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KANE & LYNCH: DEAD MEN (X360)
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Publisher: Eidos Interactive.
Developer: IO Interactive. Released: November 2007. Genre: Third-person shoot 'em up. Other versions: PS3; PC. Posted 9th October 2022. By Shane Battams © 2022 |
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More than a decade on from its initial launch, the Kane & Lynch series has a somewhat contaminated legacy. PR disasters involving a mainstream gaming website and the fallout from a middling review score, repulsive marketing surrounding its sequel and more F-Bombs between the two games than a DMX song. In hindsight, it’s easy to notice how little of this notoriety comes from the games themselves and with Dead Men, it very quickly becomes clear why. Poor shooting mechanics, baffling design decisions and dated presentation ensured Kane and Lynch’s debut crime thriller was, for lack of a better term, dead on arrival.
Dead Men follows the two titular characters, death row convicts who are busted out during transport. It’s soon revealed, though, that this was the work of Kane’s former gang The 7, demanding that he return stolen money within three days, lest his kidnapped wife and daughter are killed. What follows is a dark crime drama, borrowing copiously from the likes of Heat, with a few sequences feeling like they were lifted straight from Mann’s movie. While a few moments stand out, the narrative is buried under dislikeable characters, with the protagonist duo lacking any semblance of empathy and nuance. The script uses F-Words like a crutch, becoming grating rather than adding intensity to the action. With two weak endings, it goes out on a whimper, not a bang.
The shooting lacks bite and accuracy, which is a problem, as there's plenty of it in Kane & Lynch
Things don’t get much better once the shooting starts. It’s immediately clear something isn’t quite right, with bullet trajectory feeling off, leading to shots missing where they shouldn’t have. Recoil on a lot of weapons is realistic in the wrong way, making keeping a steady aim tricky. Few of the guns in Dead Men have impact and seldom feel valuable in combat. Things get more awkward with the cover mechanics. Rather than pressing a button to stick to a surface, you’ll almost automatically stick to cover, but it requires such finicky placement that it ends up proving a waste of time. AI is also poor on both counts, with friendlies often being gunned down quickly and enemies standing out in the middle of the open – though their gunshots can put you down sharpish. There is a revive mechanic, where friendlies can jab you with adrenaline to help you back up, but deaths in quick succession will lead your character to overdosing. There’s also a bevvy of odd design decisions, such as the lack of a reload button (again, it’s done automatically at points) and thin squad mechanics. It’s a poor effort all around.
The campaign is a real melange of scenarios, which are mixed in quality. There are a few highlights, including a couple of heists that feel energetic and a technically impressive nightclub sequence, which puts tons of NPCs on-screen at once. On the other hand, the later levels through war-torn Havana and dark Venezuelan jungles feel almost out of place, and often frustrating due to the sheer number of enemies on-screen and cheap deaths. The gameplay, though, doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain even in these more creative sequences, and ensure that it’s not worth trudging through the muck to find the gold of Dead Men. The campaign can be breezed through in around seven hours, and replays are hardly an appetising prospect. There is a co-op mode, allowing you to play through the whole campaign with another player as Lynch, but bafflingly, it’s limited to split-screen. Games released months before achieved this feat online, including Rainbow Six: Vegas, leaving it a headscratcher.
The campaign is a real melange of scenarios, which are mixed in quality. There are a few highlights, including a couple of heists that feel energetic and a technically impressive nightclub sequence, which puts tons of NPCs on-screen at once. On the other hand, the later levels through war-torn Havana and dark Venezuelan jungles feel almost out of place, and often frustrating due to the sheer number of enemies on-screen and cheap deaths. The gameplay, though, doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain even in these more creative sequences, and ensure that it’s not worth trudging through the muck to find the gold of Dead Men. The campaign can be breezed through in around seven hours, and replays are hardly an appetising prospect. There is a co-op mode, allowing you to play through the whole campaign with another player as Lynch, but bafflingly, it’s limited to split-screen. Games released months before achieved this feat online, including Rainbow Six: Vegas, leaving it a headscratcher.
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Kane & Lynch also fails to impress on a technical level, looking closer to a PS2 game than a seventh-gen title. While some levels look appealing, especially the aforementioned nightclub level, much of the game suffers from poor textures and flat lighting. Even main characters, such as Kane’s balding hair, look pretty poor. The performance is mostly steady, bar some slowdown during chaotic sequences, but it just looks ugly at most points, especially next to first-party titles like Gears of War. The sound fares only a touch better, thanks mostly to Jesper Kyd’s great soundtrack which utilises a variety of accompaniments, from intense synthesiser tracks to the industrial techno which plays during the Tokyo Nightclub. The voice-work is decent, though the script fails to impress, and guns sound somewhat potent, but poor audio mixing often muddies these elements.
The multiplayer is somewhat interesting, though suffers from the mechanical flaws of the campaign. Titled Fragile Alliance, all players start as robbers attempting to land a big score, with AI cops attempting to shoot you down. The neat wrinkle is that before reaching the getaway vehicle, team mates can turn on each other and snag all the loot for themselves, otherwise it is divided between surviving players. It’s a neat idea, but the combination of poor shooting mechanics and a complete absence of players leaves it on life support.
The multiplayer is somewhat interesting, though suffers from the mechanical flaws of the campaign. Titled Fragile Alliance, all players start as robbers attempting to land a big score, with AI cops attempting to shoot you down. The neat wrinkle is that before reaching the getaway vehicle, team mates can turn on each other and snag all the loot for themselves, otherwise it is divided between surviving players. It’s a neat idea, but the combination of poor shooting mechanics and a complete absence of players leaves it on life support.
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Kane & Lynch can be played through in co-op, but only in offline split-screen
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men marked a rare misfire from the usually reliable IO Interactive. An ugly shooter with repulsive characters, wonky mechanics and some odd quirks that leave it feeling more frustrating than engaging. While some of the Heat-esque setpieces are fun, they aren’t enough to warrant a playthrough and Dead Man would quickly find itself outclassed by its competitors. Even for those morbidly interested in the missteps of this controversial game, it just isn’t worth the aggravation of dealing with the poor shooting. Much like the two deadbeats the game follows, there are few redeeming qualities to be found here.
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VERDICT
"Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is an ugly shooter with repulsive characters and wonky mechanics. Dead Men quickly found itself outclassed by its competitors." OVERALL: 4/10 |