| Kane & Lynch: Dead Men |
| Posted on 18th February 2008 by Rob McGregor |
The beauty of computer games is that they offer us the chance to live out ‘fantasies’ we’d never normally get to experience, whether it be lifting the World Cup, saving the Earth or winning the Moto GP. What Kane and Lynch offers is the chance to play the anti-hero on some kind of redemption mission – and admit it, deep down, we’d all love to play the great anti-hero from time to time. IO Interactive have previously brought us Hitman: Blood Money - while a great game in it’s own right, Hitman was certainly a thinking mans game. In this outing, IO Interactive have given players the freedom to simply cut loose and be as trigger happy as they wish, chalking up a body count that would make Rambo jealous along the way.
‘Kane and Lynch: Dead Men’ essential follows the story of imprisoned mercenary, Kane. The opening level sees our flawed anti-hero escape from prison along with his altogether more unstable ‘sidekick’ Lynch. As introductory levels go, this is probably amongst the best ideas around. Rather than giving you a tedious walkthrough level to teach you the basic controls, this throws you right in to it - shoot outs and all. No mucking around shooting helmets on sticks or climbing walls in ‘Training Schools’.
From there the plot blooms and the ‘real deal’ behind your escape becomes clear. Whilst the plot itself could be accused of being a little bit too simple (the script also leaves something to be desired at times), it does offer up some great set piece opportunities. Cities and venues around the world are used, as well as a variety of stand off situations with various law enforcement agencies and unlucky passers by.
One of the games strengths is it’s opportunity to be blunt in how you handle the various scenarios you find yourself in across the globe - no need for careful planning and well timed execution here. Need to take a building? Simply storm it with all guns blazing, if that’s how you want to play it. On occasions it may seem you are facing impossible odds, but smart use of weapons (you have the choice of one small arm, normally a pistol, and one larger gun) and some well aimed shots mean no scenario is unbeatable. The opportunity to take different approaches keeps the levels varied and gives the player an element of control over how they handle a situation - all out run and gun, or methodical and precise strikes.
Graphically, it's OK at best. IO Interactive have used a few ‘smoke and mirror’ tricks to try and distract you from the fact that if you actually slow down and look around, the game appears a little washed out, character models are repeated over and over again to represent a larger crowd and there are some low quality textures at times. To me this seems a shame, especially given the power of the console and the advances that have been made in the industry in the last few months. But I suppose the aim of the game is not to be pretty, it is to be ugly, bloody, and in some ways unpleasant - after all, you are a mercenary with an escaped psychopath by your side!
The control system is alright - it can be a little awkward at times, but overall it's passable. However it's a shame that the AI can be a bit simple at times. Enemies often repeat the actions of their predecessors - making it a bit too easy to setup and pick them off one by one in some situations. The first man runs and hides behind a door, you kill him, the second man runs and hides behind the same door, and so on. It's a little disappointing as a more ‘intelligent’ AI system could have made this a serious challenge.
The co-op mode adds life to the game. One player as Kane, the other as Lynch - as usual, the story remains the same, but it’s just somehow more fun doing it with a mate. An opportunity may have been missed later in the game, where more members join your party. The chance to play with two or three friends along side you would surely have been a great selling point? Multiplayer also throws up a little more playability, though it doesn’t always seem to be as popular on Xbox Live as some other games on the market, so you may find opponents hard to come by at times.
Kane and Lynch suffers from some pretty poor glitches as well. The cover system is not dissimilar to that which we have seen in Gears of War or Metal Gear Solid - walk up to a wall to hide behind it so you can either blind fire or lean out and aim. Problem is you have to be right near the corner of the wall to do this and if you want to move to the other end of the wall you have to step back, move down the wall and walk into it again. No shimmying back and forth, which can prove annoying and somewhat tedious. The over the shoulder ‘zoomed’ aim can also suffer from silly errors. Stand by a wall to offer yourself some kind of cover, and you may find your zoom simply zooms in on the wall next to you and not the target. The other great frustration is the apparent ability of some enemies to allow bullets to pass through them - despite having a seemingly clear shot at a part of your target, shots do not always seem to register if the target is hidden behind something. This means that some attempts at more measured approaches are hindered and a run and gun style has to be adopted, like it or not.
Overall, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men divides my opinion. It’s a game which offers choice in how you play, plenty of gun totting action and the all important opportunity to play on your own or with someone else - as usual it does feel so much more enjoyable with a friend! There is enough to keep most gamers interested from start to finish per say (I’d estimate about a 10 hour playing time, give or take, which is about par for games of this ilk now), but stupid glitches, so-so graphics and some questionable script work spoils an otherwise potentially decent game.
It’s certainly no where near the elite of Xbox 360 games, but might be worth a try if you see it cheap somewhere or might be worth renting if you have some free time - the freedom to just charge right in and run up a huge body count will appeal to some gamers and provides some cheap thrills. |
Single Player Score: 6/10
Multiplayer Score: 7/10
Overall Score: 6/10 |
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