 There's a reason this game is less than $10. After years apart, Kane and Lynch are getting back together to participate in an illicit arms deal going down in Shanghai. Unfortunately, a small side job goes horribly wrong and the two "allies" have to shoot their way out of the city.
1. Gameplay
The first Kane & Lynch game was seriously flawed and far too short. It definitely didn’t deserve a sequel without someone seriously rethinking what a game needs to be successful. Kane & Lynch 2 made improvements that would have made the average sequel successful, but unfortunately failed to fix any of the major issues that kept players from even considering picking this game up from the bargain bin.  Love or boredom? In case you took my previous advice and didn’t purchase the first Kane & Lynch, I’ll give you a summation of its problems. The campaign was too short, the story was boring, the characters difficult to relate to, and the only thing you ever did was run and shoot. The developers spent far too much time on the multiplayer, which doesn’t work when you’re trying to establish a new series, because if no one picks up your game there’s no one to play the multiplayer.  The arcade mode would have been pretty aweosome. Probably. Kane & Lynch 2 did not fix a single one of these problems. Not one. The campaign is the same length, the story is still boring, the characters are still difficult to relate to, and except for a single helicopter shooting sequence the only thing the player ever does is run and shoot. While the cover mechanics have been significantly improved and the documentary-like camera gave an interesting perspective, it doesn’t matter when the story is so terribly boring.  The one helicopter section in the game. It's just like every other section, but you don't move. Basically, Kane & Lynch get together again to go into an illegal weapons deal. Before that, they do a quick, easy side job that ends up pissing off the head of the biggest Triad in Shanghai. The rest of the game is just Kane & Lynch trying to continue with the weapons deal and trying to get out of the city. That’s it. There’s no subtle plot devices to work the characters toward some ultimate goal or a final antagonist that the players must confront in order to escape. There isn’t even an antagonist.  No real enemy, no final boss, nothing. Imagine yourself going to an action movie. The plot is that two men need to get out of the city alive. You then watch 40 minutes of them shooting their way out of the city. The end. That’s the game.  The end. Don’t get this game. Seriously.
The first Kane & Lynch campaign took me a little over 3 hours to complete. Kane & Lynch 2 took me almost the exact same amount of time. There were 9 levels, all of which were the exact same style of action except for one, which involved being in a helicopter and shooting at enemies. Since this game wasn’t exactly popular on release (and definitely isn’t now), the multiplayer modes are completely useless. There’s nobody on them, so unless you can trick your friends into buying copies of this game you won’t find out how much fun they were(n’t). Fortunately, the arcade mode can be played with AI partners. Since it’s surprisingly fun and simple, it will definitely increase the length of the game for anyone who accidentally paid for it.
The gameplay is pretty smooth, the friendly AI is quite possibly the best I have seen in a video game ever, and the arcade mode is simple and easy to understand. The most frustrating thing about this game, by far, is the fact that the campaign is so freakin’ short and way too boring. It’s like going to the movie theater paying your $10, and watching a 25 minute film on life in Guam. I’m sure there are interesting things to do, but I expect way, way more for the amount of money this game was asking for on release. 2. Parental Notices
Violence in Kane and Lynch 2 is, for the most part, typical for this type of third person shooter. The player will use a variety of firearms to kill enemies. Shots will result in a spray of blood that can stay on the person and environment.  The blood goes away fairly quickly though. However, the “documentary” like camera does tone down some of the more potentially violent content. For example, if the player gets a headshot on enemies, sometimes the enemy’s head will be blurred out. It implies a much more violent result than what would normally be shown, but it’s an interesting way to make the player assume violent results are there without actually showing any content.  Nothing to see here. That nifty blurring trick doesn't stop the player from seeing one of his targets commit suicide via slitting his own throat. It's not as bloody as it could have been, but it's still cringe worthy.  I wonder what's behind those pixels. There was never any gore, even with explosions. The player can throw propane tanks and gasoline canisters, but enemies don’t even light on fire. I would have left it at that, but there is one scene (visited twice in the campaign) where Kane and Lynch are brutally tortured. They end up getting bloody cuts all over their bodies. It’s a pretty tough scene to watch. Fortunately it’s pretty short, but the player does have to run through an entire level watching the bloodied, naked bodies of Kane and Lynch.  Death by 1000 cuts, but without the death.
Sexuality comes up very rarely in this game. In the first mission, the player breaches through a door, startling a couple who are likely in the process of having sex. That isn’t seen, though. The woman is wearing a bra (her crotch is blurred out) and the man is in an unbuttoned shirt and underwear.  Worst. Timing. Ever. The same goes for pretty much every potential example of nudity. The game blurs out any parts (or potential parts), giving the player an idea of what is being shown but preventing the player from actually seeing anything. So when Kane and Lynch are both running around Shanghai completely naked after being brutally tortured, their crotch is blurred.  If it weren't for the blur, you'd be able to see that the artists didn't even create the genitalia.
Occasionally characters can be seen drinking and smoking. This is the extent of the substances in the entire game.  Just pretend like we're not even here.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion is not a factor in this game.
Anti-law is a serious factor in all portions of this game. Kane and Lynch are two guys who are unafraid to get their hands dirty, getting involved in illegal sales of weapons and going on hit missions every once in a while. They have extensive experience being wanted fugitives, so that unsurprisingly comes back into play in Kane & Lynch 2.  An entire police force can't take down two guys. Step it up, Shanghai. Basically, Kane and Lynch will have to fight every police and SWAT officer in the entire city of Shanghai. By pissing off the biggest organized crime boss in Shanghai, they’ve become wanted by every crooked cop in the city (which seems to be all of them). The player will constantly have to kill police officers in Kane and Lynch’s desperate attempt to escape the city alive.  Even the TSA isn't safe. I don’t think there was a single mission that didn’t involve shooting police officers at some time. All of the arcade modes also involve blowing a hole into something that contains a lot of money and then shooting through cops to escape with the cash.
Since there is on online community, it is not a factor in this game.
Extreme sports are not a factor in this game.
Magic is not a factor in this game.
Torture The game opens with a scene that clearly depicts Kane and Lynch being slowly tortured with knives. But the scene quickly disappears and is forgotten amidst the proceeding chapters. When that scene does come back, the amount of time the game spends on it is significantly reduced. However, the gravity of the situation is definitely not lost. The player is disposed in a dumpster outside of the building, left for dead.  Being cut up like this and thrown in a Shanghai dumpster is probably bad for your health. However, it turns out he’s not dead, he’s just naked, cut everywhere on his body, severely bleeding, and seriously pissed off. Both Kane and Lynch are completely naked and cut all over their body. I have no idea how they’re even alive, let alone moving and fighting. Lynch’s wife was also seriously tortured before she died. Suicide
As I mentioned before in the violence chapter, there is one scene where the players are chasing this guy and his girlfriend. He takes the girlfriend as a human shield and, when she gets shot and killed, slits his own throat.
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