Dead Men is the first of two games in the Kane & Lynch third person action series that came out in 2007 for PC, PS3, and 360. It's a series that I somehow pushed back all the way to 2022 to play and finally nabbed it on GOG during it's promotional DRM-Free release sale. After beating Kane & Lynch: Dead Men for the first time, to me it came off as a game that tried presenting itself as an inspired action film having cliche set pieces and many segments feeling like I was supposed to take in the scene.
I went into the game very enthusiastically but felt a lot of it fell flat in many areas, specifically how little polish was felt in the gameplay. The bigger issues are the inconsistent shooting and movement mechanics. Sometimes, you're able to get away with holding down your trigger and killing every enemy in sight, other times you couldn't even pick them off while aiming at them. Even when you try to play the game how it was probably designed which is by moving cover to cover, the enemy seemed to always have some kind of advantage so it was pointless unless you were behind the biggest wall. I never found any consistency throughout the game and had to rely on finding exploits in order to progress.
Despite it's many flaws, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is far from a bad game and a worthwhile experience, it's just sick with the traits found in other games during a time when publishers and developers were obsessed with marketing cinematic experiences but weren't sure how to implement it in video game form. We still get those type of games today, but I wouldn't know if those are designed better. Giving this game the benefit of the doubt, there is a part of me that wants to believe that much of the unpolished gameplay was done on purpose to make the game feel like a rough single take film. If we're being realistic though, there is a lot of fine tuning this game needed. What actually kept me going through to the end was being hooked in the first quarter of the plot itself.
If you watched a lot of action movies in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's, you'll be able to immediately pick up on the inspirations for most of the game. It's a very cliche plot where they setup the main character to be some brooding guy with heavy hints of main character energy and they throw down all of his reasons and motivations on the table at the very beginning. Following that up is the enigmatic would-be accomplice/side-kick sitting right next to the main character who's true nature is slowly unraveled as you progress through the game. Right from the moment that they interact with each other, their whole dynamic was very spot on for two guys who don't get along but are forced to work together which I personally wanted to see develop to experience the payoff.
The one thing about the plot that I found confusing was that some of it felt like I should have known this information. If there was a comic book or other promotional material that explains these gaps in the plot, I must have missed the memo. There were also moments throughout the game where they keep hinting that a twist or turning point in the plot would come up, it's like the writers forgot to implement any of them by the end of the game.
Overall, I still think people should check it out because it's highest points are done very well, but even the lowest point merely fall flat and don't affect the momentum of the experience. It's been made available again on PC but this time as a DRM-Free release on GOG.
Official Trailer 1
Official Trailer 2
Buy it on GOG
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