September 14th, 2010
Posted in 
“We put these two old dogs in a cage to fight out which version is Top Dog”
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
| Eidos Interactive |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Eidos Interactive | |||
| IO Interactive | 1 | 1 |
IO Interactive | |||||||||
| 3rd Person Shooter | 1631 mb | optional |
3rd Person Shooter | |||||||||
| Release: 08/17/2010 | 24.2 sec | 21.8 sec | Release: 08/17/2010 | |||||||||
| ESRB: M |
Med | Low | ESRB: M | |||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||
 |
||||
 |
 |
|
Head2Head – Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days This week we take Kane & Lynch 2 for the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 under our Lens to see which version is the Top Dog. |
|
 |
 |
|||
 |
||||
This week we put Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in a dogfight to see which version came out the “Top Dog”. Thanks once more to the folks over at Play N Trade, Oviedo, FL for supplying us our test copies. When we played Kane & Lynch 2 at this year’s E3, we had high hopes. Introducing a unique art style never really seen before in a game, while taking post processing effects to the next level. We knew one thing was certain – only one version would come out of our Head 2 Head dogfight alive. Now that this game is out and steadily dropping in price, what better time take the plunge and buy it, or at least start thinking about buying it? But before you do that, let us supply you with some facts to help guide you towards the definitive purchase. Read on to find out exactly what we unleashed in this week’s Head 2Head.
We have a confession to make. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days was a rather lackluster experience to capture. The story may have been good and all, but because of the shaky cam effect continuously bouncing the scene around, we could barely endure the nauseous roller coaster feeling throughout our capture session. To make matters worse, only after we finished our entire capture process did we stumble across the options to some degree disable this effect. Point being, IO Interactive should have made more of an effort to let the end user know that some people may find the shaky camera effect annoying (or that it may induce vomiting) and displayed something somewhere easily visible that an option to disable this effect was available.
Graphics: It’s safe to say IO Interaction art direction was a risky gamble that might not have paid off, but one thing’s for sure. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days rendering engine was re-amplified from its predecessor. Even though this unique art style may not have been appreciated by the majority, the sheer amount of post processing effects happening at any given time was quite impressive. For instance, the lighting effects looked amazing, especially with neon signs and such. Every single light in the scene scattered throughout the environment with vibrant streaks of light that filled the entire color spectrum, and creating a very active and realistic-looking metropolis.
The good news is that both versions seemed to handle the post processing lighting effects equally. However, there were definitely some visual differences we were able to see between the two versions. One such difference was that the Xbox 360 supported Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO). This can be seen in most of our rollover images below. For instance, when a character stood next to a wall or object, a shadow would project onto that object in real-time, creating a more realistic interaction between the character models and the environment. Most of us would probably never really notice this when playing, unless we’re looking at a static image, but none the less the PlayStation 3 version was missing it.
On the flip side, the PlayStation 3 version has superior shadows which made the overall environments look more defined. Please reference our rollover images below, you can see how superior shadowing effects the overall look and feel of an environment. Furthermore, the PlayStation 3 version seemed to have slightly more texture detail with some of the textures we captured. While the texture quality seemed to be the same across platforms, we occasionally came across some textures having a little more detail on the PlayStation 3 than the Xbox 360 counterpart. A good example of this can be seen in one of our rollover images of the car’s dashboard. Finally, both games did seem to support their basic 2X anti aliasing techniques, so nothing to report on that. In the end, both the Xbox 360 and PlayStaion3 versions looked really close to one another, but the differences between the two can’t be ignored. The Xbox 360 version did have SSAO throughout, but the PlayStation 3 version countered that with better shadowing and the occasional better-detailed texture. The PlayStation 3 version slightly wins this category.
