the online was kinda fun for a while, but I imagine its going to be dead in a few months. Rent it, or pick it up from the bargain bin in a years time, but I really can't recommend buying this at full price.… Expand

Whether you judge the sequel on the first absolute flop your going to end up at the same place and thats a waste of time and effort. Kane and Lynch 2 again tried to ride the wave of hype and promise that it will deliver and learn from its mistakes. Well as many games before it and Im sure many more to come, it delivers nothing new, with little excitement and tries to push grit and gore on you in cut scene's as it knows the gameplay will just simply bore you to tears. Kane and Lynch 2 follows more in the footsteps of Reservoir Dogs ( the game ), Stranglehold, WET, Army of Two ( 1 and 2) and then every other FPS out there. However the story lines, game play, graphics, physics, and general game play were done so much better even from games made long before this coaster or dust collector. Whether it be from incredible poor AI, a graphics system destined on providing you an image of grainy gameplay in an attempt to create atmosphere yet even on a 50 Inch LED comes of as just old and outdated ( God I would hate to play this on an old 68 cm CRT ) or even have gore and risk in the cut scenes only to actually blur or cut out anything that would warrant the game get some sort of mention for pushing boundaries. I know I wasnt expecting much, and surely got even less than I expected but to see games on new consoles being delivered with hype time and time again and then seeing nothing more than out dated, heartless, boring, run of the mill rubbish its a wonder that people arent just packing up the console and moving on to something else. Yet as we come out a global financial crisis, people are still getting payed to release absolute rubbish, dont waste your time or money just hang in there and hope this crap is just a bad dream.… Expand

This is a perfect example of "HEAT - The Game", if it was ever made. Excellent storyline, amazing characters, with great character development, and on top of everything, photo realistic graphics. This game screams to be played at high volume, of course its not for the faint of heart. The camera angle will take a little while to get use to, but like we all say "Buckle Up, its going to be a bumpy ride" IO has done it again, in my opinion. Their Hitman series were always awesome and intense, and Kane and Lynch really changed the pace. Even Part 1 got not so good reviews, but the game is one of the best when it comes to true/hardcore/action. Also dont forget that this game offers one of the most intense and original online multiplayer modes. Extremely fun to play and will keep you on your toes at all times. Excellent game - Do give it a try - In my case, own it have fun in one of the best co-op games to date!… Expand

Naughty Bear had all the ingredients to become a great game but somewhere things went wrong. The game has a great concept but will only keep you amused for about two hours. After that, you'll be hitting yourself on the head for buying this game at full price.

No joke, this game plays as if Ed Wood made it. The absolute most wretched hit detection I have seen in a game involving guns. Insanely disorientating, at all times. Laughable voice acting, seemingly phoned in by several of the developer's angry uncles. I have not even attempted the multiplayer, too busy laughing my butt off at the single player campaign. Rent this P.O.S. to find out for yourself, you cannot possibly prepare for the laughs you will be having.… Expand

Absolute garbage! Do not even rent it. I rented it and wish I had kept my six dollars. It is much worse than the first and has no redeeming qualities. This is coming from someone who played and liked all four Hitman games and the first Kane & Lynch. Trust this review and skip it.

It's really puzzling how IO didn't seem to learn anything from the mistakes made in the first episode, which was one of the most boring and frustrating TPS I ever got to play gameplay-wise, and that was in spite of a pretty good storytelling and characters. In fact, so much things were broken in this game that I thought this was due to some lack of time and polish near the end of the development (even though the game had been developed and teased for years), but now it seems pretty clear to me that IO just doesn't have the right people who understand how to build a good action game. Combat is so boring and the AI is so grotesque in this game, that I felt like I got warped 15 years back in time to play some Virtua Cop! When your enemies don't lean back and forth endlessly out of cover (sometimes they just won't do anything at all), they'll just run around aimlessly and often right in front of you or your partner. Speaking of him, he's not any better when operated by the AI and will also often cause a lot of frustration (but at least, they had the decency to not make it possible to have him die like in Resident Evil 5 for instance) or just some more embarrassment. Worst of all, the story is really weak this time and almost nothing really interesting gets to happen (apart from one scene which I thought was pretty nice). You'll just spend a few hours wandering through bland corridors of pretty much the same kind of scenery, while fighting your way through countless waves of silly enemies. All of this for an pretty insulting ending that just shouldn't happen in a game that inspires to do cinematic storytelling (unless they were of course going for some kind of Z-Movie ending, which I sincerely doubt). All in all, this just seem to me like another of those game where the lead designers are just so blind by their own "vision, that they just don't seem to care enough about suggestions, critics or even external playtesting. Let's be honest for a second : how else would stuff like that absolutely insane shaky cam have ended up in the final product? (there's just no way they didn't have time to tweak this the way they wanted to)… Expand

