Kane & Lynch - updated hands-on

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We get kill-crazy with the psychos of Dead Men

Sept 20, 2007

Besides having two lead characters and a crapload of bullets, any comparisons of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men to EA's Army of Two - also coming out this autumn - will end right here. There are no wisecracks, just f-bombs. There's no aggro meter or invisibility, just your bad-ass attitude. And Kane and Lynch aren't buddies, they hate each other. So, what brings a condemned-to-death killer and a medicated psychotic together? Besides the love of money and fear of death, it's the mayhem that exists around the pair which puts these eclectic antiheroes at the forefront in Dead Men.

And that's how our story begins. We recently demoed the opening breakout level which begins as Lynch injects Adrenaline in your body amidst a ballet of bullets. As Kane you're first objective is to run towards an alley, no easy task since our movement was sluggish - you stumble and trip, trying to regain your senses. The background is washed out and blurry and the audio is muted. Soon you gain full control amidst the chaos and are given your first gun.

Taking cues from films such as Heat, Collateral, The Departed and The Bourne Series, Kane & Lynch is a dark crime saga filled with bursts of action. Instead of tossing two crazy guys with guns together, Io Interactive has crafted a refreshingly mature storyline: Kane's family leaves him after his son shoots himself dead. He then falls in with criminal organization The Seven. After a botched robbery, The Seven are slaughtered and Kane's left with the briefcase of dough. He's sentenced to death where he meets Lynch - a psychotic who has a penchant for blackouts and doesn't know for sure whether or not he murdered his wife. The two are busted out of a police van by surviving members of The Seven in an attempt to reclaim that briefcase.

And that's how our story begins. We recently demoed the opening breakout level which begins as Lynch injects Adrenaline in your body amidst a ballet of bullets. As Kane you're first objective is to run towards an alley, no easy task since our movement was sluggish - you stumble and trip, trying to regain your senses. The background is washed out and blurry and the audio is muted. Soon you gain full control amidst the chaos and are given your first gun.