Performance: This category was a little more cut throat than the others. While both versions maintained an average frame rate 60 FPS, the Xbox 360 seemed to perform more steadily. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to use our analyzer this time around, but no worries – we were able to spot the differences with our own eyes. What we saw was that the Xbox 360 version had much less screen tearing than the PlayStation 3 version. Understand; the Xbox 360 version did screen tear occasionally but the PlayStation 3 version seemed to do it more. Actually, almost every in-game cut scene we experienced on the PlayStation3 version had screen tearing occurring. Maybe the constant shaky cam had something to do with it. Just saying.
Loading: Load times for both version were almost identical across the board. The PlayStation 3 averaged around 24 seconds, while the Xbox 360 version averaged around 21 seconds. Note: the PlayStation 3 version did require a mandatory install which weighed in around 1.6 Gigs and took five minutes and 30 seconds to complete. Listed below are the load-time samples we experienced.
| PlayStation 3 Load Times | Xbox 360 3 Load Times |
Sample 1: 11 seconds Sample 2: 30 seconds Sample 3: 40 seconds Sample 4: 11 seconds Sample 5: 29 seconds |
Sample 1: 12 seconds Sample 2: 29 seconds Sample 3: 38 seconds Sample 4: 12 seconds Sample 5: 18 seconds |
| Sample Average: 24.2 seconds |
Sample Average: 21.8 seconds |
Roll over the image to see the differences. Notice the PlayStation 3 version is missing SSAO.
Roll over the image to see the differences.
Roll over the image to see the differences.
Roll over the image to see the differences.
Roll over the image to see the differences.
Pages: 1 2
Tags: 
Sorry about these Head2Heads coming a little late but honestly so far this year (2010) games sucked. Name one AAA title released thus far. Usually around this time of the year its like that. Lack luster games like this one sit on the back burner until we have any spare time to do them.
I promise when worthy titles like Dead Rising 2 and such come out we’ll grantee a speedy Head2Head.
I think the 360 will win Dead Rising 2. I saw the PS3 version and it wasnt that hot. I doubt they care too much about it. I’m not getting the game anyway. Too many other games coming out.
I love the series. I will definitively be buying this. I’ll buy almost anything that has zombies in it… except for that Zombie stripper movie, I had to let that one pass.
To be fair, judging by what everyone is saying about it, neither version looks hot. If Capcom is using teh engine tehy used for RE 5, then yeah, itll probaly be a bit better on 360.
Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Red Dead Redemption and Starcraft 2 were all AAA titles released this year. Man, you have a short term memory.
I will, wholeheartedly that this summer was beyond weak for new releases. Other than a few standout downloads from XBLA or PSN and (in my opinion) Mafia 2 and Singularity, nothing worthwhile hit during these months.
Fear not…we’re in the fourth quarter now, baby.
Your right, and we did those 2 Head2Head’s immediately, but after them, there was really nothing we felt interesting enough to spend to much time on. Anyway no need to focus on this anymore we promise the top notch games that are coming out will be done ASAP.
I wouldn’t be so tough on yourself there ‘Shawn’. If the audience wants a hurried, opinionated decision, it’s probably not going to come out, in too great in quality.
Now… I’m not saying roll hay bails or anything, and I’m definitely not insulting anybody else, or the rest of the head2head crew. I actually enjoy these reviews, and in-depth screen by screen showing, and average people making reviews.
Now… to the review, I agree pretty much, I could groan all I want, but it’s pretty darn close.
(One thing about the game though??? In third-person why do they show blood splatters on the screen, makes no sense? Darken, maybe in sepia colours using damage, more convenient and interesting to the viewer, kinda like Uncharted 2 Drake’s Fortune.)
Erm…Final Fantasy XIII? Wasn’t that considered a AAA? It was kind of a big deal if I recall…
Other AAA titles released this year, as far as I remember from reviews and the like, include StarCraft II, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2…maybe?
Plus, that didn’t seem to stop you from comparing the relatively obscure BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (I can only assume you did not do a H2H of Continuum Shift because, graphically, it was virtually identical to CT). So…I dunno. Maybe it’s just your taste in games, but…I’d think the above examples are generally considered “AAA”.
Jeez, talking about “AAA” games just make me think of the batteries I used in my Game Boy Pocket.