This game is absolutely awful. It is pathetically short at only five hours long, the cover system is crap, the A.I. is cheap, the camera is broken and the multiplayer just plain sucks. The worst part is that it is being sold as a $60 game when it isn't even complete. The main menu has menus and items that are locked which require you to purchase the upcoming DLC. That means that content is already on the disc and they expect you to pay more for it on top of the $60 you already paid for this miserable excuse of a game. Don't make the same mistake I did. Keep far away from this game at all costs. Your wallet will thank you.… Expand

This is not a game, it's a mess with bad graphics. The control is terrible and the camera is (no joke) the worst I have ever seen in games today. The game and the AI are broken. Do not buy this! You will regret it!

I have a hard time finding out why peaple hate this game so much. The entire style was centered around reality capture from home/security cams. That reality TV style merges over to the fact that nudity and grotesque scenes would be blured. Yes its short but I've come to aprreciate shorter games so I actually finish them. The long drawn out campaigns rarely hold my interest to the end and often don't get completed. I've fallen into comfort with games eight to fifteen hours in length. The online modes are interesting enough for me to want to continue on through them. Most of the game is based in Shanghai so the level design does not suprise me. Its cramped and uncomfortable at times, but its designed how most slums and highly urban areas are. Sephyboy needs to talk to his therapist about his apparent need for over the top violence in his leisure. The execution is a little sloppy, but the game itself is exactly what I expected it to be based the demo and the previous version. And I'm happy with it. The story itself is fun to watch unfold, the characters play off eachother well, the voice acting is great, the atmosphere is bleak but with some awesome backsplashes of neon from signs, the gunplay is what I've come to expect from all games, I'm not sure what these negative buyers were expacting, but I'm quite happy with it.… Expand

Kane & Lynch 2 is a beautifully crafted 3rd person shooter. The story is simple, but efficient: a routine job goes wrong and our two gangster heroes are attacked by a rival gang. They are forced to leave Shangai after unsuccessfully trying to save Lynch's girlfriend. The characters & dialogs are entertaining and feels as if they are coming straight out of a Tarantino or Guy Richie movie. Despite the violent theme, the whole experience is tongue-in-cheek. The encounters are fun, well designed and leave room for multiple strategy (flanking, advance cover-to-cover, etc.). The game is presented as if it was filmed from a cheap hand-held camera. It feels like watching and episode of COPS, on youtube. The combination of effects is impressive (lens flare, noise, out of focus, rain, compression artifacts, etc.) and makes the experience feels some much more real and intense. I am pretty sure this topic will be controversial, but I personally found it amazing. IO took a big rick on the visual, with a franchise that was never popular to start with. I hope people give this game a try despite the harsh critics. Best enjoyed in split-screen with a buddy on the couch.… Expand

I enjoyed this game. I was able to beat the single player campaign on normal in just over 3 hours, a very intense, albeit short experience. It is very action heavy with minimal story. I turned off the shaky camera and the graphics suite the action and story well. The story was good, but a little disappointing, *spoiler* especially near the end. The multiplayer is a lot of fun when you can find a good game. Most games there is lag and you see people drifting around and floating etc, but when you get a good game with a host with a good connection it is very intense and fun, especially undercover cop, and fragile alliance. Cops and robbers is ok, but pretty much a team deathmatch with loot, I didn't enjoy that mode at all. I am hoping they patch the match making as some times it is difficult to find a game with constant lobby closing, and hosting a game takes far to long to get a full lobby. If they fix the lag issues as well the multiplayer experience would be top notch, but how it is I would only reccommend for fans of the series as most everything needs a slight fix. I really enjoyed the single player, but was left a little disappointment, the multiplayer is fun when it works.… Expand

