Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days Visual Style Explained

IO Interactive has explained the radical change in visual style in the upcoming Kane & Lynch sequel.

In a post on the official site, Kane & Lynch: Dog Days art director Rasmus Poulsen revealed why the developer opted for a more realistic, documentary-inspired visual style in the game.

“We decided early on to move away from glitter and glam of a shiny, high-tech, high-bloom world to try something different with Dog Days,” said Poulsen.
 
“The ambition was to get the game visuals to a level of gritty realism you just don’t see anywhere in videogames today. Creating a massive, glowing, bright universe of huge explosions and insanely ornate scenery would be fun and beautiful but would also go against what we wanted to achieve with the game.”

Poulsen went on to explain how the new style meant a change in focus for the art team.

“So, rather than focusing on using bump maps and spec maps in the normal way, we’re trying to create more ‘raw’ or ‘uncut’ representations of a perceived reality through the use of advanced filter effects – adding streaks of light, dust specks on the lens, film grain in low light and blowout in harsh light for the visual experience and similar elements for the sound experience,” he added.

You can check out the new visual style for yourself in the recently-released gameplay trailer and find out why we’re glad to see Kane & Lynch back.