Kane & Lynch 2 - Dog Days

The first Kane & Lynch game was a barely acceptable 3rd person shooter which was harmed by its relentless grimness. The story tried so hard to be dark that it didn't even make sense. Why did Kane endure Lynch's non-stop unreliability? I can only think of one reason: because both their names are in the title, so they must work together. But Lynch was directly responsible for most of the bad things that happened to Kane in this game. To add insult to injury, the player was forced to choose between a bad ending and a worse ending. This was like a lesson in how to punish the player.

Curiously enough, the second Kane & Lynch kind of "fixes" those problems: the story follows none of those endings (Kane still has his daughter and Lynch's friendship). Also, Lynch is now directly responsible for his misfortune after a big single mistake (OK, or maybe two...), and Kane and Lynch stick together by plausible reasons (so they can make an arms deal and then escape). The story is straightforward and is concentrated in a short period of time.

The biggest change from the previous game is in the mechanics: Kane & Lynch 2 is a typical current-gen cover shooter, and never strays from that formula. Thankfully, the game is intense and just long enough so it never gets really boring. The levels are well done and varied in their sameness. If you think about it, you are playing in the usual settings you can see in any other game ("office", "street", "warehouse"), but here they looks different... and appropriate. All's happening in Shanghai, which is amazingly rendered here, putting Army of Two: The 40th Day to shame.

But the most original feature in the game is the "cellphone camera" effect. The whole game looks as if we were watching a badly made video of the events. This effect is really unique, and the thing is, it just works. Combined with great acting and level design, the results are terrific.

For some stretches of the game, you really feel you are playing something special... but then you remember that you are playing just another cover shooter. I couldn't pinpoint what keeps this from being a classic... Probably the lack of polish in certain aspects (the multiplayer modes just didn't work in my PC... though maybe it's just that nobody in the world is playing this game), or the unlikeability of the characters (even if they've come a long way since the first Kane & Lynch). Certainly, Uncharted this ain't.

Honestly, I don't know if I should recommend this game to you... I loved it, but I'm aware that it's not a game for everybody. If you like gritty cover shooters, you may like this. Oh, and it's a great co-op game.

CCG's Game Of The Year 2009!

And our game of the year is...

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES

Why? We all agree (and "all" means SuperViv, JR and me) that Plants vs Zombies surpassed all our expectations and gave us lots of hours of good, solid fun. This game wasn't hyped to death, but word of mouth has made it a success. JR found this game and told me that I just had to play it. He was right! Then I bought this game for my brother, and he really loved it! And SuperViv was told that she just had to play this game... by a friend from Israel! Yes, everybody around the globe loves Plants vs Zombies. Just because it looks like a "small" game, this doesn't mean that PvZ is worse than any of the Big Names.

In our words:

Such a simple idea. Yet, the execution is perfect. The graphics, the writing (the descriptions in the zombie guide are just hilarious), the gameplay... The difficulty is so finely tuned that you get the feeling that this game was playtested to death. (Danda)

Plants vs. Zombies is very addictive. It's not particularly difficult, but it gets slightly more difficult in every level, which makes you want to progress further and further. After every level, you end up with a new item that you just quickly want to try - so that 45 minutes later you're still "just quickly trying" a new item. The game is simple and really goofy in an endearing way. They paid a lot of attention to detail, too. The graphics are nicely cartoonish, the different types of zombies are funny, the music doesn't get on your nerves even after an hour or two, and the whole game sounds good from every shot and explosion to the zombies' muttering of "brains!" (SuperViv)

PvZ is quite cool! It may be less addictive than Defense Grid but it's more entertaining and varied. It's a really nice game and as you progress in the game you find a lot of hilarious stuff the makers put in the game. It's also very varied because it has a ton of minigames. I think it's a good purchase. And it's perfect for girlfriends! (JR)

So that's it. Oh, and my runner-up is...