I think Shawn meant – “Name one AAA title released thus far” that we didn’t happen to cover in one way or another.
Final Fantasy XIII Head2Head – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=18555
Final Fantasy XIII Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19047
BioShock 2 Head2Head – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=17989
BioShock 2 Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=18111
Mass Effect: Evolution – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=17819
Mass Effect 2 Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=18047
God of War III Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19003
Super Street Fighter 4 Head2Head – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19326
Super Street Fighter 4 Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19612
Splinter Cell Conviction Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19798
Red Dead Redemption Head2Head – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19855
Alan Wake Review – http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19930
I agree it is a TIE. Shame the actual game is a pile of rubbish.
PS3 screen tears like mad but it’s still a very fun game. I enjoyed the first one, second was even better. TBH I wish I got the 360 version, the 360 demo teared a lot less, and any graphics differences are practically unoticeable because of the crazy amounts of post-processing.
Shut up foggy_glasses and be happy to read this. Hopefully you waited on buying this game anyway because its already getting price cuts. Yeah its late but this is a perfect time to read this H2H IMO. By October this game might be worth its price…which will be $29.99 or less.
Yeah, I agree with Rightdare and Shawn. foggy_glasses, quit your bitchin’ and be appreciative of what you have…a through, high quality head to head. I’m lookin’ forward to the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions h2h!
While I appreciate these I feel they could be more technical.
Also TJ SSAO is not self shadowing, it’s a shader effect that lightens and darkens areas by simulating light scatter. The lines of a proper shadow look much more refined.
Game doesn’t look too good. Other than that I agree it looks to be a tie. Screen tearing was noticeable on both and while the PS3 was missing self shadow, the 360 was missing shadows and textures in entire areas. I wouldn’t have noticed either if I didn’t see the roll over though.
Also. How much less does the camera shake whenever turning on the other option?
What a POS game. All I know is Halo is Monday!!!
This one should go to the PS3 solely because of the frequent and game spoiling bug on the X360 version. Checkout the Giant Bomb review for more information.
Other than that, good porting of a iffy game.
Dead Rising 2 should be interesting.
The way I see it, the deciding factor in this H2H was the screen-tears. The PS3 version has way too many screen-tears to be tolerated.
By the way, do you guys have any plan to work on a “BlazBlue: Continuum Shift” Head2Head…if ever…
I also like you guys to do a “Vanquish demo” Head2Head, if you’re interested…
i got it on 360, its not a bad game tbh
What about mafia 2?
Based on the demos which 2K said were using very-much final code, the PS3 has larger draw distance but no grass and uses a fairly OK blur filter, the 360 version has grass and uses 2xAA. PS3 has better framerate outdoors, 360 has better framerate indoors. Both tear a lot. Despite the half-decent ports and tearing I quite enjoyed the demo.
Dont you guys think you overblow the screen tearing thing sometimes? I mean, I played War for Cybertron on PS3, and didnt notice that suppsoed horrible tearing that you guys saw. You said it made one of your editors sick at one time, but I looked at the game at that one time, and I didnt notice it.
Probably the PP hiding it. I almost felt that the tearing was a sort of camera effect they intentionally put on until I looked closer.
It might have been late but I still appreciate the work. Looking forward to the spiderman head to head since I might be a buy for me. I’d like to suggest Vanquish seeing as the games lead platform is the ps3.
I agree with the tie. As I looked through the shots I saw both versions having strengths and weaknesses. Some shots from the 360 looked better to me and others looked much better on the PS3.
While the game doesn’t spark much interest to me, I’m glad to see something other than another 360 win. Both consoles are great and as soon as 3rd party devs truly master the Cell, there will be no difference in multiplat games at all.
yeah, but how long ebfore that happens? 2or 3 years? well be in next gen by then. I dont think its going to happen.
true, some people put in faith into one multiplat thats the same and expect all of them to magicaly be the same, and then get thier feelings hurt when other multiplats dont look the same
Actually I was talking about how differences in versions are so small at this point it doesn’t even matter what version you go with. Fanboyism is an ugly thing and to deny this fact makes you one of them. Hell some games it all boils down to preference rather than what these sites say.
