Format: XBOX360(version reviewed),PC DVD, PS3
Hits the Shelves: ITS OUT NOW
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: IO Interactive
Site: www.kaneandlynch.com/

The heavily edited 10 second UK TV ad. The original which is further down is too violent for TV.

When I was told about the BETA for this game I had to get my hands on it and thankfully I was picked to take part and I was glad that I did. The game was not like any other that I had played, at least that instantly springs to mind. I did play the first Kane & Lynch demo but never played the full game but this one seemed a lot better for some reason. Anyway, I had to get the full game when it was released and luckily I got that too and spent several hours on single player working my way through at medium level.

One thing that you will notice – unless you have sight problems, is that the game looks like it has been filmed on CCTV or gives you the feeling that there is 3rd character holding a camera. As you play through the game you can see that this is not an annoying feature after all – especially when you head into the options screens and make the camera effect of running and it jumping side to side go away. This effect through out the game works very well with the very edgy cut scenes. There is a lot of pixelation, as shown in the screenshot below:

I did find that annoying though as this is meant to be a game played by over 18’s so it would have been nice to have an option to remove it, but again this is probably something to do with the effect that it’s being filmed for a tv show or something.

Anyway, this game is fun and made me wonder if this is how Dr House MD and Jack Bauer would act if they worked together and the obvious answer is yes, I think it would. You have a psycho who just enjoys shooting people even if it turns out later to bite him in the ass and then the other one who is pretty stable to make sure that the psycho doesn’t cause too much hassle.

A great feature of this game that I tried was the online co-op, I managed to join a game on xbox live with someone called Bentosx and we had some great fun working through some of the story and you are not forced to start from the beginning, you are given the choice to start searching for players from a certain stage in the game if you wish – just in case you want to only start midway. I did not notice much lag but i did see his character “rubber band” a few times but that happens in most games and it had no effect on our game, it didn’t cut out unexpectedly and he’s a great team player so add him or something – maybe message him first though so he don’t think you are a stalker. When playing the co-op with someone you will get some more achievements too or at least have a chance of getting some of them. Unlike when you die on the single player you don’t just start again from the latest save point you have to hit ‘x’ really quickly and that slows down a bar above your head that if your co-op buddy notices has to also press ‘x’ above you to revive you, if he/she doesn’t notice you or the bar runs out before they get to you then you have to start from the save point again. This does become annoying as there did not seem to be any obvious sign onscreen that your buddy has fallen and as the game is very much action orientated you do not always have time to look around for your buddy to make sure he/she is ok. I think that they should have at least made some visible on screen indication that Kane/Lynch was down so that you didn’t just unexpectedly get a black screen saying your buddy had died.

To me I think that the storyline was pretty short and didn’t really seem to make much point apart from someones girlfriend gets shot so in retaliation someone else’s gets shot. It did however end in a way that would make most people think that there maybe a 3rd title in the works. I am not sure if that is a good thing. I never played the first Kane & Lynch apart from it’s demo but most people hated it and some seem to hate this one too so its undecided by me if a Kane and Lynch 3 is going to be a wise choice.

Apparently the multiplayer element is a large part of the game but so far I have only checked out the online co-op. If you wish you can play the game with a friend with splitscreen co-op so be sure to check that out as well as the multiple multiplayer modes!

Some DLC is on its way too from August 31st, Multiplayer Mask Pack, Alliance Weapon Pack and Doggie Bag Pack. All three packs extend the multiplayer experience by adding new heist locations and weapons. Usually some people are happy with this, which I am but some others are clearly insulted that this is going to happen as apparently the content we will get access too is already on the disk because the options are already there, but whatever, I think its great news that the developers have thought ahead and actually decided to grow that multiplayer a little more.

Some screens to click on before the score rundown:

The “too violent for tv” trailer

Only view if you are over 18

Final Thoughts:

I really did think that the CCTV/YouTube video look really made the game appear a lot different to some of the other co-op games out there like Army of Two and even though you don’t see that shaky handed camera man you are constantly reminded that he’s around. I don’t think this game is intended for the hardcore virtual gunslingers out there but it is a great game to have a pop at, especially if you just want to burn off some steam with a mate online. Again, it would have been nice to have some indication that someone I was playing co-op with had been shot down and was awaiting assistance. Despite that, the game did have me wanting to fire it up again and again so here’s the score.

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