PlayStation 3

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

The Fragile Alliance multiplayer mode is also a tense thrill. Unfortunately, it's also missing something: maps. There are only four and they are all pulled straight out of the campaign. Unless I'm the one missing something, Kane & Lynch fails to live up to its potential.

The cinematics and storyline make this feel like a Hollywood production. The plot is there, the crazy characters and personalities are there and so is the violence. What's missing? Refined controls and a little more flair to the graphics. It is fun to play alone, but more so with a friend in co-op. This game feels a lot like Freedom Fighters. The only problem with that is the mistakes with that game have not been corrected four years later. When it comes to third person shooters, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is not going to be remembered as a classic.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men features a wonderfully dark storyline surrounded by a slew of action that never lets up from the first bang. We'd love to finish on that note, because it means we'd have a must-have title for everybody, but the mediocre control, erratic cover system, and strange stealth sequences (we don't have a stealth mechanic, Io!) pull the game down. In short- the story is the crux but the gameplay is the crutch. This isn't what we wanted, and while we still say it's worth a rent - Kane and Lynch really are that insane, and the action really is quite entertaining for a while - it's not worth $60. Maybe it goes on the Christmas list so you don't have to spend your hard-earned cash...? With so many other great titles this holiday season, we just can't recommend this one unless you can overlook the primary failings and focus on the story and characters. It's too bad, but that's the way it is.

There's certainly a lot here to love and a lot more than 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.

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. Frustration should never enter into a game because of the mechanics, but with Kane & Lynch it does. Loose gameplay, a brief campaign, and a single (albeit good) online mode with four maps hurt this title that could have been so much more.

There’s a lot in this game to like. It’s got real personality, and the well-wrought action sequences are among the best ever to appear in a game. Kane & Lynch could have been a stand-out title last generation, and there’s no technical reason why it couldn’t have been made for a last-gen system. But when faced with the fierce and forward-looking games of the past year or two, this game can’t get its head above water. Like the two aging men at its center, Kane & Lynch is a game full of regrets and missed opportunities. But also like those two men, it’s still got plenty of bullets left in the clip. Maybe that new girlfriend wasn't such a bad idea after all...

Kane & Lynch is one of those games that really wants to be a big-selling franchise starter, but falls way short of being a compelling action title, and an especially glaring one considering the stiff competition this year. The game could’ve benefited from several more months in development, but isn’t recommended as it stands.

On attendait énormément de ce Kane & Lynch qui déçoit d'autant plus et ce à quasiment tous les niveaux, la faute à une sortie trop hâtive. Singeant ses modèles cinématographiques sans jamais parvenir à leur niveau, accumulant les bugs (graphiques et de collision), proposant un système d'ordres moins évolué que celui de son modèle Freedom Fighters, devant supporter une IA catastrophique, le soft de Io Interactive, sous des dehors "Manniérés", n'est finalement qu'un brouillon de très bon jeu.

Não passa de uma teoria, mas é bem provável que Eidos não tenha anunciado uma seqüência para "Kane & Lynch" à toa. Chega a ser decepcionante pensar que a produtora fez vista grossa para tantos erros apenas com o intuito de lançar o jogo às pressas e lucrar com continuações e adaptações cinematográficas. Tudo por aqui não passa de promessas não cumpridas e expectativas não alcançadas - infelizmente, já estamos cansados de saber que um jogo não se faz apenas de boas idéias. "Kane & Lynch" poderia ter um visual excelente e dezenas de opções onlines e, ainda assim, continuaria na mesma situação precária caso mantivesse a jogabilidade frustrante e inexata que faz parte deste primeiro episódio. Se você quer prestigiar o trabalho da Io Interactive, as quatro edições de "Hitman" são mais que o suficiente.