And the day differences diminish totally will come sooner than fanboys think. Look at Darksiders, Dante’s Inferno, Battlefield BC2, DMC4, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope. These games look and run identical to each other in every way do to each platform having their own dev team rather than one version being a port. Not to mention games that look significantly better on the PS3 but run a bit smoother on the 360 like Dragon Age: Origins. The time SEGAtron thinks will happen “2 or 3″ years from now is already here, just with a few (and I mean FEW) edges to smooth out.
That being said, we are already in the age where the only real difference between consoles are the exclusives you prefer. People have different taste and both systems have great exclusives.
Uncharted or Gears, Infamous or Crackdown, Killzone or Halo, God of War or Ninja Blade (lmfao at that one).
That being said, research the exclusives and go with the console you prefer based on that. Great multiplats will be there reguardless of your choice. The only people who truly benefit from these sites are people who own both systems and usually already grasp the truth I have just stated. Those who try to knock EITHER console is nothing more than a blind fanboy with nothing better to do with their lives.
you’re best bet is to just own BOTH consoles. (providing you can afford them)
I agree 100%. Owning both systems gets you the best of both worlds and pretty much destroys the need to be a fanboy. However, there are reasons other than money that lead people to choose one system (not including fanboy because fanboys are stupid).
Take my reasoning for example. I chose the PS3 for the exclusives. Games like Uncharted, GoW3, Demon Souls, and Infamous make me glad I made that decision. The true kicker that made me get the PS3 was when I found out Metal Gear Solid 4 was going to be a PS3 exclusive. Don’t get me wrong, 360 has some great games to. I would love to play games like Fable, Gears, and Left 4 Dead but the PS3 library appeals to me more (Mass Effect 2 was on that list but even that is going PS3 in Jan).
So why don’t I get both if money isn’t the issue? I simply don’t have time for every game I want to play. By the time I finish the PS3 exclusives that I love and play through the many great multiplats that catch my eye, a fresh new batch of exclusives and multiplats hit the store the next month. Between work and spending time with my family, trying to throw even more games in my routine would totally throw my life off balance. I love gaming and I always will, but gaming should never consume anyone’s entire life. This is why I did the research and just got the system that better appealed to my taste.
@Shiken
AFAIK Darksiders and Dante’s Inferno are the only true identical games so far. BFBC2 has 2xaa on 360 and no AA on PS3. DMC4 has better shadows on 360, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope has additional self shadowing and better effects in the PS3 version, and does a funky 720p to subHD res change during battles.
If devs truly master the cell and offload gfx perfectly onto it the PS3 multiplats should like much better than the 360 ones. The systems are not of equal performance nor equally accessible and so will for the majority of titles not have exactly the same graphics.
I went with the 360 version of this game. For the most part, I liked this game… It has its moments and many of them are total carnage! The shaky cam was something I loved as well. Without it this wouldve been just another 3rd person shooter.
Everything from the atmosphere to the yelling between Kane and Lynch, to the blurred effects of gunshots and naked people. This game does what any decent 3rd person action shooter does, but it does it with a nice twist that you’ll either love or hate.
Great head 2 head LoT! Any chance we can get a 2011 sports game H2H at some point?
Shawns comment “…Killing is fun…” to me is certainly one of the dumbest ones I have read for some time.
Still, I am glad LOT do what they do.
once again, lens of truth bringing us another looooooooooong awaiting H2H….in ther struggle to please sony’s fanboys with another “ps3 win” no matter how the pics showed the opposite.
1.- the lack of shadows on the x360 version is no more that the lack of lightning on the ps3 version.
2.- as pictures showed, textures look slighty better on the x360 version, look the guy with the busssines suit on the pic, by example.
