Acceptable and insanely flawed, guilty pleasure out of nostalgia and wasted potential. Takes a groove out of gritty Michael Mann heist film sailing on cover-shooter. Gameplay suffers some of the most clunky, recoil-tainted gunplay which never was my fixation, but rather my conceptual fascination towards the shamelessly anti-heroic leads, tragic soap opera turned into bullet-spree anarchy and some of the most hectic "Heat" stylized run n' gun scenarios a shooting gallery would ever dream of. It slackers for a travelholic tour of redemption into a lousy-war section with insane difficulty and nonsensical choicemaking, but things add for a stylistically tragic and broken, ugly flavor. Definitely a misfire but one i admire, and Eidos apparently does, to some extent, by having their leads wandering around Hitman Absolution.

I have an odd relation to the first Kane & Lynch. When I first played it on the PS3, I absolutely HATED this game. Everything felt so clunky and not precise. I couldn't hit ANYTHING with these damn weapons and wasted a lot of ammo, but the PC-version is miles better. Writing wise, IO Interactive tried hard to catch the vibes of Reservoir Dogs or Heat, but it falls mostly flat. But I really need to say, that I dig the downward spiral this game goes... even though the ending is pretty shit. A tale of two detesting human beings, who just fuck up all the time and even jump into a Guerilla War, which reminded me from the mechanics a lot of their previous game "Freedom Fighters".

To be honest, Kane and Lynch Dead Men didn't make a lasting impact on me. It was an alright game, but nothing that really stood out. However, I had heard so many great things about the sequel, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, especially in terms of its aesthetics and storytelling. While I wouldn't call it a flawless masterpiece, it definitely had its own unique appeal. So, despite finding the original forgettable, I still decided to give it a shot. I played Kane and Lynch Dead Men simply because I wanted to fully play the first game for the sake of being able to move on to Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days. It was all about setting the stage and understanding the context for the sequel that had captured my interest.

The story is Kane being broken out of a prison bus by the The7 and how they want Kane to commit 1 last heist or they'll kill his wife and daughter, and they have Lynch monitor and help Kane but reporting back to them if he tries anything.
Kane does the heist however the item had been stolen from the bank vault putting Kane in a bad position. Kane & Lynch are taken to a construction site to an unmarked dug grave, where Kane's daughter and Wife are also brought to the construction site, and Kane's wife is killed while his daughter is scarred for life seeing her Mother killed in front of her.

As the game progressed Kane and Lynch plan on killing all members of The7 for killing Kane's wife, and travel to Venezuela to kill The7 there, and this is where the game feel weird as it abruptly shifts to war setting with Kane and Lynch fighting in the war against the Venezuelan government. Which leads to Kane & Lynch finding one of the members of The7 who agrees to help Kane find the rest of The7 on a remote island since they now have Kane's Daughter kidnapped.

The game has Kane & Lynch go to the Island and kill the remaining members of the Seven however at the end Kane has to make a decision to leave via the Helicopter or to help Lynch rescue their men who helped them fight and get this far.
The sequel Dog Days treats both endings as canon, as if there was 3rd possibility of doing both, but mainly it's agreed the Helicopter ending where Kane leaves with his daughter is canon.

Gameplay wise it's fine, it uses the combat 3rd person shooter from HITMAN, and in general is fine enough and perfectly paced. The game is a bit forgettable, unlike it's sequel which barely acknowledges this game say for a mere mention confirming the Helicopter ending being canon.
I think the only part that's really annoying is with the giant Truck boss during the construction site level, but in general it's the only real annoying part. LEGIT THIS PART TAKES TOO LONG BECAUSE OF THE AIMING BEING TOO SLOW TO LOCK ON THE DAMN DRIVER. LEGIT YOU WILL PROBABLY RAGE AT THIS PART.

The game is fine enough, I don't think it's anything amazing, and it certainly isn't needed in playing the more well regarded sequel. On Xbox 360 you might have the incentive to play on tougher difficulties, and replaying for Achievements, but on PS3 you can just one-and-done it since it was apart of the era before Trophies were added to PS3.

Would I recommend it? If you care to play the first game for the sake of playing 2 DOG DAYS, then yeah sure. But if you're someone who wants a compelling story and Esthetic, I say skip this and play 2 only, 2 is really good.

thanks for reading.

