Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a flawed but memorable experience that seems to be either loved or hated by most people who play it. IO Interactive had already made a name for themselves in the gaming industry with their excellent work on the Hitman franchise; most notably Hitman: Blood Money, which released just a year prior to this game. This game carries on the dark and brooding atmosphere from their prior work on Hitman but with a bigger focus on action, being inspired from films like Heat by Michael Mann. The story in this game primarily follows Adam "Kane" Marcus, a former mercenary sentenced to death; as well as James Seth Lynch, a man who killed his wife and was also sentenced to death alongside Kane. Both men are broken out of a prison bus by Kane's former mercenary group known as The7, which Kane betrayed prior to the events of this game. Kane is soon after given an ultimatum by The7, return the money that they claim he stole within three weeks, or else his wife and daughter will be executed by them. From this point on; the game goes through multiple set-pieces in locations such as Japan and Cuba as Kane and Lynch try to retrieve the money and stop The7. I did like how pretty much every one of the named characters were anti-heros that weren't portrayed with any redeeming or good qualities, you don't always get games where the developers just embrace nihilistic characters like that. Although; there were a few times where I felt that the characters other than both Kane and Lynch were a bit dry and uncompelling, as well as the transitions between levels and plot points feeling a bit rushed / disjointed. As for gameplay, this is a fairly standard third person shooter; everything works as you would expect it too, but there's nothing like a cover button which I thought would have really improved things as there are times where it can feel sloppy trying to take cover behind an object. Your gunshots also can easily miss in most long-range gunfights which can be a bit frustrating in certain levels, (mainly a few parts of the Cuba and Venezuela missions). Controlling your squad can also feel a bit unresponsive at times. One strong point of this game is the soundtrack by Jesper Kyd, who had previously worked with IOI on the Hitman series. There's also the "Fragile Alliance" multiplayer mode in which players shoot their way through scenarios with the chance to betray their teammates in order to get a bigger score of cash and win the match. Is this a terrible game? In my opinion, no. It's just painfully average and very hit-or-miss depending on how you feel on the strong points and the vision that IOI had for it. I recommend waiting for a sale since it's usually really cheap.
