Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

By Reuben Ellett

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When you put two evils together you can do a world of good...or bad. In Kane & Lynch: Dead Men you control either a flawed mercenary (Kane) or a medicated wife-killing psychopath (Lynch) who are both hell-bent on wiping out the mercenary group that Kane used to work for. With the skills of a mercenary and the homicidal tendencies of a convicted mad man you can be sure that the game will provide vast amounts of violence and mentally unstable fun for all. Kane & Lynch promises to be a gritty shooter with violent motives, squad-based combat, a fresh new multiplayer mode, and a co-op mode for you and your medicated lunatic of a friend (as long as he actually exists).

Kane and Lynch begins with you (Kane) inside a convict transport truck driving along the green mile. During the Sunday drive another convict sitting near you all of a sudden jumps up and tackles you to the floor screaming “Cover your head!” Then an explosion rips through the truck and turns it over. The next thing you know you are observing the same man smashing in a police officer’s face with the butt of a shotgun as you fade in and out of consciousness. After a sharp prick in your side and thirty milligrams of adrenaline later you are back on your feet and following this strange man through back alleys all the while being fired upon. A few strange men dressed in body armour and balaclavas assist you and the strange man in the slaughter of lawmen. After a few minutes of intense run and gun you and the group bunker down inside a diner. You are given a gun and the order to fire at will.

The gameplay consists of a lot of stop-and-pop scenarios where you will find yourself in a stalemate with the enemy if he is behind cover. You will have to resort to using your team mate to flank the enemy and take him out effectively. Because Kane and Lynch focuses on squad tactics you are given more than just one other person to control. You are also given a small handful of mercenaries who will follow orders and help eliminate any threats. It is in your best interest to keep these guys alive since they can take most of the heat away from you and spread it out among the squad. If one of your buddies get hit then you will need to revive him with a quick adrenaline shot that will get your soldiers back into the fight.

Graphically Kane and Lynch looks pretty average. The only noticeable graphical goody is the shear amount of destruction that bullets do to the environment. Windows will shatter with amazing realism, columns will crumble accurately, and enemies will feel the pain of high-velocity sharp metal penetrating their bodies. This will play a key role in your tactical decisions since being behind cover is a core part of staying alive. If the turned-over table in front of you starts to fall to pieces due to the large amount of rounds hitting it then you have made a big mistake and are most likely going to regret it - picking out where and when to move is crucial

In a world of deathmatches and CTF's we tend to get a little bit tired of the same old multiplayer modes. Kane and Lynch however will provide a new type of multiplayer match that will test your wits, your trust, and your skill. This new mode is called 'Fragile Alliance' and places up to eight players together in a co-operative mission against a string of AI police. Your goal is to get inside a bank, steal the money, and then escape safely. Players will have to work together to eliminate foes and pass certain areas with ease – but there is a twist. Players are graded at the end of each level by how much money they have stolen, how many kills, etc. If you find you lack the necessary funds to enjoy your retirement then you can turn on your friends and wipe them out and then make off with their hard-earned cash. This comes with its own consequences however – you will be short of one player, you will be obvious to the rest of the team (who can kill you without consequence), and everyone will think that you are a big-time backstabber. The player who you killed then becomes one of the policemen and seeks to eliminate you and your fellow bank thief’s.

With a dark story, two men who hate each other, and a new edge on co-op mode, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is aiming to be one of the top games of this year. It has a few other titles to worry about but Kane and Lynch appeals to those who have a sick side to their mind and a fun attitude towards making money. The game will release around Christmas time for Aotearoa but in the meantime more detailed info and a full review to boot are heading your way, so keep the cross hairs on NZGamer.com.

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