Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

Kane was ready to pay for his crimes. He was done. But then the prison transport is knocked over on the way to death row, and after barely making it out alive, he's confronted by his former mercenary buddies, the surviving members of the lazily named The7 – the brothers Beardo and Baldie. They have his estranged wife and daughter... and now he has to retrieve the loot that the other duo believe he stole from them on their final, and failed, operation. He comes back out of retirement to save his family, partnered with(well, he's there to make sure you do as you're told... why is it this plot wasn't used sooner? This is like Heat the video-game(well, different story), and yes, it's as awesome as that makes it sound) the psychopathic Lynch, who murdered his better half. You follow them for a couple of the worst days of their lives, and countless of people *will* be left dead in their wake. Every "Chapter"(note that you can only start at the beginning of those if you quit; while you are in the game, you can replay from the most recent "Scene", and those are frequent so you never have to redo a lot, and it autosaves) consists of you and him(and usually a team) carrying out an attack on a building(like a bank, corporate headquarters, a dance club, etc., and situations like a robbery, a hostage exchange, a jailbreak(!) and the like), get whatever objectives you have done, and get away in one piece. This is a third-person tactical shooter, a bit like a Freedom Fighters 2.0(which, in turn, was Red Dawn interactive). You can give the orders Follow, Attack target and Defend(the latter being directional), and you can not get through this by pretending you're Rambo of the sequels(especially in MP). Using and protecting the people there with you is vital(you can take out anyone else, and this supports grand crowds, similar to what they did in Blood Money), and you can pick up additional clips from them, swap weapons with them and bring bring them back from near-death using adrenaline shots(!), and they can do the same for you(don't rely on it too much, you'll overdose; also, this is highly psychological, with flashbacks and your guilty conscience haunting you as you lay there in what may prove to be your last moments). This is intense, action-packed and exciting throughout, and it never gets to be repetitive. It is also extremely short... I completed it in about a single day(and there's only three difficulty settings and no unlockables, if two memorable endings), and that was the day I helped my brother move out of his place. There is little to no HUD, and in general this is quite minimalistic(the keys are intuitive, you can sit right down and play this). No health-bar, you can't reload(it does it on its own) or tell how many bullets are left before it's necessary to, and anything not being "used" fades into invisibility. It is also pretty streamlined, and while I find this to be a troublesome current trend in this medium, this gets away with it impeccably well. Why, and am I being a massive hypocrite? Because the risk isn't gone, and it doesn't take control out of your hands(well, the rappelling, if cool, kind of is)... and no, silly person(why would you even ask that?). Yes, it's linear(let's be honest, that's a typical approach), still, it comes off as if you are set free in a regular, real-life location. The environment interaction is nifty, with cars blowing up and glass having remarkably poor lead-stopping abilities. There are rail-shooter levels, where you're in a car. You really get a sense that no one can trust anyone else(they second-guess each other constantly, and somehow it doesn't get to be irritating) in this world. The characters(with a cast mostly consisting of anti-heroes) have personality and backstories, though you don't remember them all. Still, this is genuinely emotionally engaging and affecting. The cinematography is great, and this is cinematic and visual, with fantastic graphics(all cut-scenes are in-engine or pre-rendered, and look amazing), gorgeous lighting, and beautiful gas, smoke, fire FX. This has a bad-ass score(all of the audio(including acting!) is marvelous) by Jesper Kyd. I have not tried multi-player(as I could not get it working... one time I tried it temporarily deleted my DVD-drive! There's supposedly a 2-player mode... I'm not sure it works for the PC, it asked me to connect an X-Box joystick...?), but the rule set definitely sounds excellent. You can double-cross your friends, and the idea is to get away with as much of the loot from a bank robbery as possible. Yeah, matches are probably short. Up to 8 players, and close to proper co-op. It's not terribly surprising, coming from IO Interactive, home of awesome, unique(-ish) concepts for games. You carry one gun and one sidearm, as well as two kinds of grenades(pineapple and "distraction" kind), and you use SMGs, shotguns, machinegun, assault rifles, pistols and a sniper(your enemies can use all the same ones, and that last-mentioned is one of the several stand-out challenging occurrences). You can also mêlée kill(anytime you're right by them, there's no "fighting"), with a blade in your hand that comes out between two fingers. This has one of the best cover systems I've tried, so easy and instantaneous to enter/exit, blind-fire and aimed(hold down right mouse button anytime), and such a wide use of the view(without leaving the safety) is possible, meaning you will hardly ever be caught with your pants down(I'm scowling at you, The Godfather: The Game! And Enter the Matrix! And many others). You can wound others, and then finish them off, like Contracts. There is a lot of brutal, disturbing content, bloody violence and strong language(no sexuality or nudity) in this. I recommend this to any fan of the genre and the concept(if you want to play a Michael Mann movie, this is one of the better ones). 8/10

Kane & Lynch is a story about two men who both are punished to the death. They meet in a prison van on their way to the execution, there is an ambushed and they get rescued. Kane's way back crew "The7" get's in touch with him, they have is wife and daughter and if He doesn't play along...they will both die.

Kane & Lynch is a thrilling but "VERY" violent action game. Just that you have the opportunity to shoot innocent people is frightening but it's nothing i haven't seen before in a game. The game's story is very well written, the gameplay the other end is nothing special. Just shoot your way out in every map. The game isn't that fun Singleplayer but it's very fun in Co-op mode.

CO-OP The CO-OP mode is meant to be played on console in split screen, but it can be played in PC as well but you need some sort of XBOX Gamepad, i spent 300 Swedish KR on it, which is probably 40 dollars. And it was worth it i guess. It's very fun to play with a friend if you are bored.