Трудно выдавить из себя хоть что-то, когда тебя даже не пытаются вдохновить на нечто за рамками стандартного мышления. Про Кейна и Линча нечего сказать ровно в той же мере, в которой вы ничего не скажете про пресный хлеб со стаканом воды из под крана. Но отнюдь, хлеб хотя бы питательный, в то время как всемирно известные говноделы IO Interactive снизошли до люда простого с чемпионом посредственности, недостойным и доли вашего внимания.
Мне будет куда проще расписать данную нам ситуацию, рассуждая именно что в ретроспективе истории студии с учётом их прошлых работ. Ведь в действительности Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (2007) это ни много ни мало духовный наследник тех самых Freedom Fighters, вышедших на четыре года ранее. Но что будет, если взять отвратительный шутер от третьего лица, устаревший ещё на момент выхода, и отнять у него единственное достоинство - колоритный сет-дизайн ярко выраженной направленности? Вы получите просто отвратительный шутер от третьего лица, кто бы мог подумать.
Да, вам точно так же будут насильно впихивать механику командования неотёсанным личным составом, ведь без неё вас прорешетят свинцом сотни вражеских болванов, которые в самый неподходящий момент сражения сосредоточат всё своё внимание именно на вас. Да, вы всё ещё можете держать в своём карманчике лишь одно оружие, помимо пистолета, до тех пор, пока не подберёте и временно не поменяете на другое. И, как всегда это бывает у Богом покинутых IOI, в их детище просто адски утомительно играть. Хоть малую толику энтузиазма возможно испытать лишь в первый часик прохождения. В остальные же мгновения мучения вам предстоит лишь молить о скором финале, попутно отстреливаясь от снизошедших с пучин ада безмозглых кусков двоичного кода в этом уродливом памятнике однообразия. Без малейшего преувеличения смею заявить, что здесь худшая стрельба, с которой мне только приходилось сталкиваться. Этот невыносимый разброс, с которым на расстоянии дальше одного метра ни единая пуля не попадёт в оппонента, ещё долго будет сниться мне в геймерских кошмарах. Похвалить могу разве что за вариативность локаций, порой предоставляющих гибкую протяжённость как по вертикали, так и по горизонтали. Да и в кооперативе с товарищами это не предстало бы столь отягощающим опытом. Вот только нигде уж и не купишь сие чудо.
В общем, на лицо всё тот же самый зубодробительный боевик низшего пошиба, что и Борцы за свободу 2003 года, но в тотально унылом облачении. О сюжете даже и не спрашиваете - здесь всего-навсего придётся лицезреть сказ о банальных преступных мразях против всех без какой-либо креативной смысловой подоплёки. Соскучились по простеньким стрелялкам? Ей Богу, уж лучше наверните первого Макса Пэйна, на шесть лет опередившего это убожество.

Really interesting game, not the best by any mean or capacity but interesting enough to keep you hooked through it's story. It's a well made movie-like experience with a great variety of locations and scenarios. The atmosphere feels opressive and dark at times. The Japan levels were the best in my opinion. Something strange I recalled is that the characters just go from one side of the world for another in a matter of just seconds? it helps to keep the pace of the game but come on, it feels kind of lazy.

Both protagonist make a good couple, one being sane and the other being a psycho. One is selfish, the other one is loyal and so one. The best of both worlds and it works Both are deeply flawed on their own way.

Why is just "Decent" then? Well, the gameplay cannot be more tedious for a shooter. The cover mechanic is not associated to a specific button for some ungodly reason and it's just does it by itself when you are close to a wall. The shooting itself feels janky to say the least, the bullets spread like crazy and you don't much options for a more precise weapon such as a rifle or sniper through the game. Sprinting is non-existential, it last less than 5 seconds if you are lucky and the sprint isn't like a huge difference from walking either. The Team mechanic is a mixed-bag it can serve on some specific ocassions but most of the time you ended up killing yout target before your team does most of the time.

Most of the unique mechanics to this game don't flesh out that much really through the journey. Stealth is close to non-existent, specially in the Jungle levels when there is an incentive to use it. You will ending up shooting everyone without consecuence anyways.

Conclusions: Interesting game, but it's not much of a fun ride, but it doesn't need to be it either. And by the end, you will ended up empty.

As interesting as the vile eponymous characters are, little can save Kane & Lynch: Dead Men from the mediocrity, if not outright terribleness, of its entire package. Gameplay is banal and tedious, even on the easiest difficulty; the narrative twists Max Payne, Trainspotting, and Tarantino into baffling nonsense to justify Kane's search and later rampages (although the cooperative mechanics driving Lynch are intriguing in a way Kane's never is); technical aspects are wholly deplorable with AI and graphics seeming antiquated for 2007; and, in comparison to its sequel, there's just no style to this game to warrant a playthrough to segue into Dog Days. There's worse games out there for sure, but Dead Men isn't really trying enough to not be deemed amongst them.

As previously mentioned before, I'm quite nostalgic for this game as I used to play it co-op with my dad and after revisiting it I can say this game has some good ideas but it is terribly executed.