Contrary to popular belief (or posts) this game is not as horrid as everyone makes it out to be. While I do admit that Kane and Lynch 2 has its fair share of bugs, it makes up for it in story and characters. These two characters are the closest gamers will get to something as gritty and "funny" as someone Tarantino fabricated. The game is very mature and it knows it. It doesn't hold any of it's punches (aside from obvious nudity i.e. lower human regions, that would otherwise give it an AO rating.) This game is a killer rent, while I admit it does not deserve the full list price it does at least deserve a 10 dollar rental at Blockbuster. It is enjoyable from start to finish. However, don't play on Extreme, you get killed in 2 shots, the AI is overly aggressive and it makes the game feel as worse as the slander that everyone has said. Play it.… Expand

If you hate Ch**a, you can play this f*****g game. But you must know, you need do same things at different places. And, what's on pol*ce car ? ---- This just is a game. Thank you, you don't want to let Chin*se say "What the **** is this game ?!"

This game looks fantastic. The graphics are not top-tier, but the weird pastel look of the last game is done away with through a clever film effect. A shake-cam (which can be disabled) really improves the tension of the action. It is a unique style. The shooting is solid, a major improvement over the previous game. The game is difficult but feels rewarding. In addition to the story mode, an "arcade mode" allows one player to play up to ten rounds as members of a heist in different locales. I don't play on Xbox Live, but arcade mode is very cinematic and offers a ranking system similar to online games. It is addicting, even if the lackluster A.I. can't compete well in later rounds. The game has some major flaws. The story is quite short (it took me 3 1/2 hours; medium difficulty on split screen). The ending is abrupt. There is a strange problem in late-game that can possibly pause the screen for up to around fifteen seconds whenever a headshot is landed. Despite these problems, the story is definitely worth playing through. While $60 may be a little steep, I am content with where IO is going with this franchise.… Expand

Yikes! What the heck? Bad action. Bad story. Bad graphics. Bad this, bad that, bad everything. There is so little value in this game that I feel completely ripped off. I only give it a 2 because the game is not buggy to the point of non-playability. But I can't recommend this to anyone who wants more than a few hours of lousy game play and absolute garbage story and game play mechanics.

unfortunately i have to say the graphics and sound fall below me expectations, although the blood and gore is pretty next level. i would also have 2 say that the point of a crime game is to get you pumped up about killin innocent people and everyting but the muck ups in diss game are quite bothersome, vi$$er out

This is a complete abomination to video games. Do NOT believe any positive reviews, these are people paid by the makers of the game. The creator of Giant Bomb Jeff G. was fired from Gamespot.com because he didn't give the first Kane and Lynch a high enough score. Gamespot was paid money to give it a 9+ score and Jeff wouldn't do it, and was given the ultimatum of either giving the game a 9 or higher or get fired. He quit and gave it a 7.5. Then they had the gull to say "REWRITE" the review with a 9 or higher. What a joke. This franchise if you want to call it that, more like crapchise, sucks. Plain and simple. Boycott this corporate bullying and trying to buy sales. It may deserve a 1, but I give it a 0 to offset positive reviews. Thanks for reading the Truth.… Expand

Having seen the previews and some early footage i had a genuine feeling that this may be something of a new direction for games.Much was made of the grainy graphics,adult theme and hand held camera work,and admittedly on the demo this was a very exciting and interesting prospect,however after buying the game i realised that's where the fun stopped.Although the first couple of hours were quite exciting,nothing actually happened-ok there were some interesting cut scenes ,but im not happy to pay for those when the game happens to be so poor . i can understand how this may seem like a slightly odd statement to make but this game was a complete let down.Maybe i got sucked in by the hype,maybe i just fancied something different,i felt really let down, I paid forty quid for this game...40 QUID.Go into an area-shoot the bad guys -move on and repeat.Its not the worst game ever ,but it is a big disappointment.… Expand

Kane and Lynch are two of the most adult oriented and interesting characters ever to grace a video game however IO have managed to ruin a potentially fantastic game, again. Good points are; how aimed for adults the game is, I actually liked the reality TV hand-held camera visuals, I like the characters, after playing the first one (even though that was buggy as hell) I genuinely wanted to see what was going to happen to them. Bad points; Enemies are near immortal, enemies have x-ray vision, enemies have guided bullets. The players bullets must be made out of a rubber substance as they do nothing. The story is frankly horrible, AI for your partner is hopeless (crouching for minutes shooting at the wall), dialogue sucks, checkpoints are poorly positioned. If you didn't think it was possible, Dog Days is worse than Dead Men it is also the most fault ridden, flawed, incomplete, rushed onto the shelves, waste of good subject matter I have come across. It is not worth your money and is quite possibly the worst 360 game I have ever played. Finally; IO need to stop ripping off Michael Mann movies, they have failed miserably twice now.… Expand

