I just wanted to say, this is probably the only nihilistic shooter (franchise?) along with
Max Payne. You're just getting more fucked-up journeys into this duo's erratic life. Kane and Lynch are not even anti-heroes, they're not criminals with gold hearts, they're just really fascinating criminals with interesting motivations. This is the series' hook, sets it apart from the male power fantasies that most shooters are. These are not characters you'd want to hang around with at all, but be voyeurs to their insane life.
Kane and Lynch 1 was brilliant in the story department (HEAT: the game),
Kane and Lynch 2 nailed the atmosphere, graphics, and gameplay, but wasn't as good on capitalising on the story.
Dog Days just was a series of "how fucked up can we get now" situations for the duo, which had the intended impact of making me feel drained and just escape the damn place when the airport came up (which again references HEAT with the lights and sneaking). The bit with the torture is great, and I love how Lynch handles the Shanghai mob boss ("
no more deals"), revealing Kane's more "capitalist" side. But aside from that, it can't beat the many story moments in the first game.
The sniper malfunction bit with Lynch, kidnapping the mob boss daughter, the heist where Lynch's hallucinations are revealed, the almost hellish trash truck boss level with Jenny in a ditch, and the choice endings being both bad and well-handled. Saving Jenny is super easy, while saving your squad is a whole other mission. I loved the audio "diaries"/flashbacks between levels or when you're dying, waiting for a revive.
Playing co-op with Lynch's hallucinations has to be one of the coolest moments in gaming, and I wish they didn't drop it in 2. I know he's on medication. I liked his outrage in the torture bit of
Dog Days and his constant weird mumblings, but it loses the visual appeal of the character.
I love that the games have had character-centric gameplay. The game's strong point isn't just the art direction.
Dead Men was all about Kane, so it was more of a squad shooter, recalling Freedom Fighters, much bigger spaces, less ambushes and just more control of the situation. Gameplay in
Dog Days is all in-your-face Lynch, tons of ambushes, really forced you to flank around, no need for ADS, use inaccurate close-quarter weapons like the shotguns with the awesome spread. Those gun sounds, goddamn. The inclusion of civilians, I'm surprised how little controversy it brought. You could chase around individual civilians, which is so incredibly sadistic! On "Extreme" difficulty it's a lot of fun.
If there is a
Kane and Lynch 3, I hope Jenny's more involved, drops the "one last mission" trope, and brings a great memorable story along with improved combat.
I think it's a solid game for what it was. I hope we get more Kane and Lynch at some point.