This might be the worst feeling TPS game I have ever played, the camera zooms in too much when ADSing and your bullets do not go straight.

The story is an interesting concept but none of it is explored properly, the villains are forgettable and our protagonists hae the depth of a puddle. This game should be remade, like there is straight up untapped potential here.

wowwwee this is shit.

played it co op (which likely did not help with the unstable frame rate, glitches etc) on the shittiest JVC crt tv from 2001, resolution was so piss poor you could barely make anything out. can see what they were going for & may pick up again in the future out of genuine curiosity, but for now this is easily one of the jankiest things i've ever played in my life. it's obviously unfinished, i couldn't imagine the shock of paying full price for this in pre-obamacare america, not only throwing 60 biggins down the shitter for this in conjunction with paying full price (in 2007 recession shekels) for the artery and bong hit transplant you'll need after the brain bleeding this will inevitably imbue.

me & my buddy played blops 1 zombies after, allowing us to fully recover from the psychic and physiological damage this game would've caused us permanently had kino der toten not existed.
but just imagine playing this in a pre BLOPS/pre Obama world - it's why i don't have the compassion to give this 2 stars. they say that america's ''counter terrorist (sic) war'' on the middle east, was possibly the greatest tragedy to emerge in bush's america - but i think that this game is by far, the most eminent demonstration of the U.S's sociopolitical, economic erosion in the mid 2000s. maybe if there was a scene where kane & lynch sexually interfaced with each other - then perhaps, this could be redeemed. but until that day comes - i will hex the assholes of all the eidos interactive staff for releasing this abomination in a time before call of duty became good & the industry standard became releasing your unfinished games & then releasing a 20 GB patch a month later.

IOI has a very interesting design ethos when it comes to their linear games, the most recent linear TPS they made was Kane and Lynch 2 which built off the ideas from Kane and Lynch 1 which built off the ideas from Freedom Fighters which reused a lot of the systems of Hitman 2. I think this game is really interesting mainly because of how terrible it is, but in a way that was necessary for the company to grow and make some of the best linear TPS games in the future, depending on how you feel about Hitman Absolution. The game is awful, but it acts as a start point for future games by the same team, it feels like an alpha build of a better game in a way that you would never see today.

Kane and Lynch presents an interesting story about a irredeemable protagonist who ruins everything around him due to an obsession that surpasses his sanity. It's a shame that this story is embedded in a disastrous video game.

Kane and Lynch is a third-person cover-based shooter that, released shortly after Gears of War 1, seems like the developers didn't quite grasp how it should function.

The gameplay falls short in many aspects. Taking cover is a disaster, as you don't use a button for it; instead, you have to approach a SPECIFIC spot, and the character does it automatically. This brings many issues, as the game doesn't precisely indicate which objects you can use for cover and in what position you should be for the character to do it. So, you'll be moving around, waiting for the character to take cover while enemies fill you with bullets in the chaotic action where it feels like bullets are passing through walls.

One feature of the game is having companions to whom you can give various orders, similar to the game Spec-Ops. Unfortunately, the AI is terrible, and there are instances where your companions are standing still amidst chaos, taking damage (which is terrible because if any of them dies, the objective restarts), or shooting at you due to friendly fire.

Now, the graphics. I theorize that the game was originally intended for the PS2, but at the last moment, they decided to release it on Xbox 360 and PS3. Otherwise, I can't understand why the graphics and animations are so horrible; it's like watching a pre-alpha.

Despite everything, the game entertained me, especially the story and characters. I would have liked to learn more about Kane's and Lynch's pasts.

Era um jogo que estava na minha lista de jogos que eu tinha, mas nunca zerei na época do Xbox 360/ PS3.
Fui surpreendido com uma gameplay desastrosa, mecânica de stealth que NÃO funciona e mira completamente aleatória.
Ele é um jogo que tenta ser o que ele não é. Um jogo cinematográfico. As coisas simplesmente acontecem uma hora você esta em uma prisão outra hora você esta numa balada do Japão e depois você esta em cuba, isso tudo pra você recuperar uma coisa que ninguém sabe o que é pra você resgatar a a sua filha que te odeia. Cutscenes em tempo real com problema de áudio dependendo da posição da câmera. Bugs aleatórios que te obrigam a reiniciar a fase porque um NPC morreu.
E depois disso tudo o jogo não é nada intuitivo no que se deve fazer (fase do caminhão que você é OBRIGADO a atirar na janela lateral não no para-brisas)
Tirando tudo isso esse jogo seria um bom remake, se tudo que ele tentou for cumprido ele seria um ótimo jogo, mas não é.