You have probably seen this before, but not in the way that Kingpin manages to show.
I will not say much about the story simply because there isn't too much to talk about it. Kingpin is about revenge, in which the player incorporates a thug who wants to give the payback to a mob leader, while trying to earn respect and dealing with other "cool" thugs. You'll see that there is some dialogue in the game, but it's limited to only two types of answer: positive and negative. In general, you'll want to hit the positive key when you're talking to important people, while you'll probably find fun giving negative answers to those bums along the area of Skidrow.
It's in those dialogues where the real violence in this game resides. As in many other similar games, Kingpin features gibbed opponents and lots of blood around, but the language is where this game differentiates itself from the others. The profanity here is pretty much like those movies such as Pulp Fiction and Crank, where the characters are usually offending each other as it was their usual way to maintain a conversation. I found it funny and a nice touch that totally combines with the underground atmosphere of Kingpin, but some people may dislike the excessive amount of bad language. If this is you case, keep in mind that it's possible, during the installation process, to restrict most of the adult content.
Xatrix achieved something rare with Kingpin's graphics: they used a dated engine to make a great looking game. I could say that graphics started to look good after the release of Unreal, and I knew that Quake and Quake II sucked in this matter. On the other hand, Kingpin shows that it's possible to use aged graphics with well designed textures and models, giving the impression that we're enjoying a fresh engine. Everything looks amazing: scenarios, weapons, explosions, blood, bullets, character models (especially the girls) and so. This is one of the shining features in Kingpin.
I can't complain about the sound either, although I would like to hear some background music sometimes. You'll hear some radios with a soundtrack that is constantly looping, and that's it. Maybe the absence of background music is to give a more realistic experience while you wander in the streets of Skidrow. At least the weapons sound good and the voice acting is convincing.
NPC interaction in Kingpin is very important, and you'll do often of this while buying equipment at the shops, dealing with mercenaries or gathering info from certain fellas. This will perhaps make you think if Kingpin is actually a pure shooter or if it's a hybrid that mixes FPS and RPG. Make no mistake: this is a serious shooter and has nothing to do with RPG, although you do have money (found in dead bodies or at specific areas) and objectives to accomplish. But the game is very linear and your actions have little impact, so don't expect more than a possible ending or a high replay value. After finishing it, there is little reason to go through all the way again.
Talking with mercenaries gives you the option to hire them for a price. Early on you'll use melee tanks to take damage for you, and as the game advances, you'll hire more serious thugs armed with effective firepower. You can give orders to them to hold position or to act aggressively, and they aim with an unbelievable precision against their targets. Some of these guys may get upset if you accidently shoot them, so you'll need extra attention to fire against your enemies but not against your hirelings. The game does a decent job when directing your mercenaries (yes, you can have more than one) to the position where you are, although they may get lost sometimes. It's also possible to wait them to regenerate their health after a tough combat.
Interacting with NPCs is quite important while doing missions, especially because some of them holds an important item or information that's crucial to keep the game going. Although there isn't a compass directing you to the right place, you can always try to talk to anyone and read your notepad if you get stuck. The most relevant NPCs are hidden in bars, where you can't move around armed. So it's impossible to kill the guy that is going to help you to continue your progress in the game.
When you enter in a shop, your character also holster his weapon and a menu is shown so you can browse what's for sale. In general, you can buy weapons (as well their upgrades), ammo, armor and health. Take notice that not all merchants have the items as listed in the menu, although they'll become available later on. Luckily you don't need to keep your money intact to get access to the best arsenal when it's available, since the game is generous enough to reward you with all the necessary cash to keep you alive. If you're hurt, don't be afraid to buy health packs; if you need ammo, don't wait them to be dropped from your casualties, considering you can buy ammunition at the shop without any trouble. Most of the enemies have a few bucks in their pockets, so if you're careful enough to search every corpse you'll accumulate a good amount of money in no time.
Your weapon selection is pretty much like in any other regular FPS. Your thug uses pistol, shotgun and machine gun, but there is also the heavy arsenal. Sadly I didn't find the big guns that much. There is only one from the powerful stuff that I liked to use (in truth, after getting it, I couldn't use another one in the entire game), which fires piercing bullets in burst mode with an incredible precision.
Unfortunately, the explosive weapons aren't very useful. The rocket launcher doesn't deal too much damage and, depending on the situation, it will hurt you as much as the enemy. The grenade launcher is also a bit useless, since the grenades don't explore on impact, only after a given time; considering the enemies move around often during a combat, the grenade will probably not hurt them as much as they could (and the area effect isn't very powerful). But the "uselessly trophy" goes to the flamethrower. Although it does a considerable amount of damage, the enemies simply ignore the flames and keep shooting at you while you try to burn them. When they start to ignite, you can let them die without any problem, but it takes time to do so.
The enemies are quite smart, especially when they're hiding and waiting for you behind a wall or a certain object. You mercenaries also do a good job while following you through specific areas that you have to jump a broken stair or to walk on small things. Sometimes they stand still when you move too fast, but you can always go back and order them to follow you again. As you can notice the AI isn't very sophisticated, but it isn't stupid either.
The firefights is where Kingpin really shines, and they become even more interesting when you have one or two additional thugs with you. The goons start to curse each other while the bullets fly towards the target, and you'll notice that you can't simply stay in the middle of the fuss shooting your enemies. It's necessary to take cover and aim small, otherwise you're finished. Since you'll engage in combats every time in Kingpin, you'll have fun moments quite often.
You'll fight against bosses sometimes, even though they look exactly like any other regular enemy. You'll notice they are special when you fire against them five or six shotgun shells and they still don't fall. These tough fellas also fire with a bit more precision than the usual, and you'll have a hard time to kill them depending on the difficulty level you chosen.
The missions in Kingpin are very straightforward, although this isn't necessarily a bad thing. But in this game, it lets you waiting for more, considering there isn't too much to do around. You may find a secret place here and there, but they're very sporadic. You'll usually move from a ''point A to B'' pattern, killing the bad guys and talking to NPCs, and that's it. The levels lack complexity and you can't change the course of the game based on your actions. So, the game is very linear and, as I said before, the replay value is a bit thin.
The multiplayer support is there, but don't get excited because there isn't cooperative mode. You can join or create a server for competitive matches only, although it plays well enough to increase the value of this game. Naturally, if you're looking for a great deathmatch experience, go play Quake II instead of this. The multiplayer support is just to make its presence, but it doesn't have anything special.
Considering Kingpin is more focused on solo gameplay, I think it's not fair to say that it doesn't deliver what it promises. The single player takes around 10 hours to finish, and it's refreshing to play something different in the FPS genre. Kingpin's great graphics, convincing sounds, impressive firefights and NPC interaction (with the profanity) brings good moments to both the casual and hardcore gamer.