I just finished Kane & Lynch and I say it was good game. A game that I think is over looked due to its many flaws. Here is my take on Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.
The story to Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a very captivting and addictive. Kane is a death row inmate who is being transfered from one prison to death row. On his way there another inmate Lynch tells him to "put your head down". What transpires after this is a full fledge jail break orchestrated by a group called the brothers. Long story short, the brothers broke Kane out of prison because he stole something from them and they want it back. To get Kane to do it they have kidnapped his wife and daughter. Lynch was hired to be Kane's babysitter and make sure he does as he's told.
One of the things that make the story so enjoyable is the banter between Kane and Lynch. Some of the conversations they have though vulgar have a humor to them that is all its own. The dialouge is well written and is a strong suite for the game.
Gameplay wise there are a few flaws that hurt the game. However, if you can be patent and learn to manage these flaws you will enjoy the game. One of the biggest flaws is the cover system. Basically, if you lean against any type of pillar, post, blockade your character will automatically take cover against the object. The flaw to this is obvious it doesn't always work, and in cetain situations it will drive you insane especially with all the gunplay in this game. Also, watch it when taking cover as you may still take damage as depending on the weapon being fired it may penitrate the cover. Another flaw is when in cover you can shoot by peaking out of cover the problem with this is you have to watch how much you you hit the controller left or right if you move it to hard you will come out of cover. Second problem is the recoil of the weapons. No matter what weapon you're using there will be massive recoil. For example, if using an AK-47 you can aim at an enemies feet and after unloading a few be shooting at his head. The handgun as the least amount of recoil and is the most accurate weapon though the weakest. My take on it is try all the weapons and try to stick with a gun you're comfotable with. The next is more a design flaw then an actaul flaw but it's still annoying. When playing this game you will breeze by chapters 1-10, however chapters 11-14 will make you think ask why am I playing this game?
For example Chapter 11 starts off where you need to meet up with a group of men that will help you out in order to get to those men your team of 4 guys plus youself must advance past a bunch of army fighters, once you complete that you must face off against more fighters then take down a tank. All this while making sure that Lynch and the rest of your group stay alive if they don't game over. After taking down the tank you reach the most annoying part of this game and chapter. You must advance your men to a buiding but you need to go through 4-5 waves of army fighters while a helicopter is flying above and shooting (two shots from the helicopter = instant death) if you manage to get by this part (most people give up here) you enter a building protected by army figthers once to the top of that build you must destroy two tanks on the ground and then take down a helicopter. I'll stop there but the chapter doesn't end there.
Another flaw is how the game is saved. When you get to the end of each chapter you get a "full save". Each chapter has check points but those are not saved meaning if you get halfway through a chapter and decide to quit, the next time you start up you must begin the chapter from the begining.
The game is of okay length 15 story chapters and an optional 16th chapter. The game is decent if you can manage the flaws. The repetiveness is there especially in chapters 11-14. You need patience to complete this game. If you have the patience you will be rewarded with a good story though the endings were a bit on the depressing side (see for yourself I won't go in to detail).
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men: 7/10 - worth playing if you can handle the flaws and repetitiveness.
