Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

"Full review. Read before you buy."

Introduction:

First off, let me say this: Kane & Lynch is one hell of a game. Deep story, intriguing characters, and a multiplayer that is more addictive than World of Warcraft. Yea, you thought it couldn't be done. Well, now it has. From IO Interactive comes the best criminal-action game to date. It's called Kane & Lynch.

If you were a fan of the Hitman series, which were the same developers for Kane & Lynch, the following statement might discourage you some. There is no sneaking around at all. Ever. Throughout the entire campaign. None. Breaking out of prison only to go back inside and try to rescue some friends is insane . Also very straightforward. None of this, "You decide how and when to kill him" kind of stuff. You know your going to kill him with a gun, and when is up to you. Well, it's up to your enemies who won't give you a very long lifespan if you pussyfoot around.

Just one more thing before I begin the actual review. This game is not exactly a 10 rating. I just put that there so you would click on it since it's the only 10 up there. I would give it around an 8.5 though. Still read the review though, it has some very valuable knowledge that you need to know about the game.

Gameplay: 9

The gameplay is superb. Every button motion is fluid, controls are very easy to learn, and anyone who has a shooting game at home already will just about know how it works. If not, the game tells you anyway. The AI is a little depressing though. Sure they take cover and all, but it just doesn't seem very normal, like a human controlled player would do it. Sometimes, a couple pistol shots in the leg will kill a guard, but not a round from an automatic. It's little things like this that the developers could've spent
some more time on to make the game more fun, and give the player a sense of accomplishment for beating a level. Al this being said, the game is fairly easy on the hardest difficulty setting.

Games like this really make you appreciate game engines like Call of Duty 4's. Destruction is a wonderful thing, and Kane & Lynch don't get enough of it. Shooting a box in Call of Duty would result in the bullet penetrating the object, where in this game that would not be the case. I'll let you in on a little secret too. When you first start out the game and shoot a gun, the recoil will kick in and aim the weapon above the selected target. This is not a good thing and you will miss a lot of your shots this way. Go to start>options>controls, then set all the bars at the top down to 15. This should minimize the recoil and give you more
control of your gun. This is especially useful on Xbox Live.

Story: 9

Well, you have an ex-mercenary, and a psychopath on meds. Could it get any more dangerous. Trust me, you don't want these guys as your babysitters. The game starts out with Kane and Lynch riding together on a bus, heading to the Big Apple to buy candy canes and lollipops for their fun-filled adventure together. Or death row, whichever suits you. The bus crashes and Kane blacks out. When he wakes up, he goes on to discover his former group of mercenarys, the7, are after him. They want their money and Kane knows where it's at.

You now embark on a journey with Lynch as your only companion. I say that because "friend" doesn't fit his character at all. This guy loved his wife so much that he killed her. Pretty wacked out dude if you ask me. Anyway, there are a total of 16 missions in the game, ranging from an abandoned warehouse, to a bank, to an airstrip, and plenty of places in between.

I have read reviews from magazines and other readers and their responses to the main storyline. They don't give enough credit that is due to the developers. Sure, there might be questions you ask yourself throughout the campaign, but if those questions were answered, it would take away so much of the individual characteristics that the characters have. Besides, it doesn't take away from the actual gameplay, and personally, I found the storyline very well-written with a lot of suspenseful moments, and some weren't even in the cutscenes!

Graphics: 7

Far from the best looking title on next-gen consoles. Graphics for Manhunt on the Xbox looked better than this game. I played it on the 360 but that's no excuse. It does look better than the Hitman games, however. If graphics are what you look for in a game, you are sad and pathetic and need a life. Also don't buy this game and other stuff blah, blah, blah. But the smooth framerate at what looks like around 50 fps is way more important to a game than the outside appearance.

Environments are a completely different subject, though. If you happen to have this game or want it, I recommend downloading the Dope Bag. It comes with four new maps, and one of them is especially cool. It's called Clean Cut, and is based off one of the missions in the game. The clouds are spread out and drifting away, there is a nice sunset-looking sky color, lighting shines in the right places; it's simply beautiful. These kind of perks set aside the mediocre-character modeling, and make the levels way more enjoyable.

Sound: 8.5

A vantrilaquist is a person who can talk without moving their mouth. Every person in this game has this amazing talent. The voice work is crystal clear, and each character has their own kind of smart-ass tune to them, and while everyone is yelling at some point in the game, the sound quality never drops a bit.

After the voice acting comes the special effects tone. Each weapon is a different model, which means the sound is different from gun to gun. Reloading your gun has a nice little click to it, and even pulling up to aim has a very slight whooshing noise. Tires screech, grenades bounce, explosions explode. You might not realize it from a glance, but this can very easily compete with the effects in GTA IV.

Music is key in a game. It sets a tone for a player, whether it's time to be aggressive, or time to run away. It's like a Rambo movie, but it doesn't pump you up if your seeing it done on the set, without tunes, or features. I do not remember any music other than the piece that comes up at the title screen, and the one that comes on the Fragile Alliance loading screens. They do fit well with the game, but die off rather fast.

Replayability: 9.5

You will definitely find yourself playing this game more than you really want to. I actually went through the campaign again, with no other reason than just to get the achievements. One of the most amazing feature on this game is the multiplayer. There is no other game that can fill your inner criminal desires like this game.

You start off as a team of 4-8 people that need to pull off a heist. If all goes well, you can kill all the guards, steal all the loot, and escape in the van before time runs out. If someone decides they want all the money for themselves, they kill one of their team-mates and labeled a traitor. When you become a traitor, you have everybody after you now, so watch out. If a team-mate dies, he respawns as an agent. An agent will try to stop his former team-mates from making out with any of the loot.

This does seem a little straight-forward, and maybe even boring to some, but I assure you it's not. When you level up, you get new clothing and people will respect you for that. They'll won't want to turn on you as much, and puts a small amount of fear in them. Sadly, there are only three weapon packs you can choose from. but choose wisely.

All in all, this is a multiplayer experience you do not want to miss. With so many banks to be robbed and so many people you can turn on, this is unbelievably fun. If you want a tip, get one of your buddys on there while you host one, and you and him can trade on all the other people and escape with all the loot, all the time. Eventually, the other team-mates will leave and you won't have to trade anymore.

Final Recommendation:

The big question is, should I rent it or buy it. The answer depends on if you have Xbox Live or not. You could beat this game in about 10-11 hours, and get most of the achievements in 15. Rent this game if you aren't going to be able to participate in multiplayer. You will have a good time, and can add up to 600 points to your gamerscore ( the other 400 are on Live ). I hope you enjoyed this review and if it helped you at all, please come back to prefer it, as that would help me as well. Have a good robbery!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/08

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