Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Critic Reviews

Kane and Lynch is quite a good crime drama experience and serves as a plausible move away from the Hitman stealth series that IO Interactive is very well known for.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a solid heist game and a solid co-op game. The premise is very interesting but some of the core gameplay isn’t as polished as some of the other shooters you’ll find this holiday season.

Part thug brutality, part capers and hijinks, the latest wild ride from the developer of "Hitman" has its fair share of rough edges--maybe even more than its fair share--but its epic missions are so thrilling that they'll sear away the nuggets of disappointment you'll ocasionally feel.

The right combination of gameplay elements and design decisions make Kane and Lynch easy to recommend to crime junkies and anyone who enjoys a little therapeutic videogame violence. A well-executed plot really makes the game, while the multiplayer additions add replay value and variety.

Puts player in a rather awkward role. You essentially play a person who hasn’t made a single good decision in his life. When none of your actions hold any kind of moral high-ground the whole experience starts to feel like a total downer. While the story certainly has an impact, the actual gameplay does not. Shooting behind the cover has been done much better. The real let-down is the last third of the game which is simply not fun to play.

The already strong story is helped along the way by some really good voice acting and a fantastic musical soundtrack that fits the game perfectly.

We rarely see scenarios and story structure this good in a game, and that makes it easier to forgive some of the more hardcore technical game-design issues. It's definitely more of a popcorn game for the action-movie crowd than a hardcore shooter, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Kane & Lynch is entirely about story and style. The gameplay is years old, but Kane, Lynch, and their tale(s)? Fantastic. If you want a good story, pick this game up. If you only care about pretty things that blow up nicely, go with something else.

In a year that has seen more than its fair share of outstanding titles in the action/shooter genre, Kane & Lynch manages to set itself apart with an outstanding compilation of levels that are a joy to play through. Therefore, it is all the more disheartening that at the same time, it manages to fumble some of the fundamentals, chief among them the broken hit detection.

Kane and Lynch could have been a fantastic game had they have spent some more time on it. Instead we are left with a fun but short and buggy game.

Kane & Lynch is a fun game to fly through in a couple days on "Aspirin" (easy) mode, but not deep or hardcore enough to hold up long term.

Kane & Lynch is a game that many people will play through and enjoy simply because of the forceful story and characters. Others will find the gameplay isn’t up to speed with the rest of the gaming world and wonder why anyone would bother.

Refining the cover and inventory systems would have gone a long way in making Kane & Lynch: Dead Men more user friendly. Hit detection needs work. The story is engrossing and well-executed.

Kane & Lynch is more "Freedom Fighters" than "Hitman", so it should appeal to action junkies looking for their next fix.

There’s certainly a lot here to love, and a lot more that you want to love, but most of your time in Kane & Lynch is spent shaking or scratching your head. The problems are just too visible for it to be taken seriously as a gritty thriller.

Artificial intelligence problems are present throughout, with squad mates continuously running in the line of fire. Furthermore, the promising co-op mode isn't available online, only locally through cramped split-screen.

The single-player game starts off well enough but becomes grating and tedious as it progresses. It's a great shame because the multiplayer offerings truly are unique and, with the exception of some flagging visuals, the game could've been great with a better main campaign.

Popcorn-crunching blockbuster in need of better scripting.

If you enjoy games with decent plots, developed characters and brilliant dialogue, this violent, offensive and witty action game is probably worth your attention, and if you're a shooting game purist, try not to expect too much and you'll still have plenty to enjoy.

Factor in an exceptionally short single-player campaign, an undercooked tactical squad element and a distinct lack of gameplay variety and it's impossible not to see this as a very big missed opportunity.