Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)

KANE & LYNCH DEAD MEN

Kane & Lynch Dead Men is a third person shooter action game developed by IO Interactive and published by one of my favourite companies called Eidos. Kane & Lynch is available on the PS3, PC and of course the Xbox 360. Kane & Lynch is more of a co-op third person game with a fairly decent storyline. The game follows its two main characters Kane & Lynch. If you play co-op with a friend one of you plays as Kane and the other plays as Lynch. I do like the game but for one of the older Xbox 360 games it does look slightly dated and its not really as much fun to play now. It is the type of game thats full of action and has a fairly detailed story.

You take the role as Kane at first and Lynch later and they both start in prison. The game starts with Kane being transported to deaths row after being convicted of manslaughter. Upon entering deaths row he meets Lynch who lets on that there is going to be a breakout. Soon after a group of mercenaries break Kane and Lynch out of deaths row and escort them to a local construction site where they meet a group of criminals better known as The7. They accuse Kane of stealing a lot of money from them and unless he gives it back to them the group will kill Kane's wife and his daughter who have been taken by The7. Now Kane must teem up with his fellow deaths row friend Lynch and help rescue Kane's wife and kid in this emotional ride of a game.

Gameplay

Play as both characters in the game but the most of it revolves around Kane. The game is shot from a third person perspective. Finish your objectives without dying in an endless amount of action. Walk, run, jump, perform actions, fire your first and secondary weapons to overcome your foes. Before starting a mission you will be briefed on what you have to do in order to complete the mission. Now most missions usually involve killing a certain someone or staying alive long enough for something to happen. When in the middle of all the action you will notice the cross air on screen to aim. The cross air is rather sensitive and moves really quickly. Also on screen with you when in a mission is a mini map in the bottom left of your screen. On the map it points out all your enemies, foes and so on. In the bottom right corner of the screen is your current weapon and secondary weapon your using and how much ammo you have left.

Pick up weapons after killing enemies. You can find pistols, machine guns, rifles and shotguns throughout the game. Most enemies carry these weapons and you need to kill them in order to pick their weapon up. You can also find grenades and use them. One of the better weapons is the ability to use the fixed weapons. Fixed weapons cant be picked up and carried around but you can use them to defeat numerous enemies at once especially if your surrounded. Throughout each mission there is usually a squad of men with you. If your low on ammo you can replenish it by talking to a certain member of the squad. You can tell which member offers the ammo as it is displayed on your mini map. Another great thing is the ability to be able to swap your empty weapon with a members weapon that has full ammo. If you don't have any bullets then look for a member to swap weapons with because your life is more important than anyones.

In the game you also have an inventory but that mainly consists of weapons. You can control the squad you have with you at anytime by simply offering them to follow your commands. Tell them to attack a certain area or target, call them to you or even tell them to move to a certain location and check for safety. Your the boss they do as you say. One of the best qualities in the game is that Kane seems to take a whole lot of damage before he can actually be killed. If your constantly shot, Kane starts limping and almost collapsing. If he collapses the game doesn't end. He has a little flashback of his wife and kid and gets up to fight again. Its almost like a life being used but you can only do this a certain amount of times. You can also sneak around and do silent takedowns (stealth kills) with the action button. The action button also allows you to do lots of other things such as open doors, climb ladders and even abseiling down buildings.

You can order your squad to set up in a different formation as well as telling them the plan. Go in all guns blazing or silently. Throw grenades or set up explosives for your enemies to run into them. Throw back grenades if one lands near you. However the best part of the gameplay is the ability to play the main story mode with a friend. Player one takes control of Kane whilst the other takes control of Lynch. Kane & Lynch dead Men is a fun game with plenty of action but its just a little old now.

A Fragile Alliance

A Fragile Alliance is the only online multiplayer mode but that is exactly the downside to it. In this mode you pick your character and a map to play on. Your goal is to finish several rounds in a match with the most money. Each round begins with every player armed and kitted up to fight to the death. As you play more you gain ranks. Reaching rank 30 lets you play this mode as Lynch, reaching 50 lets you play as Kane. The money you acquire can be used to buy better armor and weapons. You can also do this game mode as a team based mode. There is also the ability to betray your team but thats never fun...or is it?. This is the best game mode in my opinion but the game would of benefited more with more online game modes.

Graphics & Sound

The graphics to Kane & Lynch are a little weak to be fair but thats mainly because the game is built on action. Also because the game is getting a little old now and the newer games are getting better graphics wise. Kane & Lynch is starting to look really dated. The characters look a little plain and boring and that includes Kane and Lynch. Also the layout of each mission is a little poor. Not only do the graphics look and feel weak when your playing but the game does have a couple of glitches in that make the graphics even worse. Overall Kane & Lynch is a little disappointing in terms of graphics but thats mainly because the game is a 2007 one.

The sound effects are much better than the graphics. They seem to offer more to the gamer. The two main characters in the game are voiced by Brian Bloom (Kane) and Jarion Monroe (Lynch). The sound effects really come into play best when all the action is taking place. Gun shooting and explosions make the game come to life. Also the music in the game is quite impressive and so is the in game music when things get a little exciting. Overall the sound to Kane & Lynch is still quality and still makes an impact on the gameplay.

Difficulty & Longevity

The difficulty to the game varies and can be played on 3 different difficulty settings. Instead of using easy, normal and hard the game uses Aspirin, Codeine and Morphine with each one increasing the difficulty of the game. The controls to the game are a little annoying to get the hang of. At first they seem really simple but as you progress through the game more controls come into play and the game gets harder in terms of remembering the controls. Other than that the difficulty of the game is rather simple. The levels are easy to navigate and the enemies are fairly simple to kill.

The length of the game would be extremely poor if there wasn't an online multiplayer mode. The basic story of the game lasted me a maximum of 15 hours and that was total completion. I was very disappointed with this. However the game does last slightly longer because of the online mode. Overall its disappointing in terms of length and it is probably the biggest let down to the game.

Good Bits

• Lots of action in the game and its full on action at its best.
• Play the story mode with a friend in co-op.
• Some top sound effects and music to the game.
• A great online multiplayer mode.
• Its a really cheap game and fun can still be had with it.

Bad Bits

• Dated graphics.
• The games story mode doesn't last long enough.
• Quite an easy game even on the hardest setting.
• Needs a few more online modes to make a huge impact.
• The controls get a little mental later in the game and can be hard to remember most of them.

Final Thought

Kane & Lynch Dead Men is a 2007 game and if I'm honest its a little lackluster in my eyes. I feel the gameplay can become repetitive and I don't really play games that look dated unless its a classic arcade style game. Kane & Lynch plays well except for a couple of glitches but they don't really disappoint the game much. The overall play of the game is fairly smooth with very few loading screens. The action in the game is the best thing about it because its constant and hectic at times. Another good thing is the gamer manual. It offers everything a gamer would need to know about the game like controls, help, contact details and lots of other information.

Kane & Lynch Dead Men has a gamer rating of 18+ and this is because it contains really strong language and lots of bloody violence all the way throughout. I would recommend the game if your a fan of third person shooter games with lots of action but nothing else. It is a fun game to play if your bored. The game is one of the oldest Xbox 360 games and it can be picked up on the cheap. I bought my copy recently because it was cheap. I paid £2.99 from my local Cashconverters but the game is also going for around the £5 mark on Amazon which does include postage fees. I do think its a cheap game and definitely worth it. Its worth it if you have friends to play with. Overall Kane & Lynch Dead Men is a fairly decent game but I think the movie will be much better when it gets released. I would give the game a 5/10!

Review also on dooyoo under the username: simon020187!