Kane and Lynch: Dead Men

IO Interactive, the creators of the Hitman franchise, took it upon themselves to come up with yet another violent universe, one in which murder is not nearly as subtle as it was when Agent 47 was involved. Thus, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men tells the tale of two men, with radically different personalities, yet somehow on the same page when it comes to crime.

To start off with, it must be pointed out that the game is very similar to the Hitman series, especially if you are familiar with the mechanics. Hence, the same third-person perspective is used, while the character animation, although heavily improved, is basically identical as well, under all those layers. In case you have played any of the Hitman titles, then you should have no trouble adjusting to Kane & Lynch and it shouldn't come as a surprise if it feels familiar.

On the other hand, everything else is different, especially since stealth is all but absent this time around. Although you do get to perform some surprise attacks and shoot mostly from cover, the sheer number of enemies and the copious amounts of bullets you start off with do not leave you with too many options, but to blast your way through the missions. Moreover, since the game features scenarios involving crowded locations, such as office buildings and nightclubs, there are innocent people running around as well, which makes it even more difficult to distinguish the bad guys.

Since there is always some shooting going around, the environment was designed to reflect that, through the use of destructible objects and walls that slowly come down, the more you shoot at them. The enemies also make full use of their surroundings, by taking cover behind walls, doors, or various other objects they happen to be nearby.

The game shines from a technical point of view as well, thanks to the highly-detailed graphics and the nicely executed voice acting. Unfortunately, just as it was the case with Hitman, the AI ragdoll and body physics are not that convincing, especially when they get shot. Hence, whenever they happen to stand in the way of a headshot, they simple fall down like planks.

In the end, the game can be replayed as many times as you want in the co-op mode, which allows two players to take the roles of Kane and Lynch, respectively. Thus, even if the game suffers from some flaws, you can ignore them while you unleash unprecedented amounts of violence throughout a variety of crowded and realistic locations.