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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: IO Interactive Publisher: Eidos Interactive Reviewed By: Dale Kulas |
The genre of action games has become more and more popular within the past couple of years, bringing such games as “Gears of
War,” “Rainbow Six” and “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon.” Each of these games had brought something new to the table and gamers
flock to add these titles to their collection. “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” is another one of these games that brings something new to the
table in the genre of action games, but overall it feels much different than anything that has been released before.
“Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” is the new game from IO Interactive, the same people that brought us the acclaimed Hitman line of games.
It captures the same kind of feel that “Hitman” presents, but focuses less on stealth-action, and more on tactical action, and not in-
depth tactics like “Ghost Recon,” but just three simple tactics to assign to squad members like in “Gears of War. “
Just like the name of the game, you control either Kane or Lynch (or both in offline co-op). The story opens with Lynch breaking Kane out
of jail on a gang's behalf, but the campaign quickly turns into a very large revenge plot. Both Kane and Lynch have huge personal
problems that make for an interesting dynamic as the story progresses from weird to insane, placing Kane and Lynch in such
situations as robbing a bank, causing a prison riot, and leading an independent revolution.
The game play is fairly standard, with nothing spectacular, but for the most part it is a standard third person shooter, with a few faults.
There were a few problems with squad members obeying any of the direct commands, where sometimes they wouldn't mind running
into the heat of battle while being vastly outnumbered instead of trying to take cover. Taking cover can be kind of tricky too; it's not like
“Rainbow Six: Vegas” or “Gears of War” where players simply press a button for cover, instead players just kind of automatically go into
cover when you line up a certain way behind something, which proves to be quite tricky on frequent occasions. Another issue with the
game is that enemies react to shots in a way that people would normally react; it would seem like playing multiplayer where they
wouldn't react to being hit until they fell down dead which gave them all the time in the world to fire back when attempting to reload or
find more cover. A lot of these faults are minor though, and only get aggravating several times through the entirety of the campaign; it isn’
t enough to ruin the game. Though they sure cause quite a large amount of frustration when the finally do appear in the game, players
will be able to look past them and enjoy the amazingly varied amount of missions, the intense action that is offered and the fairly
gripping storyline that is present in “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.”
The multiplayer is also impressive. Playing co-op with a friend is fun, players must make sure that they have a big enough television for
the action because the split screen co-op can limit the scope of action, and it is disappointing to see that IO Interactive did not make
online co-op an option. Some will be surprised that IO Interactive forewent the normal death match and instead came up with an
innovative co-op/competitive multiplayer game called "Fragile Alliance" where all the players start as robbers pulling off a job, and if they
get taken down, they become a cop and must take out any of their former allies for a big bonus. There is a lot of fun to be had online,
especially with this new multiplayer mode.
Graphically, this game has a very similar look to “Hitman,” as “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” as a game overall, along with the supporting
cast and enemies, look like they were all designed and animated right out of the “Hitman” games. This isn't a bad thing, though that
graphics engine is starting to age and while many of the players will like its look, many other may think that the graphics don’t hold up
as well as they used to, and they will be even worse a few years down the line. Aurally, the soundtrack is amazing, much better than
many other games of this type. Certain parts of the score kick in at just the right moments to add in to the intensity of the campaign, add
in all the rampant gunfire surrounding players while playing and it feels like being the center of attention in an action film.
“Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” is a good game all around. The campaign is a blast to play through, though the before mentioned faults in
game play may ruin the experience for some. For those players who are able to get by that, they are in for one heck of a story, and the
online multiplayer mode is just as much fun, on top of being extremely innovative to boot. If players want to be able to break away from
all the major sequels that have been released as of late, and try something that is completely different this holiday season, then it would
be wise to go out and give “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” a try. This is one game that is sure to not disappoint those who are fans of this
genre.
War,” “Rainbow Six” and “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon.” Each of these games had brought something new to the table and gamers
flock to add these titles to their collection. “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” is another one of these games that brings something new to the
table in the genre of action games, but overall it feels much different than anything that has been released before.
“Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” is the new game from IO Interactive, the same people that brought us the acclaimed Hitman line of games.
It captures the same kind of feel that “Hitman” presents, but focuses less on stealth-action, and more on tactical action, and not in-
depth tactics like “Ghost Recon,” but just three simple tactics to assign to squad members like in “Gears of War. “
Just like the name of the game, you control either Kane or Lynch (or both in offline co-op). The story opens with Lynch breaking Kane out
of jail on a gang's behalf, but the campaign quickly turns into a very large revenge plot. Both Kane and Lynch have huge personal
problems that make for an interesting dynamic as the story progresses from weird to insane, placing Kane and Lynch in such
situations as robbing a bank, causing a prison riot, and leading an independent revolution.
The game play is fairly standard, with nothing spectacular, but for the most part it is a standard third person shooter, with a few faults.
There were a few problems with squad members obeying any of the direct commands, where sometimes they wouldn't mind running
into the heat of battle while being vastly outnumbered instead of trying to take cover. Taking cover can be kind of tricky too; it's not like
“Rainbow Six: Vegas” or “Gears of War” where players simply press a button for cover, instead players just kind of automatically go into
cover when you line up a certain way behind something, which proves to be quite tricky on frequent occasions. Another issue with the
game is that enemies react to shots in a way that people would normally react; it would seem like playing multiplayer where they
wouldn't react to being hit until they fell down dead which gave them all the time in the world to fire back when attempting to reload or
find more cover. A lot of these faults are minor though, and only get aggravating several times through the entirety of the campaign; it isn’
t enough to ruin the game. Though they sure cause quite a large amount of frustration when the finally do appear in the game, players
will be able to look past them and enjoy the amazingly varied amount of missions, the intense action that is offered and the fairly
gripping storyline that is present in “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.”
The multiplayer is also impressive. Playing co-op with a friend is fun, players must make sure that they have a big enough television for
the action because the split screen co-op can limit the scope of action, and it is disappointing to see that IO Interactive did not make
online co-op an option. Some will be surprised that IO Interactive forewent the normal death match and instead came up with an
innovative co-op/competitive multiplayer game called "Fragile Alliance" where all the players start as robbers pulling off a job, and if they
get taken down, they become a cop and must take out any of their former allies for a big bonus. There is a lot of fun to be had online,
especially with this new multiplayer mode.
Graphically, this game has a very similar look to “Hitman,” as “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” as a game overall, along with the supporting
cast and enemies, look like they were all designed and animated right out of the “Hitman” games. This isn't a bad thing, though that
graphics engine is starting to age and while many of the players will like its look, many other may think that the graphics don’t hold up
as well as they used to, and they will be even worse a few years down the line. Aurally, the soundtrack is amazing, much better than
many other games of this type. Certain parts of the score kick in at just the right moments to add in to the intensity of the campaign, add
in all the rampant gunfire surrounding players while playing and it feels like being the center of attention in an action film.
“Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” is a good game all around. The campaign is a blast to play through, though the before mentioned faults in
game play may ruin the experience for some. For those players who are able to get by that, they are in for one heck of a story, and the
online multiplayer mode is just as much fun, on top of being extremely innovative to boot. If players want to be able to break away from
all the major sequels that have been released as of late, and try something that is completely different this holiday season, then it would
be wise to go out and give “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” a try. This is one game that is sure to not disappoint those who are fans of this
genre.
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