Blood, Sweat, Tears; all words fitting of Kane and Lynch, and yet no catharsis lies in wait at the end of the tunnel...
The result, upon conceptual finality to the media itself, was named [aptly, if I may say so] "Kane and Lynch: Dead Men". Taking on the then-at-it's height third-person "cover-to-cover" shooter genre as it's basis for gameplay, Kane and Lynch took an ambitious turn upon finalization, due mainly to it's action-heavy and dare I say film-worthy "Tarantino-esc" script.
When released, the results were not pretty; not only from a critical point-of-view - yet also from a narrative perspective; documented clearly in the following.
PLOT AND STORY ASPECTS:
Blood, Sweat, Tears; all words fitting of Kane and Lynch, and yet no catharsis waits at the end of the tunnel. The light has permanently ceased to exist for both of these men's lives. There is no hope to be spoken of, for it now takes the form of bloodshot memories, flashbacks and accusative voices of friends - those of a man with nothing left to lose; and only pain, only sorrow - only vengeance plagues this man's life.
His name is Adam Kane Marcus. He's just been busted out of jail by his ex-"colleagues-in-crime" [The Seven] to fulfill a debt he never paid, his wife and daughter have been abducted and taken hostage by these same people and he's wanted for crimes against humanity in more than a single continent. His life can't get any worse at the rate it's going.
Soon enough, Kane is forced into a foul-mouthed relationship built on the foundations of resentment itself; together with his new watchdog - medicated schizophrenic "James Lynch" - imposed upon him by the "Seven" themselves. Together, their task is two-fold. Firstly, bring The Seven back the money they claim Kane owes them, and get Kane's family back in the process.
Unfortunately for both Kane and Lynch alike, nothing goes to according to plan. Nothing ever does in their severely degrading lives.
Primarily, the story of Kane and Lynch is told through various sections of "chatter" in between levels; as well as the expected various cutscenes. Though unlike most others of it's type, Kane and Lynch provides both fist-clenching straight-up brutality during the course of it's cutscenes, and all while provides some of the most entertainingly humorous dialogue sections in many years; in either films or gaming combined. Ultimately, it's the stunningly rough-yet-so-smooth dynamic[s] between the two titular characters that carries the plot all the way through up until the last split-second of gameplay.
GAMEPLAY AND ELEMENTS:
As stated within the introductory paragraph, Kane and Lynch is a brutal third-person-shooter, not much unlike it's older siblings responsible for popularizing the genre in the first place. One could consider this approach as a whole, residing as a "keep-it-safe" cross between Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas and John Woo's late-2007 arcade shooter "Stranglehold", released no less than a month previous to Kane and Lynch's official launch date.
As with most all other cover-based third-person shooters that take on a more tried-and-tested conventional framework of gameplay, Kane and Lynch relies heavily on a systematic audience of gamers in order to fully deliver on what it attempts on doing in the first place; rather than rushing out into the middle of a busy street and being able to take a fair-share of led-pellets before finally meeting one's maker, both Kane and Lynch are fairly susceptible to any form of physical harm, and must find cover almost immediately after the bullets begin to fly, lest they want to get airlifted back to the previous checkpoint.
Dying in Kane and Lynch is as annoying as it is forgiving; this can either take place through repeated bullet intake, in which case players will get as second chance if their buddies can reach them in time - it can happen through the means of a learn-the-hard-way-overdose of adrenaline, following repeated revival needles injected by comrades; and needless to say, the cover system is far from perfect; as projectiles will often fly through seemingly solid cover, before it actually falls apart visually.
Gunplay would seem similarly unbalanced to the uneducated gamer, were it not for the fact that in reality - guns don't aim by themselves. Kane and Lynch features weaponry with quite heavy spread ranges; a source for heavy annoyance to those used to the inhuman accuracy featured in previously related games such as "Rainbow Six: Vegas".
Missions primarily take place on fairly confined set paths, with little freedom of movement to be had and objectives usually laid out in complex fashion, serving primarily as a cover-up for "kill-everything, move-on" gameplay sections.
On short notice, players will be occasionally treated to a pre-scripted set-piece, such as repelling down a building, blowing up a bank vault, defending an in-motion vehicle on a rail-esc sequence and the like. Unfortunately this is as far down the trail of ultimate creativity as IO decided to take the first game of their newest franchise. In the end, while it breaks no new ground and doesn't take any risks, the plentyful action tends to feel as raw and intense as it does unoriginal and slightly clunky, leaving plenty of alluring appeal for the hardboiled action-gaming fans of the modern-day.
VISUALS:
Running off a slightly modified version of IO's early 2006 in-house Glacier engine doesn't help Kane and Lynch get any prettier in a late 2007-friendly world. For the most part these visuals are nothing stunning and neither are they completely up-to-date. Yet on the brighter side, character designs and models are highly detailed and believable, while certain areas provide massive animated backdrops - demonstrating a clearly large-scale sprawling urban environment, that if inhumanly possible, the devs at IO Interactive would clearly have created in fully-playable 3D.
While not awe-inspiring, Kane and Lynch provides suitably gritty yet somehow colorful in appearance visuals - with uniquely implemented set-pieces on occasion here and there throughout the various levels.
MULTIPLAYER-BRIEF:
While obviously not intended as the central focus of the game as an entirety; the multiplayer aspect of the game takes a unique approach on often-used gamemodes reminiscent of cops-and-robbers. Here, what may seem like a typical run-of-the-mill heist Multiplayer game-type, is soon seen to take on the unique-guise of "free-for-all" betrayal. For at any stage during a multiplayer match, any given player may betray another for an extra cash bonus - at the expense of the entirety of their former team turning on them for the remainder of that round.
Once again, it's far from ground-breaking - and yet it's minor complexities serve only as extra spice to an at first glance senseless bloodbath.
ULTIMATE CONCLUSION:
Kane and Lynch didn't stand out upon release as a specifically conceptually astounding break-through for the third-person shooter. From a different point-of-view, however, IO have developed a shooter with so much atmosphere, emotion [considering it's chosen genre] and iron-willed mentality - that one would be hard-pressed to attempt to find a game with a better sense of both plot and direction.
Kane and Lynch delves into the very bottom of the pit within the twisted darkness of two psychotic individual's minds, both out for naught except their own personal gain. The dynamic between James Lynch and Adam Kane Marcus is compelling; to be vague on the topic.
Lack of breakthrough aside, this is one tale of un-filtered immorality that should not be missed by those with a taste for raw emotion as well as intensity in action-gaming.