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Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
Basticle
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm sure a great many of the readers here stayed far, far away from the first Kane and Lynch in no small part due to the controversy surrounding Eidos apparently pressuring Gamespot into giving the game a good score.
What you missed was in my opinion a great heist story hampered by bad cover mechanics. And dated graphics. And no online co-op. And tons of bugs that never got patched.
Anyways, I still have much faith in I/O as they are the developers of the Hitman series as well as Freedom Fighters. I got the impression that Eidos didnt give them the time to finish the game properly (and wouldnt let them work on any patches).
Now on to Dog Days.
Debut Trailer from back in December:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/60046.html
tidbits from interviews back in December:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/64423.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/65236.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100097.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100411.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100581.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100962.html
I'll update the OP with more info later.
What you missed was in my opinion a great heist story hampered by bad cover mechanics. And dated graphics. And no online co-op. And tons of bugs that never got patched.
Anyways, I still have much faith in I/O as they are the developers of the Hitman series as well as Freedom Fighters. I got the impression that Eidos didnt give them the time to finish the game properly (and wouldnt let them work on any patches).
Now on to Dog Days.
Debut Trailer from back in December:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/60046.html
tidbits from interviews back in December:
Absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. It didn't do particularly well. What's been done for Kane & Lynch 2 to get rid of all the negativity - and you know what I'm talking about - that was associated with the first game?
CL: Of course it was a blow for us. It wasn't nice to get these kind of reviews, and we had to make some very professional decisions around this. First of all, we decided that in the first game you kind of have two games, right? The tactical soldier military element and the crime shooter, and we needed to make a decision. What is the core of this game? We chose the criminal urban shooter instead, and made sure that the game features and that the game mechanics fit that particular genre. Then we have the character of Lynch, and he's also demanding in that way - he needs the features to fit his characteristics, and his way of life, and what he is. So we created a short list of things we wanted to address in the game - the cover system, the aiming and the shooter, the AI, the fact that the art was a little bit dated, and the fact that we didn't have online co-op. We added the online co-op, and I think it's very clear that we fixed the whole art perspective of things, and we've spent a lot of time testing and doing user research and all sorts to make sure that these final core mechanics actually do work.
Let's talk a little bit about the game mechanics. Will it have drop-in and drop-out co-op play?
CL: On a level basis, yes.
But not through the campaign?
CL: Yes, through the campaign, but not in the middle of the game. On a level by level basis, you can drop in and drop out.
So talk to us a little bit about the story behind this version of the game. What are we doing? Who are we following?
CL: I don't want to give too much of it away yet, but the set up in general is that Lynch is living with girlfriend in Shanghai. He's living the good life, and he's a little bit chubby, as you can see [taps picture of Lynch]. He's working as a henchman for a guy called Mr. Glazer, who's like a boss of all these ex-pat criminals who couldn't hack it in Europe and are trying to be big stars in Shanghai. They're white, they're tall, and they're nasty-looking - so they're doing good, right? And all of a sudden they land themselves a deal that is way over their heads. It's an arms deal, they're going to ship some guns, and they don't know anything about it. So Lynch get this brilliant idea of calling in Kane because he's an ex-mercenary and he's done this many, many times, and of course he should never have done that, because whenever these two guys meet up it's an explosive cocktail. What seems to be a very simple job that just needs to be taken care of gets totally out of hand and has them chased all over Shanghai by everybody - the police, the crooks, everything. They just need to figure out how to get out of this mess.
How does the cover system work? Is it revolutionary? Is it something we've seen before in other games? Will we have destructible environments?
CL: I think it's interesting, because those two things work together in this game. That's what makes it a little bit more unique - the fact that you take cover and it's destructible, so you need to be very mindful of what cover you're taking and if it's solid enough to bear you. That co-relates to the whole down-not-dead experience where you're sitting in that cover, it breaks - "Am I going down? Can I crawl into other cover? Is it breakable? What's happening?" So in that sense the cover system is offering a little bit more intensity than what you're used to. If it's not breakable, it's safe, but if it is, you need to be very careful on how long you need to stay there. It gives a little bit more excitement in that department.
How do you move from cover to cover? Is there a fluid motion of moving from cover to cover, or do you have to get up, un-hunch, run, hunch again, take cover?
