Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

"Kane Geys Lynched"

Summary: Wow, just wow...

Game Play: 4/10 Game play is average with nothing special making this anything other then a generic 3rd Person Shooter. You can go behind cover, but you can do that in almost any game nowadays. One of the things that did bother me about this and lower my score, is that the enemy seems to LIVE THEIR ENTIRE LIVES behind cover while using blind-fire. I originally started on "Cocaine" which is the moderate difficult I think. Well, you get three Choices, Aspirin, Cocaine and Morphine for difficulty. I think that means the drug you need to take to combat the PURE PAIN this game induces at times. Anyway, after playing through the first 2 levels I figured that maybe if I lowered the difficult, the enemies would be out of cover a bit longer. But I was wrong. On "Aspirin" they simply go behind cover and blind-fire less accurately. I know that is a bit realistic and can be a bit fun, but the game seems designed with the cover element not thought out. It feels like the enemies running to cover was added to the AI in the end. Another big problem, is that you can be zoomed with a sniper rifle directly onto someone in cover, and NOT hit them. I saw one enemy behind cover with his head exposed as he reloaded and I fired 3 times before eventually getting bored and throwing a grenade. Now, I was in a position where he was completely exposed, leaving NO REASON why shots directly into his head or body didn't phase him. I actually blame the "Hit-boxes" on the models. Anyway, another annoying part of the game is one mission where you have to escort Lynch while he carries someone to the roof. Now, if he happens to get hit by a stray bullet while carrying her, GAME OVER. But, during the short battle you do with her, she takes about 60 rounds to ACCIDENTALLY kill. Most other game play issues are minor in comparison to the horrendous amount of cover-diving every single enemy does. Oh, BTW, your teammates prefer to stand in the open and get blown into pieces instead of taking cover.

Graphics: 4/10 Average. Nothing super-special. Actually, my Gun changed to bright red a few times randomly... Also, despite the huge number of baddies you can see on the screen, they seem to repeat constantly. During one level, I ran into 5 of the same model standing in one spot. That's kind of sloppy considering how much time they put into the civilians in the club making so many different ones to have only 5 types of police officers.

Sound: 6/10 Sound is not too bad. MOST weapons have different sounds and the voice acting is decent.

Story: 8/10 The story is actually pretty good, and if it wasn't for the horrible game play, I would have played the game longer then I did.

Multi player: 7/10 Definitely new, but, part of the point is to be allied in an "Alliance" with people and rob a bank or kidnap someone. However, this usually turns into everyone killing each other in an attempt to get the most money.

Overall: 4/10 Despite HORRIBLE game play issues, the game isn't too bad. I'd say... Rent it or buy it from game stop once the price has dropped.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/07

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