15 years ago, Kane & Lynch 2 took the crown as the most relentlessly miserable game of all time. It still is – and is still brilliant

At first blush, it’d be easy to take Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days as just another third-person action shooter of the Xbox 360 era – a period absolutely replete with such games. To be honest, that description is certainly true of its predecessor – a game probably now more broadly remembered for its role in one of games media’s largest scandals. But the sequel is something more – something special, unique, and worth remembering.

15 years old today, the most famed aspect of Kane & Lynch 2 has aged well. Revisiting it briefly for its anniversary, it’s obvious that it’s an aged shooter of a bygone era with all of the mechanical foibles that framing brings – but this is also a game that does and says things that few in the decade and a half since have attempted.

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Much of this is about the aesthetic of Dog Days’ presentation. Broadly speaking, it’s shot in a way intended to be candid. The camera shakes like it’s being held by some poor spectator battling a relentless avalanche of adrenaline. In a time when games were pushing for an increasingly cinematic look Kane & Lynch’s bloodied misadventures aren’t shot or framed with any heroic portraiture.

At the same time, presentational touches suggest the curation of the footage. Colours blow out as if you’re viewing the action off a worn-down VHS tape, and techniques are deployed to make your interactive decisions in gameplay infect the visuals. Looking directly into the brightest neon lights or burning incandescent bulbs makes the footage flare. An explosion doesn’t just fulminate in Kane & Lynch 2’s world – it rips through that camera lens too, the footage warping and distorting as a result.