Mark Botwright
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Reviewed by Ste Carter
Format – Xbox 360 (also available on PlayStation 3 and PC)
Developer – IO Interactive
Publisher – Eidos Interactive
Rating – 18 (BBFC)
Released – Out Now
Synopsis
Format – Xbox 360 (also available on PlayStation 3 and PC)
Developer – IO Interactive
Publisher – Eidos Interactive
Rating – 18 (BBFC)
Released – Out Now
Synopsis
According to some, boundaries are there to be pushed. This was no more so than in the case of the original Kane & Lynch. Some said it was unnecessarily violent, whilst the classifications board stamped a well deserved 18 label on it. Although inevitably, it fell into the hands of minors and there was an outcry of the violence children of today were seeing in video games. Despite this, and its universal flaws across all formats, IO Interactive have not been put off their stride. With a fresh batch of feedback from its predecessor, Dog Days aims to exceed people's expectations and deliver a cutting edge 3rd person shooter that will ignite their passion for the genre. Although having said that, it doesn't want to differ too much from the original as Dog Days will need to appeal to loyal returnees whilst also having a fresh feel.
With Kane & Lynch: Dead Men not being the big hit that IO were hoping for, it is expected that Dog Days hasn't been given the treatment of a strong advertising campaign. Although, as has been seen with games such as Singularity, this does not necessarily mean the game is a cheap knock-off.
IO is releasing its game into an already full market of third person shooters, so it will be standing amongst genre giants such as Gears of War and Uncharted on the PS3. Fans need not be worried though as you only need to look at the developer's history of creating the much loved Hitman series, so they know what the customer wants and needs in order to make a successful game. And it is unlikely that Square Enix will ship out a half-arsed game that they know will flop. But will people see through the charade and find Dog Days to be nothing more than a distraction from Hitman?
Lynch was always a big Die Hard fan
Presentation
The immediately striking feature of Dog Days is the unusual and unique style that the game has been produced in; a replicated 'Youtube' style buffered clip. This gives the impression that an overworked cameraman with a 5 mega pixel camcorder has followed the duo across Shanghai. When staring into a street full of shiny lights, the glare given off will distort the image and send lines down the picture just like on TV's etc. Initially this makes you think, “Cool I like it.” But after so long, the unsteady shooting can make you motion sick and inevitably you will turn it off with haste. It's a Marmite affair, some will love it whilst, I feel, the majority will hate it. The whole menu's, start up screen doesn't even escape from the Youtube makeover, they too wobble from motion and resemble a camcorder display.
Although the shooting style does have an initial wow factor, the overall graphics quality of the game lacks some of the grandeur that people have come to expect from new releases. Of course they are of a standard of the next gen, but in some areas they wouldn't go amiss in one of the 360's maiden titles.
As already stated, the previous iteration was full of generic expletives, gore and completely unlikeable characters. Well to that extent fans won't be disappointed. Upon loading the campaign, players are 'greeted' with a cut scene of the duo tied to chairs and being cut up by unknown gang members, clearly with the intent of killing them. Hand-in-hand with this goes random death threats and compulsive swearing, which, sadly, reflects how unlikeable the characters are in Kane & Lynch. This must have been done purposely as the only way you could possibly like them, is if you were a murdering psychopath yourself. But surely half of the appeal of these games is feeling a connection with the lead characters? Apparently not anymore, there are no emotional ties to be found here, just plain unadulterated brutality. Through the film-style appearance, violence/gore is toned down when a head shot is dealt; the enemies' heads transforms into a pixelated mess, but I feel this is down to laziness, in not wanting to create animations for such situations, along with the poor graphics.
Watch that mullet fly!
There is a storyline to be found somewhere in Kane & Lynch, but this is so forgettable that it is barely worth mentioning. It goes something like this; Kane makes a deal in Shanghai that he needs to complete for no clear reason. They then proceed to put their feet in the sticky stuff by gunning down a kingpins daughter, which unsurprisingly, he does not take well. Although, the pair seem surprised by the amount of resistance they find as they cross the city. Which, I hasten to add, is very barren and does not buzz with activity like would be expected. K & L then battle through half the Shanghai police force in order to a) escape and b) find their old business partner.
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