Review: Kane and Lynch: Dead Men

Strong story undone

Kane and Lynch: peppered with treachery.

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Kane and Lynch: Dead Men

From: IO Interactive

For: Xbox, PlayStation 3, PC

Classification: R18 (language, violence)

Score: three stars

Deep down, Kane and Lynch isn't a bad game -- it just needed a little more spit and polish to make it a great game.

It's a tale of two death-row mercenaries whose lives become intertwined after they meet during a ride in the same prison van, which is hijacked by Lynch's associates.

There is a real attempt here to create a strong story, and hats off to developer IO Interactive -- the same company that brought us the bald-headed hitman Agent 47 -- for doing that. Kane and Lynch are characters for which you almost feel empathy, despite Kane being on death row for the killing of 25 Venezuelan citizens and his two-year-old son shooting himself with Kane's service revolver, and Lynch being condemned for killing his wife and being schizophrenic.

The story is peppered with tales of treachery, double-crossing and a mysterious mercenary gang called The7, of which Kane used to be a member, but who are now after his hide after he kept a stash of diamonds from a bank raid for himself -- and they want it back.

Complicating things is that Lynch has been ordered by The7 to babysit Kane, who are holding Kane's wife and daughter hostage, and it seems likely that Kane himself will end up dead, as well.

The R18 rating on the game's box isn't just for show. I lost count of how many times the F-word was dropped during conversations and the violence is graphic at times. Please don't play this with your three-year-old son/daughter/niece/ nephew/cousin around. You have been warned.

While the story is brilliant, it's a shame the core game play isn't quite up to the same standard, with a difficulty level that sometimes swings from easy to hard during the same game, a less than perfect cover system, questionable computer-controlled artificial intelligence, and some missions that will most likely result in you having to buy a new wireless controller after you throw the one you are using on the floor in disgust. One such mission is one where you have to shoot the driver of a large truck -- which seems to have bullet proof glass -- before he runs over a person you're protecting. One word: frustrating.

The pair travel the globe and the game has some nicely realised locations, especially the nightclub in Tokyo mission. Audio and voice work, too, is top-notch.

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, simply because of the strong story and believable characters.

Sure, it's not a must-purchase, and it's flawed, but it's an enjoyable outing.

- © Fairfax NZ News