Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days - Xbox 360

What We Know: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days finds the dirty-mouthed duo re-teaming up in Shaghai, and follows them as they attempt to survive a violent and vicious 48 hours journey through the city’s criminal underworld.

What We’re Seeing Now: I managed to put in some solid hands-on time with the first few single-player missions and four of the multiplayer modes (all of which unfortunately took place on the same map) for our last preview look at the game before the game hits shelves on August 24.

The first thing you noticed about the game is the presentation. If you’ve seen any of the trailers or gameplay clips (or played the demo), you know that the game sports a grainy, handheld camera style that definitely gives the game a unique and tense feel. While Kane & Lynch: Dead Men was clearly an attempt to be Heat: The Game narratively speaking, the sequel, which draws on director Michael Mann's more recent films like Collateral and Miami Vice, now looks and feels the part even more.

On the multiplayer side I was able to check out Fragile Alliance, Cops and Robbers, and Undercover Cop. All three center around criminals stealing valuable loot and trying to reach the getaway cars while cops try to stop them. Expect more in depth takes on all the modes in our final review, but I wanted to quickly call out Undercover Cop, as it was especially compelling, since each round starts with one player being chosen at random to be the imposter.

Should you find yourself in Mr. Orange’s shoes, you aren’t allowed to kill any enemies, which means you have to pretend like your “missing” cops if you want to maintain your cover. Your objective is to kill your criminal teammates before they can escape with the loot. It’s a wonderful tightrope act that you have to play, and it adds something really special to the same old cops vs. robbers structure.

Like the single-player portion that I played, the multiplayer had style, but the combat and enemy AI were a bit wonky. Again, I don’t know how much is going to change between now and release day (which was actually bumped up a week), but if it gets some last minute tweaking, Dog Days could be just the thing to scratch the itch of gamers looking for a truly gritty and unflinching crime experience.