A thread to discuss IOI’s often disregarded yet brilliant Kane & Lynch games.
I’m a big fan, especially of the 2nd entry (Dog Days) it received a lot of criticism on release, some valid but most were too harsh on it imo.
It actually holds up nicely as a cover shooter and I can’t think of anything quite like it. Also if anything, the artistic direction is truly creative and well executed.
Despite the negativity it actually had a thriving multiplayer scene at the time, it died down over the years but I discovered there is still a hidden interest and a fanbase being reignited, old and new fans appreciating what it is and regularly hosting online matches.
artistic direction (of dog days), the multiplayer and the two utterly unlikeable leads were fantastic, but everything else around it wasn’t very good.
from the early reviews and io’s past work, i expected k&d 1 to be something akin to a hitman/payday 2* mash-up, effectively doing for heists what hitman did for assassinations, so it was a bit disappointing that it was basically a mechanically shallow freedom fighters spiritual successor. that expectation is on me, of course.
i’d rate dog days higher if the gunplay felt better, the levels were a little broader, and the enemies weren’t so spongy.
that’s a fair opinion, except I’ve always loved the gunplay of Dog Days, feels alot more raw than that of everything else in it’s genre, and I like the fight for survival spraying for your life with a godawful SMG until you can find a much more satisfying rifle or shotty
I really enjoyed the first entry for its’ atmosphere, mission settings and the two main characters. To me, it was something new, done in a way it wasn’t done before, and the result was surprisingly great. Only the uninspired south america levels held the game back.
I wanted to like 2 but the headbopping was unbearable to me at that time.
for me, think it’s the feedback (sound, enemy reaction to being shot, etc.) and how many hits it takes to down an enemy that didn’t feel very satisfying.
the max payne series - though 3 came out a couple of years later - absolutely nails gunplay, especially 2. small studio too.
Real shame, really liked the characters but the gameplay was caca, especially the part when they go into the jungles in K&L1. I always saw them as bank robbers, kidnappers, hitmen etc. but not guerilla fighters.
I would still like a remake, combine both games into one, minus the jungle crap, use the current version of Glacier, make the video artifacts from K&L2 toggleable and bam, series revived.
yeah overall gameplay of 1 was pretty ordinary, but I enjoyed the squad command element. seems most people disliked the latin america missions, I didn’t mind them myself.
I think both entries are too different to be combined but interesting thought.
I made a dedicated channel to showcase the multiplayer experience
basically I’ve been making short ‘best moment’ compilations from our matches in linear order from entry to escape, so they kind of tell a quick story while giving a full run-through of the map
e.g.:
*Sad murderer noises…
