The Bad
- Interesting story
- Great feeling
- Quality voice-acting
- The Fragile Alliance mode
- Mediocre graphics
- Too short
- Difficult control and targeting at times
- The implementation of the co-op mode
Review
For the action/stealth fans, the Hitman series is one of the greatest ever made. Its gameplay and feeling attracted many fans around the world, who came appreciate and love the now (in)famous bald assassin. And the fact that the movie with the same name was just released in theaters shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. However, one most know when to pull the plug, and IO Interactive decided to send Agent 47 on a little vacation and let someone else do the killing for him.
The title we’re discussing today keeps a part of the recepy that made Hitman a success, being a third person shooter akin to Max Payne or Stranglehold (which wasn’t that succesfull). Still, Kane & Lynch differs from these games because it doesn’t have any kind of bullet-time or spectacular stunts, specific to John Woo movies. What it does have is a very entertaining mix of action and story, that gets better as the game progresses.
I’ll admit that the game caught my attention since the first pieces of information started circulating on the Internet some time ago. It’s true that the story didn’t “tell me much” at the time, but the gameplay looked promising. Also, expectations were quite high, especially because the boys and girls from IO Interactive (a not necessarily active, but well-known company in the gaming scene for its titles) were pulling the strings. And although the ideas behind this title were already presented on the big screen (take HEAT for instance), they manage to give a certain flavor to the game.
Kane, one of the protagonists, is a controversial character. After the tragic event that killed his two-year old son, he leaves his family in order to become a ruthless mercenary, and ends up joining The 7 mafia group. However, a mission in Venezuela goes sideways, Kane is caught by the authorities, declared guilty and accounted for no less than 25 murders. The action begins in the van that is taking you to your final destination, with an escort from the Californian PD. Here you will meet Lynch, a psycho in the truest sense of the word and the second protagonist of the story.
Lucky for you, the van will find its end in flames and you will be able to escape with your new “whack-a-mole” sidekick in tow. Unfortunately, the joy of staying alive will end soon enough, because you will quickly discover that this early parole was part of a plan set up by The 7. It seems that mister Kane apparently “lost” a briefcase full of diamonds, which they now want back. Badly. And as a little impulse, they kidnap his daughter, to ensure his cooperation. Lynch on the other hand won’t make himself noticed at the beginning, but you will start sympathizing with him later on, even though he has a more than terrifying history to tell.
I wanted to emphasize the story because Kane & Lynch is excellently presented as an interactive action movie. The story line will change repeatedly, and although it’s full of obvious and inevitable clichés, it will make you feel that you are effectively taking part in the adventures of these two fugitives, something that greatly contributes to the atmosphere.
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