UNCHARTED 2

That game is just perfect. Everything about is carefully built up to be great. OK, the story may be a little shallow if we compare it with a (good) movie, which is what it would like to be, but for the usual videogame standards, the script in Uncharted 2 is Shakespeare. But this is not like Metal Gear Solid 4: if you skip all the cutscenes (like I did on my second playthrough), you still have a dozen rock-solid hours of game.

And my definitely-not-game-of-the-year is...

MODERN WARFARE 2

Why would I pay extra to play the same game from 2007, all over again? No way. I only played this game because I managed to find, amazingly, a new copy for 17€.

I guess I'm supposed to find the airport level shocking (the game even offers to skip it), but the most shocking thing was the ending for that level. I was thinking "that's what you deserve for shooting the wrong people, you moron". Was I supposed to feel that? I'm not sure.

So, what about the "new" stuff? Oh, yes: I had to rescue hostages at an oil rig. Didn't I already do that in the early Rainbow Six games? Of course I did. And the snowmobile? Didn't I already do that on No One Lives Forever 2? Yes! Then, what about fighting on American soil? Oh, you mean, like in Resistance 2? And defending a diner from the ceiling? I think I already did that on that weird Area 51 kind-of-sequel, Blacksite.

Derivative, that's the word. Even the music is not as good as in COD4. Zimmer, you lazy man! Did you even write it, or did you just put your name on it?

And I don't care if you don't agree. It's just my opinion.

Danda

I couldn't post this earlier because I just can't stop playing Uncharted 2!

Hi SuperViv,

Yes! Now that I'm going to be alone for a whole month, this is my last chance to play games in a hardcore way. The problem with being a father is that you can't play ultraviolent stuff anymore. That would include 80% of my favourite games! :(

Nice Minesweeper trailer. Is the movie going to be directed by Uwe Boll or what? That would be funny. Remember when we went to his house [Hey, readers! Did you know he lives just half an hour away from the office where SuperViv and I work?]) and interviewed him? I really got the impression that Minesweeper was probably the only game he's ever played. Oh, and his own game.

Still, I think Picross really makes a difference with those little animations you get. Some of them are really funny, so completing a puzzle is very rewarding for me. The only problem is that Picross has an eventual end, when you run out of puzzles. Minesweeper is potentially endless, if you never run out of patience...

Yes, I got Uncharted 2. And my short review is this: Uncharted 2 is the best console game I've ever played.

Of course there's a train sequence! And you know, I personally believe a game is made x2 times more awesome if it has a sequence in a speeding train. The original Soldier of Fortune, Shadows of the Empire...

I'll tell you more about it soon. Now, I'm trying to complete my third playthrough!

Later,

- Danda

More Sims, Minesweeper: The Movie, and Uncharted 2

Hi Danda,

So, now that your wife is in Spain, I imagine you will be playing more video games again! :)

I haven't played a lot lately, but I'm still itching to complete GTA IV. It's taking me forever.

I do like games like The Sims or The Movies and such, although I find it's easy to get tired of them if you don't really have a defined objective. In The Sims, your objective of course was to improve in your job (or at least I think it was), and that was fun until you had to have a certain number of friends in order to progress in your job, which meant you had to have people over and then talk to them again and again till your sim basically collapsed due to exhaustion. It just got tiring after a while. Years ago when I was playing it and got bored with it, I decided to just create a commune of 10 people in it to make it more exciting, but I didn't have enough bathrooms and they kept peeing on the floor and threw their trash everywhere. Shocking.

Picross is fun, as is Minesweeper. I don't think the payoff in Picross of seeing a new image or animation is really more exciting than simply winning in Minesweeper, though. Also, have you seen the trailer to the Minesweeper movie? Hehe.

By the way, you wrote JR that you're going to get Uncharted 2? I saw a review of Uncharted 2 a while ago and it looks awesome. It's too bad they're not making this into a PC game. Sad also that it's not even out for the Xbox 360, even though that's the console I think I'd be getting if I were to get a console. Oh well.

Also, there seems to be a scene in the game where you have to fight your way along a moving train, and it reminds me very much of a really old game where you also had to do that, but for the life of me, I can't remember what that game was.... Any ideas?

Anyway, have a good day!

Game on,
-- SuperViv