Kane & Lynch leaves a bad aftertaste
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is no stranger to controversy. Perhaps what would be remembered most about the third-person shooter is the chaos that it caused at GameSpot late last year. Then-executive editor Jeff Gerstmann came out with a very negative review of the game, which ended up being edited and its video review pulled out.
That’s not the worst part. Gerstmann was terminated from the popular video game site, causing rumors of pressure from Eidos, Kane & Lynch’s publisher, to have the journalist terminated. If that wasn’t enough, GameSpot’s reputation was tarnished, employee morale hit rock bottom, and several editors resigned from their posts.
Everything that happened would always be remembered as ‘Gerstmanngate.’ All that caused by one game.
Whether the speculations were true or not, one thing is for certain: Kane & Lynch is really a bad game. It’s so bad that there are only a couple of good things going for it, while the rest is a laundry list of negatives.
Bright spots
Multiplayer is one of the bright spots that keep Kane & Lynch from slipping into firewood material. You and seven other players team up for a heist and fight AI-controlled cops. The loot is normally divided equally among players but if one suddenly decides to keep it all himself and shoots a teammate, things start getting really interesting.
Like any good thing in Kane & Lynch, there’s always a hitch: you always get to see the names of other players and cops. It means there’s no such thing as surprise when playing multiplayer, so the fun goes down the drain fairly quickly.
There have been complaints regarding the game’s shooting mechanics, but it’s really just a matter of getting used to each firearm’s nuances. In fact, it’s possible to gun down distant opponents with unwieldy rifles if one knows how to take advantage of a weapon’s quirks. The favorable aspect of Kane & Lynch’s gunplay is its smoothness when aiming, even with the sensitivity turned all the way up. This sensitivity issue becomes a problem with other games because their targeting cursor starts skipping all over the place. Not so with Kane & Lynch.
The third and last strong point: The levels are quite inventive in their own right. One takes place in a Tokyo nightclub full of people, the other pits players against a huge truck, another is an escort mission where a character must be provided with sniper cover, and perhaps the grandest is a full-scale war in Havana, Cuba. There are a good variety of levels in Kane & Lynch that could keep players from quitting altogether, at least until another irritation would cause people to think twice.
How not to design games
Beyond these benefits, everything else is a lesson in “how not to design games”: the characters are despicable; the cover mechanics kick in automatically but is very erratic; the camera has a tendency to act up; story sequences can’t always be skipped; teammates and enemies are downright stupid; visuals are inexplicably choppy at certain points, among others.
Parts of Kane & Lynch may keep you hanging on but in the end, the bad would eventually outweigh the flashes of brilliance. There’s also an awful aftertaste thrown in so it’s best that people stay away from the game altogether (you’ll understand this when you finish the game). There’s nothing here that would keep you from playing Call of Duty 4 or smack your lips in anticipation of Grand Theft Auto IV. Rent Kane & Lynch at your own risk.
Image of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is courtesy of Eidos, IO Interactive, and Kazoo.
Notice that you didn’t right more bad things then good. Kane and Lynch is a great game. You forgot about the story which is what hooked me right away. Other then that you forgot EVEN to mention the soundtrack done by Jesper Kyd.
You critics out there don’t get it. There’s a lot more people that love this game then hate it. Its not always about dumb multiplayer to, its not what makes a game great. It’s also about adding the element of co-op which you also didn’t mention. The reason why gamestop lost its reputation is because people like you who assume everythings bad. At the end it matter what us the consumers think. You have no power over that and thats the part that probably pisses you of the most.
And the characters aren’t corny at all I suggest you watch the movie HEAT to know where they came from. You obviously have to do more research before you post something then just be fake no it all critic. Your nothing but a filthy commoner. Next time actually play the game before you right something.
@Fil A
Just because the music was made by a known musician, that doesn’t mean it’s good. Likewise, just because a game has a “good story,” it doesn’t make a great game. Haven’t you ever heard of gameplay being more important than story, graphics, or YOUR TASTE?
It’s your opinion that Kane & Lynch has a good story. If you like it, then more power to you. This is a blog, it’s a review, and if you haven’t heard, it’s someone else’s opinion, so get over yourself.
Look, if the review offends you because goes against your sensibilities, then there’s nothing I can do about it. In fact, I’m sure this won’t be the last time anyone would disagree with you, but if this is how you’d behave when such incidents occur, GROW UP because It’s not going to change anything.
wow someones pissed. I wasn’t mad when I said all that stuff. Which means I win xD. And you are wrong simply because your post had more good things to say about bad things in the game. And its not your opinion its probably your friends or the critics before you opinion. Your just settling with the rest to seem cool, or professional.
And if its someone else’s opinion that your basing your post on, then its not your opinion xD. You see… Im not a filthy commoner, or a government labdog like you who gets his strings pulled like a marionette by his own cheap pride. You got mad which means I hit something and that im right xD.
All I have to say though is Micheal Mann, and thats it I win. xD filthy commoner.