Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

"Why couldn't you just stay dead?"

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (KALDM from here out)

KALDM was first brought to my attention by a commercial I saw on the tele. It looked like an average shooter with enhanced graphics, and an amazing story line. So I decided to rent myself a copy, and this is what I found.

Overall, KALDM is a great game with just a few flaws. From the minute I inserted the game in to my PS3, I could almost feel the greatness in the game. The opening movie came on, and Kane bean to speak. Most games can be either devastated by the voice acting, or enhanced superiorly. This was the latter of the two choices. The conversation between the characters, the emotion in their voices, it all blends together to fit perfectly. No awkward pauses waiting for someone to speak, no choppy line delivery, completely smooth performance. The first mission began, and you (Kane) have to follow Lynch as you are sprung from jail. Bullets whiz by your head and you heat them hit the wall. Guns sound different in ths game, and you can tell an MP-5 from an AK-47 just by listening. Characters whimper and complain when they get shot. The sound in this game are amazing. The audio of this game is flat out amazing, pure ear candy.

As police chase you, you really notice how realistic the game looks. The graphics are simply out of this world, pushing the PS3 to the limits. The more you get shot, the more you bleed, and the more wounds appear on your body, which leads to one minor flaw. Most times when you get shot, it's the arm, or the leg and maybe the torso. Which are all fleshy and made up of skin, bones, organs and so on. Would someone please explain to me why my parachute has skin? Yes, I was wearing a parachute/backpack type-deal, and was shot from behind. A would appeared on the bag, as though it were part of my body, made of skin and bones. Just a minor error. Also, I was slightly annoyed by seeing large, gaping wounds right on another characters face. One bullet to the head usually ends you, no matter how much adrenaline you take. Other than those two, minor errors, the game looks great. Broken windows, dismantled fruit stands, and sandbags all match their real life counter part. There is one mission inside of a nightclub, filled with people dancing, a DJ and strobe lights. Very, very entertaining. Pure eye candy here.

The area in which the game suffers the most has to be its controls. While you can adjust how fast your character looks in any given direction (the rotation on the X or Y axis in nerd terms) it still feels a bit slow. The game starts you out at 50 on each, but even after turning mine to 100, I still felt a bit sluggish. It was also a bit frustrating to try and get Kane to take cover, especially in the heat of battle. Kane should just jump right up and hug the wall for cover, but, nope. He would rather stand around and take a round to the dome. A bit frustrating at times. A button that forced you to take cover would have been nice. Other than that, everything handles fine, but the slow turning was, for me, the worst.

The story line is dark, grim, twisted, and gritty, to say the least. Each level adds a bit of suspense, which is eventually (mostly) summed up. The co-op mode, reveals more or Lynch's story, which also ties up some loose ends. All in all, this story is insanely amazing. In each mission, you will most likely take damage and be injured. This happens. If you take enough damage, you slowly start to bleed to death. When this happens, you fall to the ground until another friend./NPC inject you with adrenaline and revives you.. As you lay, waiting to die, you hear voices from your past. Your wife, old jobs, even movies in the game (the cut scenes) All that adds to the story of the game and the drama contained.

The gameplay is amazing, simply put. You command your allies to create the perfect attack or defense, depending on the case. You can throw grenades, shoot, and all that jazz. You can sneak up on enemies and do some very nasty hand to hand deaths to them. The environments are totally realistic, cars explode, windows break and cement crumbles. Dead bodies react to grenades and bullets, the physics of the game are amazing as well. Grenades bounce as they would in real life.

I'm sorry I didn't rate the online play, I don't quite have mine hooked up yet. Sctually, I don't plan on getting it, but whatever. That was my review, h ope you liked it. If no, who cares?


All in all KALDM is a game that belong in the collection of any gamer.
Graphics-10/10
Sound-10/10
Control-710 for being sluggish
Gameplay-9/10
Overall-36/40 which translates to 90/100 or 9/10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/08

Game Release: Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (US, 11/13/07)