Huge improvement over the previous game. Single Player is repetitive and is more just a one dimensional cover to cover shooter without all the exciting set pieces that make cover to cover shooters fun. It really only has one exciting level in the game and it is close to the end. Other than that it is just a short romp through the single player. It will take only 4 to 5 hours to complete and that is it, with little to no incentive to go through it again. I actually really like the characters of Kane and Lynch. Both completely psychotic, yet still give you the sense that they are still somewhat relatable characters. It is a shame they cannot get a overall better plot line to work with. I think if they are to make another game, it needs to really rethink alot of the story options I think the only real saving grace to the game is the awesome visuals. It looks like the whole game is being played on a real crappy camera. It really adds to the gritty overall feel of the game. One thing I still don't agree with is the censorship of headshots and such (it just put a big blur over a persons head when you blow their brains out). Still...you grow to not really care about it. Co-op story play is a joke, set up very strange and honestly...there are much better co-op shooters out there you can play. The multiplayer is pretty cool and a much different take on the genre and really is the only shining game mode to the game. However, I don't see it drawing you away from whatever AAA multiplayer title you play. Just a simple distraction that can be fun for a day or two then you quickly forget about it. Overall, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days is an improvement over the original but still isn't going in the right direction. It is hard to stand out in the shooter genre anymore. While I had some fun with the game, it is nothing I can recommend as a buy. If you want a different multiplayer experience for just a bit, give it a rent. If not..your really not missing anything special.… Expand

First, we can see that the graphics are really differents of others games. It is "bugging". Also, it is not realist at all. The targets seems to be made in metal, sometimes. I didn't like this game at all. I give 3/10 beause it is a good game for the fans and for those who really really really like this style of game.

I like the handhold camera idea, in the beginning it's a bit annoying. But if you just disable the screen effects it's awesome! I really like this game, and the characters!

The 1 in my score is only for the general look of the game and about 2 moments where I thought it was fun. Now everything else is HORRIBLE. I remember playing this at E3 and the camera was so bad. I asked the rep, is this how this game is going to ship?! Whoever thought that was a good idea should take his/her head out of their ass and look at other games for christs sake. It feels like an earth is shaking when I sprint. The weapons in this game are so **** I don't know where to begin. Just thinking about the shooting in this game makes me want to drop that 1, to a ZERO. I love the style of the game, I played the first one and enjoyed it (even if it didn't have online co-op, which was RETARDED). So I thought I'd play the sequel to a game I enjoyed playing. I thought wrong. I even borrowed this game FOR FREE and I can't defend this game at all. Bad on so many levels. Ok, I'm done.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm surprised critics gave this game such a lower score. Maybe I'm too old school, but I thought even for such a short game, the single player experience trumps a majority of titles this year. I played the first one briefly, but they were really trying for something different in this sequel. The IO team really knows their stuff. It's similar to Alan Wake with the sweat-inducing attention to detail. The graphics are outstanding, brilliant, and photo realistic. Why people turn off the shakey-cam and other effects, I don't know - you totally lose the whole point. It's among the best looking games released this generation. The look is cellphone cameras - so there's a lot of light leakage, artifacts, IR light. They've perfected high contrast shot outs, every blur you can think of, draw distance tricks, lighting tricks. There's some levels where you're driving, and it looks completely perfect. Another time, you're shooting up a building with a machinegun, and there are tons of artifacts from the virtual camera's sensors shaking around. It's really a must see and beautifully executed. When I was at E3, I met a few of the level designers for this game at the Square booth. They told me about how much effort was put into the levels - some of the multiplayer levels are based on real heists. But it doesn't matter, once you see the levels and the amount of detail put into each one, you'll want to replay many times. If you can appreciate microscopically high levels of details, at least rent this game. This game has you running around shanghai - there's one place where you're running through a covered arcade through a fastfood place, electronics shop, and back to the streets shooting cops. The helicopter level is ridiculous - how do they maintain the frame rate throughout? The character design again is superb. In Single Player, it's highly realistic and totally cool - i mean the guy you play wears a wifebeater and has a potbelly. Come on! In multiplayer everyone is a "shady european type" Clearly some reference to Ronin. Sound is really impressive too - loud gunshots, cursing from the player characters, and lots of neat things. My girlfriend complains constantly. Story isn't very interesting - nothing really happens. Just two killers caught in a horrible situation. Both to blame for their own stupidity. I never felt that I cared about the characters, probably because both of them get shot like 50,000 tines in each level and don't complain. The negatives are that it's pretty damn hard sometimes - once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier. You get shot ALOT and somehow survive without fault. I remember I kept dying horribly on the 3rd level, but then basically never died throughout the game. The AI especially your 3rd, 4th tier companions is REALLY bad. But it doesn't matter, it doesn't detract from the single player experience. Bad guy AI isn't bad, but they're also pretty stupid - This is an area I don't care about, canon fodder is cannon fodder. Another interesting note is the linearity of the game. It's completely linear without much choice. BUT 1. who cares? 2. the level design is SO good that you won't notice unless you look for it 3. helps pacing 4. there are a lot of choices when you're in a firefight. There's a few times when you feel a time stress, and I was definitely pressured to act fast. I'm not sure what happens if you run out of time. The point is, reviewers on this site are expecting halo or something. Since they turned off shaky cam, they don't care the experience. Maybe they want achievement points or something. I dunno. Just buy this game, it's like $30 at gamestop.… Expand