CL: No, it's fluid. You can switch from one cover to other cover, you can run alongside cover, you can duck down and cover, get back up... you have fluid motion. You connect yourself with the button, and then you can do all sorts of stuff in cover. Rush out of it, vault over the cover... there are lots of opportunities.
Presumably there'll be lots of opportunities for different weapons, as well, and different ways of killing things?
CL: Oh yeah, sure. We've got a lot of different weapons now.
Any expansion on that?
CL: I think you'll notice that we took a different take on differentiating weapons, and the classes of weapons. It's not just about machine guns and SMGs - it's also about their character, in a way. Who's using them? What are they being used for? You can actually feel that as an experience. When you pick up a weapon from a cop, it feels different than when you pick it up from a goon, because they use different weapons. Pick up a weapon from SWAT, and you have a totally different feeling. So it's a little bit of a different categorisation of the weapon experience.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/64423.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/65236.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100097.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100411.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100581.html
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/100962.html
I'll update the OP with more info later.
Basticle on
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I like the idea that they were talking about before about making shooting and getting off accurate shots difficult, as well as destructible cover. When you can just find a bit of cover and sit back and headshot everyone, it can get a bit boring. Making gunfights chaotic, messy affairs should be fun and allow for an emphasis on tactics.
Steam // Secret Satan
o_O
IO's last game was actually Mini Ninjas. Which was actually pretty good.
I forgot about that one. Never got to play it.
if those things are fixed and doesn't pull an army of two two and ignore the problems i'd be on board
I dunno, I thought it was pretty bland, beyond the presentation. The art direction, music and animation were all fantastic. It just seemed way too easy, way too shallow - and when I say that, I mean they were obviously trying to design the game with kids as the main audience in mind, but instead of providing something as supple and rewarding as Sly Cooper or Mario or Zelda, they went a little overboard with trying to make it accessible to kids. Where's that quote... Ding.
That said, I have medium-high hopes for K&L 2. I never played the original - the demo was enough to turn me off that idea - but I've been hearing a lot of positive reactions from those who've gone hands-on with the sequel.
The second one looks just as brutal. I really hope people get into the multiplayer this time around.
Prisoner's Dilemma: The Video Game!
Storywise, I have no idea what in the fuck they were thinking with the entire Cuba segment but I think the writers were on vacation when that awful chance of scenery was greenlit. And I wish they concentrated a bit on the characters a bit more. The advertising was pretty wicked but in-game there wasn't enough of them.
Can't wait for K&L2, hope they pull their shit together and make this one way better to make up for the downfalls the first one had.
For some reason I really like that idea.
I remember being super pumped for K&L but I inevitably avoided it after discovering that me and my friend couldn't play co-op online (not even on the PC version for fu- ) and then the Gerstman crap just nailed the coffin for me.
This looks really great though and I hope it lives up to the gritty looking trailers we have seen.
i really, really like the youtube idea, it fits so perfectly with a lot of 3rd person shooter tropes as well. hell, gears of wars' roadie run was designed to look like you were a camera man sprinting behind marcus
and yeah, the game was a crap-pile i got way to excited about, but if hitman shows us anything about IO, it's that they can improve upon previous games like nobody else. i like the idea of the characters too- 2 ugly old fuckers who are gigantic bastards and kill people by the dozen for money. such a nice change from stubbled 20-somethings who do the same things, but the game expects me to root for them.
I was going to say this as well. Codename 47 was kind of a shitpile compared to Contracts and Blood money*. So I really hope the same occurs here. Because I also love the grittyness and the characters of K&L.
All the podcasts I've listened to have made the second one sound like it might be pretty good.
My Backloggery
I always get confused when I see your posts because your forum name is my full name abbreviated.
On topic : Will Dog Days have online co-op this time?
Xbox page does list online co-op.
I mean, they're missing a serious trick if not.
Yeah, I too didn't like the split
Y'know, one of those games that people love in spite of it's flaws.
The vertical split must have been a widescreen tv only thing, because I played with a friend on an SD television and I could SWEAR it was a horizontal split.
And yeah, I really don't understand the hate the first game got. It was super fun co-op and I loved the story. While not amazing, the gameplay was more than passable, and shooting people felt really satisfying. Maybe not worth a purchase, but it made an excellent rental.
