Generally speaking, for a game which came out nearly 3 years ago Kane & Lynch has aged fairly well. The graphics and visuals don't appear too outdated and sure enough back in it's time it certainly was above par. However; the single complaint I have with the game's visuals is that in a way, they don't really fit the subject matter too well and much more could've been done to perfect that. This game is fairly gritty - it's cold, calculating, and brutal (at times). Unfortunately though, little is done visually to portray this, the visuals are just...normal.
Beyond the somewhat disappointing atmosphere of the visuals the character models are fairly good, but the level designs and textures are a bit dull. Much more could've been done with both character models outside of Kane and Lynch themselves and the environments around them.
Animations range from surprisingly cool looking to "wow, that much be a glitch". For instance, I found that the disarm/kill animation for Kane was actually quite well done and looked really cool, but on the other hand shooting enemies results in laughable semi-ragdoll effects akin to what happened when you killed people in Hitman - Blood Money.
Graphics = 7/10
Gameplay
Kane & Lynch is nothing but a straight up 3rd person shooter. Sure, you can give your team simple commands but I found this to be quite tedious sometimes and much rather preferred just telling them to follow me while I went about shooting and maiming everything in sight. There's little else to this game beyond blasting your way through levels.
Typically, you only have access to a few weapons plus whatever you want to swap for guns found during levels. However; all the guns somewhat feel the same...there's no real difference between the two or three different pistols or assault rifles for instance. You can also use grenades and a melee attack. The melee attack I found to be pretty cool - using a knife you disarm a nearby enemy and then promptly kill them with a cool animation. It's too bad that the player usually only has this opportunity 3 or 4 times during the game.
K&L's main problem (gameplay wise) is the fact that it's too short. I'd say from beginning to end the game may last 3 or 4 hours depending on how good you are at these sort of games. Honestly, that's pretty pathetic even for a game from 2007. Alot feels like it's cut out or extremely shortened for other reasons (like the publisher or developer wanting to rush the game out into stores). On other hand though, 3 to 4 hours is really only as much as I could take from this game.
The game isn't made up of all negatives though. Complimenting the sometimes bland gameplay are portions that really impressed me. For example, the level in the tower starts fairly awesome as you clear a roof of bad guys only to then repel down against the side of the enormous tower to a massive glass window. Fixing an explosive to the glass you wait for the explosion and then come blasting your way in as bits of glass, stone, and furniture fly across the room. From there you engage in a close quarters fire fight between your team and anyone lucky enough to be alive in the room while bullets rip apart the marble pillars around you.
Another plus is the environment variety. Each level is vastly different from one another. As Kane you'll find yourself blasting your way through a city bank, a Japanese night club, a maximum security prison in the process of a violent riot, and even in the city of Havanna during an all-out military coup.
The game also features the ability to play through the story in co-op mode - one player taking the default single player character of Kane while the other plays as Lynch. The co-op mode doesn't deviate too much from the original single player game, the only difference being the ability to control and personally play through the bits unseen by Kane but experience by Lynch.
Gameplay = 7/10
Audio
Much to be expected, Kane & Lynch features good ol' Jesper Kyd as the composer for the game's music (for those who don't know Kyd is not only the composer for the music of the Hitman and Assassin's Creed games but also was the original inspiration for 47's appearence). Kyd's music is fairly well done in the usual way and is certainly above par for most video game soundtracks however I feel as though his work for this game was a little less fantastic than his previous works.
Outside of the soundtrack the sound effects and voice work are typical with an IO game...not too great but not that bad. For instance I found some characters' voice work to be pretty convincing while others were about as flat as a piece of cardboard.
Audio = 4/5
Replay Value
I confidently say that there is none here. Unless you really liked the game that much I would see no possible reason to ever play this game again once you've completed it - even for the multiplayer or the co-op campaign.
Replay Value = 1/5
Story/Plot
Kane & Lynch has the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster action flick. The game opens with a voice over of Kane, a gun for hire, reading a apologetic and heartfelt letter he intends to send to his estranged daughter Jenny. Convicted of 25 deaths in Venezuela, Kane is on his way to death row. During the trip Kane briefly talks to another inmate (Lynch) before their transport is suddenly attacked by armed men. What appears to be a rescue soon turns out to be a kidnapping as Kane is put before four members of the criminal organization known as The7. The7 tell Kane that he has three weeks to return what he stole from them or his wife and daughter will be killed. With no choice Kane sets off to recover what The7 want with Lynch, acting as The7's watchdog, in tow.
Overall, like I mentioned, the game has the feel of a big action movie story but, like most action blockbusters, fails to maintain a coherent and engaging story that sticks with the audience over the course of the game. This is unfortunate given the fact that if given either the right amount of development, time, or even correct form of media this story could've turned out much much better.
Story/Plot = 6/10
Conclusion
For me, it's hard to put definitive tabs on Kane & Lynch. It wasn't necessarily a bad game but at the same time it wasn't all that great. For the most part it suffers from severe ups and downs - one moment the player will really be enjoying what's going on and then five minutes later you're bored. If anything, this title exactly like sub-par action movies...if you turn your brain off and just let yourself me amused by violence, guns, explosions, and the occastional foul language you'll be sure to get a little something out of it.
Overall Score = 25/40 or 62%
[Games] Kane and Lynch: Dead Men - Review
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
