Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2010 17:56:54 GMT -5
I wanted to make this separate from the What Are You Playing Now thread because I want that topic to be more of a quick update of you playing retail games instead of reviews & demos.
I'll be making a review thread as well.
Xbox 360:
Kane & Lynch II: Dog Days (1 player demo, includes multiplayer mode as well)
As many people here know, I've been really anticipating the release of Dog Days. The first game had alot of cumbersome issues, mainly from the controls dept, but the game overall wasn't half bad.
In late 09, they released this teaser showing you the different approach they were going to take for Dog Days:
After viewing that teaser, it did get me interested to see where they were going to take the sequel. This time around, the game will follow Lynch or as I used to call him "the guy who looks like James Mitchell", living in Shanghai and trying to live a normal life with his girlfriend, Sue.
...I should mention he's a "self-medicated psychopath" looking to "make a fat deal where the pay is beyond his wildest dreams and nothing is going to get in his way." So much for a normal life. Kane's whereabouts, on the other hand, are unknown. Ok, now that I got that brief, albeit very horrible attempt of a synopsis out of the way, onto the impressions of the demo.
The demo opens with Kane in a shootout with most of his men lying dead all around him. He continues to shoot and screams at the top of his lungs and then we transition to Lynch, who is barely waking up next to Sue, We keep going back and forth between Kane's shootout and Lynch's rituals as he wakes up. Kane escapes the shootout, with a bullet in his shoulder, and the camera goes back to Lynch telling his girlfriend that Kane is flying into Shanghai the next day, presumably for the "deal" Lynch is talking about.
We get to the load screen, and Lynch is trying to reach Sue through his cell phone, but it goes unanswered and straight to the answering machine. He tells her he "fucked up bad" and how they have to get out of the city and fast. He tells her to meet him at "Shuang Xi" as soon as she can. He ends the message with "I love You. Bye."
At this point, I'm hooked into the story. Lynch is a very complex character. Although he is a maniac and will kill everybody he can to get what he needs, you see this side of him and it does make you see him in a different way, yeah he's a murderer but it shows he DOES care about someone. Kane is also a very interesting character, you see that he has morals hidden through all of the mayhem he creates. Especially after the first game with the conflict with his daughter. I won't spoil what happens at the end of the first game, but if you wanna know, both endings are on Youtube right now.
We then get a look at the controls, which do feel alot better. They introduced a cover system, which was very much needed. They also incorporated the D-Pad for different uses as well. If yo hit right on the pad you bring up the "point of interest" which indicates areas you should check out. It also has a "Weapons Locator" when you press down, which shows you the different guns that are around the area and if you hit up you "Display Names" for use in multiplayer mode. Pressing Left on the D-Pad does nothing, which is very odd.
The sprint button is something that I really dig, I never like when games have you pressing the left joystick and controlling the movement with the same stick. An actual button is alot more effective, obviously. I have yet to get the "Human Shield" to work, I don't know if they have to be wounded for it to work, but I haven't pulled it off yet. And all of the other control options are the usual for any action game on the 360.
Now is where the action intensifies. We're in Shuang Xi and both men are eating when all of a sudden, someone opens fire at you! As soon as you can get a bearing of what's going on around you, all kinds of enemies start piling into the restaurant and trying to wipe you out. Another cool aspect with Dog Days is the destructible environment, meaning if someone is hiding behind something that looks like it can be blown away with a shotgun, it most likely can. The same goes for you too, you only have maybe 4 or 5 seconds of cover before someone is blasting it away, so you always gotta be on the move but also aware of your surrounding. Here's something else to keep in mind when you're playing Dog Days: DO NOT GO INTO GUNFIGHTS RAMBO STYLE. You won't survive trying to go up to them and wipe them out. You only have about 5 hits before you die, so you gotta use strategy over reckless abandon.
You eventually wipe out the enemies and make your way to the back area of the restaurant, you cut through the kitchen and see all of the cooks tied up with bags over they're head. You don't do anything to them and then you make your way to higher ground. Now you're in the alley trying to hurry back to Sue's apartment before anything happens to her. You make your way to what looks like the halfway point of where Sue's apartment is, but now they're are more enemies in your way. You got an advantage being up above them so you can pick them off without having too much trouble. They're are gas canisters lying around on the ground, so if you so choose, grab one fling it in the air and shoot it! You'll take out groups of enemies in no time.
Once you've made it out of the area, you make your way to the crowed streets with the cops on your tail. As you could probably guess, you have to take them out in order to move on. This is when the "Human Shield" would come into play, although I has unsuccessful in actually doing that, it can be done in this sequence.
You continue through the streets fighting off the authorities. In the latter part of the stage, they're are alot of vehicles to take cover with, which is really helpful. Once you've finally fought through the streets, you make your way to another alley and end up next to a barely constructed building.
Now we're in the final sequence of the demo. You enter the barely constructed building and they're are more authorities on your tail. It's the same deal here, wipe 'em out and advance to the next small section of the construction site. Although it is exciting, it does get old fast doing the same thing. But, it is a demo so I guess I shouldn't expect a whole lot. You get through the construction zone and wind up in front of the apartment building where Sue is living as the demo ends.
Final Thoughts:
It will take some time getting used to the controls of the game, but they're is a drastic jump in terms of quality from "Dead Men" to "Dog Days" in every way. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days releases on August 17th for the PS3, Xbox 360 & PC.
