Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
File:Kane & Lynch.jpg
Developer(s)	IO Interactive
Publisher(s)	Eidos Interactive
Engine	Glacier Engine (heavily modified) with Havok physics
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Games for Windows
Release	November 14, 2007 November 23, 2007 December 6, 2007
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single player, co-op, online multiplayer

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a cooperative action game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and gaming platform Games for Windows. The game depicts a violent and chaotic journey of two men — a flawed mercenary and a medicated psychopath — and their brutal attitude towards right and wrong. It has been confirmed that movie studio Lionsgate has bought the rights for the movie adaptation.

Characters

Kane

Real name Adam Marcus. Originally worked as a consultant for large companies that outsource work to other countries. His relatively normal life takes a turn for the worse when his two-year-old son Stephen finds his gun, shoots himself with it and dies. Two weeks after, Kane is unable to cope and seeing the blame put squarely on him by his wife, he skips the country. He becomes a mercenary, and after six years of putting his acquired skills to good work, he is contacted by a mysterious group known only as The7. "A brotherhood of unlimited power," The7 are looking to add Kane to their ranks. They promise him riches which also come with stringent rules. If those rules are ever broken, Kane is a dead man. He works for the mercenary organization for thirteen years. When their retirement job in Venezuela goes horribly wrong, Kane's entire team ends up dead (or so he thinks). He manages to escape with a fortune in diamonds. He flees, but the authorities catch up to him and he is sentenced to death. It is unknown where or how Kane got the distinctive scar running from his forehead, across his right eye down to his right cheek (Though it's possible that it had something to do with previous dealings with the Yakuza crimelord, Retomoto, because when Retomoto is killed, Kane makes the same cut across Retomoto's eye). It should be noted that Kane cares a lot about his daughter Jenny, knowing that he will die when he gets the money, but his daughter will be spared (see below). He has a good friendship with The7 member, Carlos, since Carlos tried to have Kane's family saved.

Lynch

Real name James Seth Lynch. A paranoid schizophrenic who made a blue collar living in a meat packing plant. He needs a large amount of prescription pills to keep his volatile nature under control. Lynch ends up on death row, after one of his 'blackouts' resulted in the brutal murder of his wife Anna. Soon after his 911 call, he went on the run (believing someone else had killed her) but was finally caught and sentenced to death. It is never clear if he is the victim of a set-up or that he really has killed due to his delusions.

Development

For the development of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Jesper Kyd was brought in to write the musical score for the game, having already written score for the Hitman series and Freedom Fighters. The single player was originally going to have online co-op, but was dropped at the last minute and limited to offline due to time restrictions and difficulty. Director Jens-Peter Kurup said that Scarface and Unforgiven were inspirations for the characters. The game was originally going to revolve around only Kane, with Lynch acting as a side-kick. But as the development went on, they decided to include Lynch in the story also. Martin Guldbaek, the art director for the game, said that for creating each of the locations, the team went to Los Angeles for photo shooting. They combined this with concept artwork to create "locations that matched the character's mood and perspective". Anders Poulsen is the lead character artist. According to him, he wanted to make characters "like no other". Kane was the first character to be designed, but was very different from his final appearance. (He was minus the scar on his face, and originally smoked a cigarette.) When Lynch was bought in, it added more "life" to Kane's character.

Sequel

Although being only released for Christmas, Eidos have stated a sequel is in the works, and are hoping to make Kane & Lynch a big franchise.

Gameplay

Campaign

The player will take the role of Kane during the game (Lynch is controlled by the AI, or by a second player in co-op mode). The game includes a split screen co-op mode. Gameplay uses the element of squad-based combat; squad members can be told to follow the player, move to and defend a position, and to attack specific targets.

Gameplay is largely based around armed combat. Players can swap weapons (pistols, shotguns, SMGs, and rifles) with allies and fallen enemies. Cover is used by approaching the corner of a wall or large object, and once in cover, players can step out and aim at opponents or fire blindly while only minimally exposing themselves to damage.

In addition to firearms, the game contains fragmentation, incendiary and smoke grenades.