I didn't have live when it came out, and by the time I did no one played the Fragile Alliance mode, which kinda sucked. I had read about it and it sounded awesome. Maybe I'll finally get the chance with this one.
I think much of that was to blame on the review scandal
And in the end we should be thankful for that, because it basically led to the creation of an awesome website.
My Backloggery
What's in the demo? A chunk of the Story mode, a taste of the short and sweet Arcade mode, and a heaping helping of Fragile Alliance. Demo weighs in at 1.67GB and is available in most territories except Germany.
So far, I'm loving it. The camera effects are a little rough on the eyes at first but I've gotten used to them as I play on. The game runs very smoothly, I don't think i've seen a framerate dip below 60 frames a second yet. Cover and shooting mechanics are very much advanced compared to the first game's. To put it into perspective, it's about as big of a difference from the mechanics of Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2. IO really put some time into making this a better shooter.
So far i've messed about in the Story mode and Arcade, haven't tried FA yet. Just be warned that when you get to the gun buying screen you will see guns that are inaccessible until you have DLC.
Well go on, get downloading!
It had some very, very sub-par graphics given the hype (the multiplayer engine was atrocious) and the AI was practically non-existent. And I mean that in all seriousness - the set-pieces weren't half so effective as soon as you realised the dancers in the club just ran around on an endless loop once you've scared them, or the police outside the bank ran up and down in the street doing nothing, swinging round to fire at you every now and then. It wasn't a great game by any stretch of the imagination, and the third act was a ghastly misjudgement.
But my God, was it ever worth playing for what it got right. No, games do not always have to be shiny, happy Sega-blue-skies 'fun' - K&L was nasty, brutish and short and I loved it for that. The construction site scene still sticks in my mind; 'You should! *Thwack* Have let! *Thwack* Me talk to her! *Thwack*' Absolutely jaw-dropping stuff, and the way everything worked out (even if Cuba was basically crap) was the dark, dark chocolate icing on the cake.
Please be good, Dog Days. Please be good. Please?
Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
But I've heard too much shit about the first game to do anything but wait and see.
Steam // Secret Satan
I was initially put off by the hand camera visual style - I thought that it was to indicate that the demo section was a flashback, turns out it wasn't, but I soon warmed up to it and coupled with the 60FPS upper limit I actually quite enjoyed all of the shaky camera (which can be turned off), macroblocking and 'straight lens flare' from lightsources you so often get from camera recordings, was an interesting style.
The controls are a bit clunky though. I can't believe they didn't include a wall-hop manoeuvre (or I can't seem to activate it) - there were several knee-high platforms that I had to find a ramp to get on top... very silly.
Fragile Alliance was neat, I can see people mass-backstabbing each other in the final round but early rounds forced everyone to work together otherwise a bright orange TRAITOR label will simply send you down the score table as you'll earn no cash.
The low resolution on the console versions actually seems to work much better with the 'Youtube' visual style - the PC 1080p ver seemed too greatly detailed and the extra effects weren't as effective. Yeah I'd never thought I'd see the day where I prefer the low-res version of a game.
That said, I was quite taken with the story. It was... unrepentantly bleak. You grew to expect things to get worse and they invariably did, either from Lynch fucking it up or something else happening. Levels were diverse, characters were memorable, some action segments worked pretty well (the nightclub is an obvious standout), and in spite of the horrible things Kane had to do I still wanted things to turn out all right for him. I have never heard a human being so pissed off as Kane around the halfway mark when you-know-what happens.
YOU SHOULD!
HAVE LET!
ME TALK TO THEM!
I was ready to pound Mute's corpse into the dirt for the rest of the game until Lynch reminded me that the kid was still alive.
Not sure what to make of Dog Days, but I'll check it out eventually. If nothing else, IO staying in business increases the likelihood of Freedom Fighters 2 someday. Hey, a guy can dream, right?
...right?
Edit: Beaten by Eight Rooks, but yeah, the Reunion level is brutally memorable. Whatever one can say about the rest of the game - and one can say a lot - they nailed that part.
Now playing: Teardown and Baldur's Gate 3 (co-op)
Sunday Spotlight: Horror Tales: The Wine