I'll be making a review thread as well.
Xbox 360:
Kane & Lynch II: Dog Days (1 player demo, includes multiplayer mode as well)
As many people here know, I've been really anticipating the release of Dog Days. The first game had alot of cumbersome issues, mainly from the controls dept, but the game overall wasn't half bad.
In late 09, they released this teaser showing you the different approach they were going to take for Dog Days:
After viewing that teaser, it did get me interested to see where they were going to take the sequel. This time around, the game will follow Lynch or as I used to call him "the guy who looks like James Mitchell", living in Shanghai and trying to live a normal life with his girlfriend, Sue.
...I should mention he's a "self-medicated psychopath" looking to "make a fat deal where the pay is beyond his wildest dreams and nothing is going to get in his way." So much for a normal life. Kane's whereabouts, on the other hand, are unknown. Ok, now that I got that brief, albeit very horrible attempt of a synopsis out of the way, onto the impressions of the demo.
The demo opens with Kane in a shootout with most of his men lying dead all around him. He continues to shoot and screams at the top of his lungs and then we transition to Lynch, who is barely waking up next to Sue, We keep going back and forth between Kane's shootout and Lynch's rituals as he wakes up. Kane escapes the shootout, with a bullet in his shoulder, and the camera goes back to Lynch telling his girlfriend that Kane is flying into Shanghai the next day, presumably for the "deal" Lynch is talking about.
We get to the load screen, and Lynch is trying to reach Sue through his cell phone, but it goes unanswered and straight to the answering machine. He tells her he "fucked up bad" and how they have to get out of the city and fast. He tells her to meet him at "Shuang Xi" as soon as she can. He ends the message with "I love You. Bye."
At this point, I'm hooked into the story. Lynch is a very complex character. Although he is a maniac and will kill everybody he can to get what he needs, you see this side of him and it does make you see him in a different way, yeah he's a murderer but it shows he DOES care about someone. Kane is also a very interesting character, you see that he has morals hidden through all of the mayhem he creates. Especially after the first game with the conflict with his daughter. I won't spoil what happens at the end of the first game, but if you wanna know, both endings are on Youtube right now.
We then get a look at the controls, which do feel alot better. They introduced a cover system, which was very much needed. They also incorporated the D-Pad for different uses as well. If yo hit right on the pad you bring up the "point of interest" which indicates areas you should check out. It also has a "Weapons Locator" when you press down, which shows you the different guns that are around the area and if you hit up you "Display Names" for use in multiplayer mode. Pressing Left on the D-Pad does nothing, which is very odd.
The sprint button is something that I really dig, I never like when games have you pressing the left joystick and controlling the movement with the same stick. An actual button is alot more effective, obviously. I have yet to get the "Human Shield" to work, I don't know if they have to be wounded for it to work, but I haven't pulled it off yet. And all of the other control options are the usual for any action game on the 360.
Now is where the action intensifies. We're in Shuang Xi and both men are eating when all of a sudden, someone opens fire at you! As soon as you can get a bearing of what's going on around you, all kinds of enemies start piling into the restaurant and trying to wipe you out. Another cool aspect with Dog Days is the destructible environment, meaning if someone is hiding behind something that looks like it can be blown away with a shotgun, it most likely can. The same goes for you too, you only have maybe 4 or 5 seconds of cover before someone is blasting it away, so you always gotta be on the move but also aware of your surrounding. Here's something else to keep in mind when you're playing Dog Days: DO NOT GO INTO GUNFIGHTS RAMBO STYLE. You won't survive trying to go up to them and wipe them out. You only have about 5 hits before you die, so you gotta use strategy over reckless abandon.
You eventually wipe out the enemies and make your way to the back area of the restaurant, you cut through the kitchen and see all of the cooks tied up with bags over they're head. You don't do anything to them and then you make your way to higher ground. Now you're in the alley trying to hurry back to Sue's apartment before anything happens to her. You make your way to what looks like the halfway point of where Sue's apartment is, but now they're are more enemies in your way. You got an advantage being up above them so you can pick them off without having too much trouble. They're are gas canisters lying around on the ground, so if you so choose, grab one fling it in the air and shoot it! You'll take out groups of enemies in no time.
Once you've made it out of the area, you make your way to the crowed streets with the cops on your tail. As you could probably guess, you have to take them out in order to move on. This is when the "Human Shield" would come into play, although I has unsuccessful in actually doing that, it can be done in this sequence.
You continue through the streets fighting off the authorities. In the latter part of the stage, they're are alot of vehicles to take cover with, which is really helpful. Once you've finally fought through the streets, you make your way to another alley and end up next to a barely constructed building.
Now we're in the final sequence of the demo. You enter the barely constructed building and they're are more authorities on your tail. It's the same deal here, wipe 'em out and advance to the next small section of the construction site. Although it is exciting, it does get old fast doing the same thing. But, it is a demo so I guess I shouldn't expect a whole lot. You get through the construction zone and wind up in front of the apartment building where Sue is living as the demo ends.
Final Thoughts:
It will take some time getting used to the controls of the game, but they're is a drastic jump in terms of quality from "Dead Men" to "Dog Days" in every way. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days releases on August 17th for the PS3, Xbox 360 & PC.