3.- shadows are slighty better on the ps3 version but is not a big difference.
looading requires a mandatory install and after waiting one minute or so..(thing that every ps3 owner KNOWS IS MORE THAT THAT TIME THEY SAID) they dare to say that is a tie….WHEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THAT THE PS3 BD DRIVE IS SLOWER THAT DVD DRIVE, AND AS YOU CAN ATTACH TO A PS3 THE MODEL OF HDD YOU HAVE…VERSUS THE CRAPPY DRIVES THAT YOU CANNOT CHANGE IN 360..ONLY HACKING THEM?
NOT FAIR LOADING SPEED…you can put a 7200rpm on a ps3..x36 are only retail 5500rpm crappy drives…
and you dare to say is a tie?
HAHA!!!!!
I LOVE YOU GUYS…THANKS FOR YOUR GUTS TO SAY THAT BANANAS ARE PURPPLE NO MATTER HOW YELLOW THEY LOOK LIKE!!
Blind fanboyism at its finest ladies and gents. I’m not even going to grace this with a proper response.
i think zolrak is borderline retarded.
No. He is completely retarded.
C’mon people. It’s a little bit harsh calling him retarded. I bet english is not even his first language. Can you type in two different languages, i know i can’t. And he has got a point about the loading time thing.
And at least he’s figured out how to turn caps lock off now eh
ZoLRaK your such a fuc&k tart! I haven’t commented on here in a while but I’ve been watching. You have got to be the biggest degenerate this planet has to offer, next to Bill Gates of course! Dude, shut the Fu*k up and stop whining. These guys are offering a free service to help morons like your self and the way you thank them is by pissing and moaning like a 4 year old. Actually, my 4 year doesn’t even whine that much! If I ran this site I would ban your illiterate ass! Or even better charge you money to come here. Besides who fuc*king died and made you boss??
Oh yeah it makes sense you mentioned bananas. I bet you know a lot about bananas….. 8====D
thanks for your comment…
but trying to offend someone you dont personally know is very ignorant and unwise..
maybe you know more about homosexualism than anyone else cause you mentioned using a banana…..but allas! ignorant and retarded ppl are always around, this is world anyways….
by the way…now that i wasted unworthy time answering your comment….I will surelly laugh at you if me measure your career of degree (I bet you dont ahve any..loser in the end) but maybe i can buy you a console next time we met….or well or pay your debts….
have a nice day…and May God prevent you fall in jail….there youll see a lot of bananas like you say..++G!
….says the guy who comes on a video game comparison website and insults them all the time….
I think LOT may have made a mistake in their images. You can clearly see the 360 has better textures in the rollover images, but the article says the PS3 has better textures so I think they may have accidentally mismatched the pictures.
Also the default PS3 drive is 5200rpm, same as the 360′s. If devs implement streaming properly then the BRD read speed should be more than adequate for all PS3 games, however considering I can upgrade my drive at any time to any size I do not see these installs as an issue, I’d consider them a benefit.
Zolrak I don’t have any idea what you are trying to accomplish.
This one is a really hard one to decide which is better, with the type of camera work IO went with, determining a graphical is hard to do. PS3 version I suppose, thanks for the H2H guys.
After the shambles that was the first K&L(gun’s not actually shooting where your crosshair points is pretty much as bad as it gets imo), i thought they would have put extra effort to try and revive it’s allready soiled ip. But no, from my breif experience with the demo, and the few reveiws that i’ve read thats just not the case. Crappy graphics wrapped up in a nauseating filter, and a quite short play time means i’ll probably never play this turd.
R.I.P kane and lynch
Stop making this s**t IO, bring me more hitman….Please.
i actually like the graphics in the game.
Where is a MAFIA II head to head? !!!!
Why would you review this crappy K&L2 game before a AAA title like Mafia2?
You could even do a tripple head review since Mafia2 is available on all platforms: xbox360, PS3, and PC.
obviously PC would win, but i would like to see differences in xbox and PS3.
you can adjust the gameplay in the options so the cam doesnt shake at all