Motion sickness as a game

Kane and Lynch 2 is NOT a good game. At times it's downright miserable. It's also buggy and unpolished to boot. I would find no shortage of flaws if I really wanted to itemize them. It's a title I should, by all accounts, absolutely hate.

Yet I'm mesmerized by it. It's one of the most unpleasant and jarring gaming experiences one can have - probably somewhat similar, but not quite - to Manhunt games. It's grotesquely violent and disturbing, bordering on nihilistic in it's disregard for human life, yet never feels overtly exploitative, just upfront. Gameplay amounts to shooting and killing - repeated ad nauseam. That's it. The eerie soundtrack is this uneven, unearthly mix of upbeat, catchy Chinese pop songs, more traditional Chinese music and harrowing industrial ambience straight from a horror game. And when you really think about it - think about the events that unfold throughout its short four to five hour campaign - Kane and Lynch 2 essentially is a horror game dressed in very uncomfortable attire of a subpar third person shooter.

On harder difficulties when you die in seconds, the astounding bodycount, desensitizing violence and torture amidst the depressive, almost frightening dark ambience hearkens not to generic third-person shooter extravaganzas, like Gears of War, but to actual horror titles. There are no monsters, no ghosts, no supernatural horrors, only a pair of irredeemable, self-interested homicidal criminals who, as the player slowly realizes to his sheer terror, still manage to be borderline OK guys compared to the absolute bottom of humanity they are confronted with. And this coupled with a unique "shaky cam" perspective and visual style makes it seem more depressing and real.

Even though it's supposedly a crime-themed drama, like GTA or Mafia, there's not even a hint of romanticism, sentimentality or satire, not even a suggestion that a life of crime is, in any shape or form, glamorous or has something to offer, even momentarily. Everything is played straight, gritty and horrifying - as it should be in the worst criminal underbelly titular characters are forced to survive in.

If you expect a standard third-person shooter. DO NOT buy this game. By that metric, it's not even average. Buy it (on sale) for a four-hour descent into hell and madness that manages to be more terrifying and depressing than many horror games.

You can turn off the camera shake in settings...

Least chaotic day in Shanghai.

Not the best shooter, but probably my favorite I've played recently. I really wish more games emulated a documentary/snuff film kind of aesthetic. BRING BACK UGLY GAMES!

(And Lynch is sexy, but you didn't hear me say that).