Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

If the tense heist sequences and pitched street battles between cops and robbers in the original Kane and Lynch paid homage to Michael Mann's Heat, then the blistering pace and verite stylings of its follow-up feel like a tribute to JJ Abrams's monster movie Cloverfield. The handheld camera wobbles and shakes as it tracks our antiheroes' every move, dropping to the dirt whenever one takes a bullet and lurching woozily as they sprint down alleyways, while the nastiest moments are censored by a mess of blocky pixels. Splatter fans might miss the gory thrill of a headshot, but there's something grotesquely effective about this stylistic trick; the suggestion that it's too disgusting to show adds to the mock-doc realism. With some exceptional sound design capturing the shuddering intensity and near-deafening cacophony of a gunfight, the opening stages in particular are immersive and thrilling, the mean streets of Shanghai captured in authentic detail. It's third-person action as shown on YouTube and an invigorating aesthetic that will surely be imitated in future titles.

The accidental shooting of a crime lord's daughter propels the plot, as Kane and Lynch are chased through the city by both police and gangsters, while attempting to locate the latter's Chinese girlfriend. The pursuit culminates in a gruesome and gratuitously shocking sequence from which the game never recovers, with the two forced through uninspiring locations such as factories, warehouses and train yards that could be in any city. The action, meanwhile, refuses to pause for breath, save for the odd profanity-laced cinematic moment, and the relentless, one-note pacing starts to pall. At a mere six hours long, the story tries not to outstay its welcome, though some will be disappointed at the abruptness of its ending.

Fortunately, the inventive Fragile Alliance multiplayer mode makes a welcome return, offering a series of expansive stages for online heists, with the potential to betray your team-mates and claim the loot for yourself when the getaway vehicle arrives. There are several variants on this theme, including the single-player arcade mode, which suffers from the occasionally suicidal behaviour of your computer-controlled team-mates.

Sadly, the visual verve isn't quite enough to compensate for the unconvincing shooting. Most weapons feel either underpowered or inaccurate; despite sounding like you're embroiled in urban warfare, you may as well be using water pistols. There's plenty of potential in both the characters and the game's coarse, naturalistic approach to gang violence, but ultimately Dog Days' bark is more effective than its bite.