Fragile Alliance

Fragile Alliance is the game's only online multiplayer mode, in which the goal is to finish a several round match with the most money. Each round begins with all of the players as armed, balaclava-clad robbers (the two highest-ranked players in the world will play as Kane and Lynch themselves) on one team with the goal of looting as much money or as many valuables as possible. Money can be picked up by standing near a white dollar symbol; the symbol will change to a gray color as that source of money gradually empties. Resistance is met in the form of armed AI controlled security guards and/or police officers. A player's money acts as a shield, but will quickly be dropped on the ground as the player is injured. To escape the level, a player must survive to meet a getaway vehicle. All players who survive without turning on their allies will split stolen money evenly.

If a player is killed, they will respawn as a police officer with the goal of stopping their former allies from escaping. Any loot that the robbers drop can be picked up by a police officer for a 10% finder's fee. If a player who has become a police officer is killed, they do not respawn and will only be able to observe for the rest of that round. Police officers do not split their loot with other players.

However, players are able to kill one or more of their allies, and in doing so will be labeled as a traitor. Traitors do not get a share of the rest of the team's loot but get to keep all of the money that they stole themselves; this enables players who have taken a large amount of money to score more points. Their normally white player name will turn orange, and they can not conceal their name as usual by crouching. Traitors can be killed by their betrayed allies for a reward which is not split with the rest of the team. When a player who is killed by a traitor becomes a police officer, they will be able to earn a revenge bonus for killing that traitor. When the round ends, a traitor becomes a normal member of the team again, though they will appear in a black shirt for the immediately following round.

A player's appearance in the game is influenced by their trueskill rank. Unlike Kane and Lynch's campaign mode, players can not sprint by clicking the left thumb stick. If a player feels they have taken enough money to become a target for potential traitors, they can drop some of their money by pressing a button (thus becoming less of a scoring threat.)

Plot

Temporary NB: The original plot synopsis was far too long. Wiki advises against scene for scene rundowns and quotations from script

Adam 'Kane' Marcus is travelling to death row, after being convicted of the crimes he commited in Venezuela. His fellow passenger, James Seth Lynch, hints of a breakout in the next few moments; but Kane clearly hasn't heard of such a plan. The truck is involved in a head-on collision and a unknown group of mercenaries set them free. It quickly becomes apparent that this isn't a rescue, but a kidnapping. The two are taken to a shopping mall still under construction, where it's revealed that the remaining survivors of Venezuela job, The 7, are behind the breakout. They plan to take revenge on Kane for leaving them to die and taking the retirement reward. They make him an offer; retrieve the stolen item back in three weeks or his wife and daughter will be murdered. Successful or not, Kane will still be executed. Lynch acts as a watchdog, reporting in to The 7 (now down to four) on Kane's movements.

Kane and Lynch, along with old friend of Kane's (an unamed safecracker), break into an LA bank to retrieve the item locked away in safe deposit box. Lynch becomes erratic as the operation goes on, while Kane finds that the box is empty, assuming someone he knows took it. Lynch finally snaps and starts killing hostages. The group escape and it's revealed that Lynch suffers from paranoid schizophrenia (and he's quickly running out of pills). After a protracted chase, only Kane and Lynch survive; they head to Japan to find the old man, a Yakuza boss named Retamoto, who has the item.

Kane plans to kidnap his only lead's daughter, Yoko, in a hope to make an easy exchange; the woman for the item. The plan is unsuccessful when Lynch suffers another delusion and kills her. Kane realises that he's out of time and has to head back to LA to face his punishment. He also tells an unbelieving Lynch that he's a dead man too; who in turn tells him that he's made a deal, only to be betrayed when they get back. Kane's estranged wife and his daughter, Jenny, are brought to a construction site to watch him die. He has a letter to give to Jenny and pleads for more time. Kane's wife is killed by Mute, one of The 7. He kills Mute in a blind rage, while Lynch uses the distraction to kill his captor. They defend Jenny from further attack and is told to run away. Now that he's survived, Kane decides to finish The 7 to stop any more attempts on Jenny's life. Lynch joins his cause after telling him of his wife's murder. After breaking out a group of 'dead men' from prison, Kane starts his revenge by going back to Japan, killing Retamoto and taking back the item (which is never revealed).