This is one of the best online co-op campaign games I have played. If you enjoyed the co-op experiences of Gears of War and Left 4 Dead then I highly recommend this game. Forget the hideous experience of the first game, that was the first game that I remembered that got the characterisation, graphics and story perfectly but forgot about the game play. Kane & Lynch Dog Days completely rebuilt the original game and has made it much more of a shooter as opposed to a squad based shooter with bad AI. The graphics are brilliant, even though it would be nice to be able to turn off the you-tube-esque pixelisation. This does add to the overall atmosphere of the game though. There is no score which sometimes bothers me, but this time it works, just using lots of ambient noise from around the city you are in. The game is essentially a collection of battles but when played on the hardest setting with an appropriate friend this can be a truly visceral experience. Being held down by enemy fire whilst your buddy attempts to flank them is great fun. Bullets flying past your head can be heard in all corners of your surround sound. The A.I. of the enemy is very good. Many times we would play a section through thinking we knew exactly what was going to happen and the enemy would surprise us by flanking us or coming from a different point of attack. I truly enjoyed this title and look forward to the next adventures of this egregious pair.… Expand

-- [THE GOOD] -- - Good voice acting (apart from Glazer's stereotypical "cor blimey, mate" English accent) - The handheld camera idea produces a decent platform of immersion - The beginning of the 'naked' level is gruesome! - All forms of the colourful lighting look banging! -- [THE BAD] -- - Crap graphics; poor character models, textures and environments. Pretty much everything is graphically poor - Controlling the character is a bit iffy and annoying - The cover system is utter **** - Poor A.I. - Delayed sound when a lot is happening on screen - Serious framerate issues when explosions occur - Haven't we seen this stuff many, many, many times before? Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Ohhhhh **** dear, Kane & Lynch. Look, I never had much hope in this game being even remotely good in the first place, but I thought they'd have at least hired a team of semi-skilled developers instead of four blind Sixth World country inhabitants slapping at a keyboard for twenty two hours a day without food or water. **** hell... Okay, I'm really starting to wonder if OXM were being sarcastic giving this splat of slow-roasted pig **** a nine out of ten and deeming it a "lovingly crafted, full-bodied shooter." I'm also starting to wonder whether the handheld camera idea was just a sly way of covering up the poor graphics and very frequent visual screw-ups, such as jittery enemies and, more specifically, an invisible Kane holding a cigarette at the beginning of the "Laying Low" mission, in which they were most definitely not laying low as yet another wild gun battle ensues not long into the opening of the mission. Speaking of which, this game is yet another disgusting bottle of perfume using the same formula: running, encountering enemies, fighting them and then moving on to repeat the process not even a minute later... For the full review, y'all can find it on my blog at www.garygamesouparchive.blogspot.com/2011/06/kane-lynch-2-dog-days.html… Expand

I have played this game with a friend in splitscreen on hard and it was a pain to go through. Definitely not a difficult game but the whole shooting element feels off. Sometimes your enemies won't drop, even after unloading a full clip while getting all most all your bullets on target. The story isn't also that great and some of the set pieces are just unbelievable stupid. There was no satisfaction at all finishing this game. My advice; stick with the first game.… Expand