E3 2007: Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Impressions

There is nothing in the world like walking into a preview briefing and having to fight with your teammates over who gets the “blow” and who gets the “dope”. The whole of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is set in a seedy underworld and features two very not nice guys as protagonists. Anti-heroes with a capital A.

Kane, a mercenary with no compunction against killing, maiming or torturing any obstacle in his way for the right price and his medicated psychotic partner Lynch take center stage in this very raw and mature rated game as they crawl from the bottom of the cess pit of crime only to find themselves sinking even deeper.

The build we saw this year was very basic and with the game release a good way off I won’t say too much about the technical glitches or graphics issues that were present. The game uses an upgraded version of the Hitman: Blood Money engine to great effect. One part of the demo had the main character – Kane walking across the busy dance floor of a Tokyo nightclub surrounded by hundreds of dancers all synchronized and moving to house music. Kane is the primary player controlled character but the gimmick of the game is the various minions/partners you can control tactically as the game progresses.

The script and voice acting in place for the preview were top notch. This title could be the next great crime game. Eidos even went so far as to decorate the viewing room with guns, packed drugs and money. A nice flair for an E3 that is desperately lacking it this year.