Days later, Kane, Lynch and their 'dead men' - Thapa (prounounced Thar-pa), Riffic and Shelly - track The 7's survivors to Havannah and find themselves caught up in a civil war. They find Carlos, Kane's only friend in The 7, who tells him that he too has been betrayed by The Brothers after their Havannah operation became a mess. Thapa leaves in disgust when Kane lies about the money owed to them and his new-found alliance with Carlos. The remaining group fight their way through the Columbian jungles and finally find The Brother's base of operations. It becomes apparent that Jenny has been found again and now held hostage. Carlos is killed trying to plant a mine as a distraction. Kane and Lynch are ambushed, but kill one brother in the process using the mine, while the other escapes with Jenny. Meanwhile, Riffic and Shelly are pinned down while trying to secure the airfield (The Brothers' means of escape). Kane finishes what he set out to do by killing the last of The 7 and rescuing a traumatised Jenny; who now hates her father for leaving after her young brother's death years ago, the death of her mother and for his betrayal of The 7. Riffic and Shelly call for help, but Kane doesn't care, much to Jenny and Lynch's disgust. At a helicopter pad, Kane has to make a choice whether or not he saves his men or escape with his daughter.

In one ending, Kane boards a helicopter with Jenny and leaves the remaining men, including Lynch, 'to burn'. Jenny resents her father's actions.

In the other (true) ending, Kane and Lynch head to the surviving mercs' position. Kane takes Jenny with him, despite Lynch's apprehensions. They're too late to save Riffic and Shelly feels betrayed, despite the rescue attempt. As they escape to the pier, Jenny is shot and killed by a random sniper. Kane carries her body with the belief that she's merely injured. Shelly leaves the two behind and takes his own boat. Kane and Lynch finally escape together on another boat, but at a cost...it seems it was all for nothing, with Kane a broken man.

Critical reception

The game received mixed reviews upon release. As of December 5, 2007 on the review aggregator Game Rankings, the Xbox 360 version of the game had an average score of 67.7% based on 38 reviews. On Metacritic, the Xbox 360 version has a metascore of 66 out of 100, based on 41 reviews. On Game Rankings, the PS3 version had a score of 65,8% based on 19 reviews. On Metacritic, the PS3 version has a metascore of 64 out of 100, based on 23 reviews. One reason cited for giving the PlayStation 3 version of the game a lower score is the lack of voice chat during the online mode, a feature the Xbox 360 version supports.

GameTrailers awarded the game an overall score of 8.0/10 (Design, 8.5; Story, 9.0; Gameplay, 8.1; Presentation, 7.9), stating that although there are some flaws in the game, the package as a whole made it "easy to recommend". GameSpot gave it a 6.0, noting that "Characters and storyline do everything in their power to drive you away from the game". Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded the game a 7.2/10 rating, saying it had "great story, pacing, and variety" yet complained about the absence of online co-op and poor aiming.

For the PC version of the game, the Australian PC games magazine PC Powerplay gave the game an 8/10 for "Excellent", citing "great dialogue", "impressive locations" and "satisfying action" as highlights while criticising its length and the final act of the game, suggesting it "loses ambition" compared to the earlier parts of the game which "[took] some pages out of Mann's notebook".

References to and from other IO Interactive games

• In the IO video game Hitman: Blood Money, one of the after mission newspapers mentions Kane & Lynch, however the news article uses their real names, rather than their alias.
• In the background of a promotional poster for the game, there is an insurance advertisement featuring Hitman's Agent 47 with the captioning "Is death sneaking up on you?"
• The game's Achievements in the Xbox 360 version contain two references to the Hitman franchise, one being that there are 47 achievements. There is also an achievement called "Headmaster", which requires the user to show his skill by scoring 47 headshots.
• Narrating one of the TV spots for the game is David Bateson, the voice actor who played Agent 47 in the Hitman series.
• In the multiplayer mode "Fragile Alliance," there is a level called "Late Night Opening." One of the stores in this level is "Mr. 47's Menswear."
• One of the levels set in Havana is called "Freedom Fighters", a reference to one of their previous titles.

Film Adaptation

A film adaptation is in the works from Lionsgate. Recently, Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thorton have been rumored to star in the film as the main protagonists as of November 2007, but nothing new has surfaced since then.

External links

• Official website