Graphics Really impressive on this point. I was surprised how well designed the whole game was. It's not crysis but the physics in the game is close to unbelievable. But the fact that the graphics changes from lousy to SUPER in different places is just dumb, hope it gets fixed in the upcoming patch.

Multiplayer This part i haven't tried out yet though. But the Multiplayer part is called "Fragile Alliance". You and a friend or more is about to make a robbery, there is about 4 different maps to play on, where a bank is included. The goal is simply just to get your hands on much loot as possible. The loots will be shared at the end of the game, however there is a way to get away with this, if you become a "TRAITOR" you will get your money and don't have to share it with anyone. To become a traitor you just simply kill one or more of your team-mates. However if one or another team-mate finds out you are a traitor before you get time to kill them. They have a goal to kill you and will get extra score for it. If you get killed you will respawn as a SWAT , Police or security Guard. Although i haven't played this mode by myself these facts are just from gameplays and text.

As it looked before

When the news about Kane & Lynch first was released i expected something completely different, but who doesn't the game looked a hell lot of better on pictures but what game doesn't.

I'm giving this game an kind of weak 8/10. This game has a good story and all but it's feels to simple, just go around and killing people on every single mission, nothing else for a change. There is no mission in this game where you have to kill, kill and KILL. The game is very violent & has lots of gore in it. The gameplay is pretty rude itself, feels like you are in a Tarantino picture. So if you are sensitive for violent this isn't the game you should play, well if you haven't sorted that out already with the facts that the game is called "Kane & Lynch (DEAD MEN).

8/10 Not what i expected but it was still a decent shooter game.

One of the fewest time killers i had with friends at home was playing co- op with this game, a lot. This is one of the few points Kane & Lynch has at a fun value, with a title like this and a concept like that, it does really feel like an old-school game meant to be played with co-op (like an arcade game whose name i forgot, but consisted in one driving a car and the passenger seat shooting the bad guys at front)

Anyways, the story follows at a psychological drama emotional vibe, and certain strong elements that would put the player in enough stress if it isn't by the story's way of f'ing up the characters lives, and although it doesn't grab enough interest on it's character development it does at least satisfy you with those individual personalities of each that makes a credible duo that are not precisely role models, but personifies our GTA player inside us.

The Sound is decent, although i noticed some of the same music/soundtracks are a bit over-exploited, voice acting is convincing enough to put you on stress through the characters.

Gameplay-wise is pretty Kinetic and non-stop, shootings are exciting whenever you control it (although a bit stiff with recoil when trying to shoot enemies) and blood-packed enough for those who find this satisfying (AKA: Me) And although it can get repetitive at times, there's no stop sign to show at you by the constant number of henchmen coming at you. There is another command system that plays out in a strategic way where you can command NPC's to kill X enemy or take cover somewhere else, i personally found it under-exploited, because i was doing all the killing and shooting to sum up... ._.

Also, level design is sort of simple, some of the maps are pretty short and it could get repetitive to miss out or going all the way around the map in some missions, but also it has a decent amount of variety on it's missions that also offers another level on the "old-school" game vibe that you could really have a grip on.

And although there is also a 2-way ending that has some flaws in it (since one is cannon to the supposedly disappointing sequel and the other is not, and both endings do have some of the same annoying conclusion, it does still have replay value through both campaign co-op and multiplayer.

In conclusion, Kane and Lynch: Dead Man is a Flawed, but Kinetic Shoot 'Em Up Game with Lots of Shooting, Co-op Replay Value and Potential for a Franchise that makes this starter of a series (that i hope doesn't die and deliver us a Better and more submersive K&L3) a kick-ass of a time killer.

A man on death row is busted out of his prison transport and is thrust into a violent game of do or die. That man is Kane, his newly-appointed partner is Lynch. They are both class-A scumbags, and they have to work together despite the fact that there's no love or mutual respect for each other. What follows is a strictly linear traipse through many different environments ranging from bank vaults to Japanese night clubs. You'll kill many people and pick up lots of different guns...but how much fun will you have (if you pardon the macabre use of the world "fun")?

The answer is some, but not as much as you'd like. The weapons are all pretty much the same with a terrible targeting system. Precision targeting is almost non-existent in this game and hit detection is all over the place. The ability to take cover behind walls, pillars, etc. is very faulty and works only half the time. Some scenes are also too dark to make out what's going on.

There's plenty of swearing, and the voice acting is quite good. Jesper Kyd's gloomy score sets the tone perfectly. This is not an upbeat, cheery game. It's about ugly violence and grim revenge. For this reason alone very much earns its 18/M-rating. The presentation of this violence however is not that graphic, literally. The graphics are of PS2 quality. They may be in 1080p high-def but they look real bad.

I hear a sequel is in the works. More freedom to roam and an ability to upgrade Kane and Lynch as characters would be a welcome addition. Better graphics would be appreciated too. Above all, the guns and targeting need to be improved. Kane & Lynch makes for a decent bargain bin game, but don't pay top dollar for it.

Graphics C Sound B+ Gameplay C+ Lasting Appeal C

There are feature's in this game which are before their time. I completed the story mode in about a week. Most of the achievement's for this game require you to play in multiplayer. You will get a handful for single player play. I just think this game could have done with a better cover mechanic. You have to huddle right up beside a corner for cover rather than press a button to do it for you like in other game's such as 007: Blood Stone.

Given this title is probably like five dollar's by now, go and get it. It will be interesting whether there will be a part three on the next-gen console's these day's I think it would work well and I think a lot of people would like to see it.