“BUT WHY DID you kill the hostages?”
“>Why, what do you mean? They were waking up” that should be a catchphrase for the game. It quite succinctly sums up Lynch and his entire attitude to, just about, everything in the world. Kane, on the other hand, our erstwhile protagonist (for despite the name, it’s clearly his story) is somewhat more of an enigma.

The story opens with an explosive prison break. A break which Lynch is clearly fully informed and party to. Though Kane is more than a little thrown of track by the whole thing. It doesn’t take him long to come around though, and after some initial wooziness he commandeers a weapon and effectively takes control of the situation. Leading us to wonder why he actually needed to be broken out in the first place, since he is clearly more than capable of handling it all himself if the mood takes him.

So why has someone gone to such lengths to acquire the former mercenary?

Well, it seems Mister Kane has been a naughty boy and may in fact have double crossed the very people who just sprung him out. His former employers, a mysterious and extremely influential mercenary organisation who may as well be an official PMC (Private Military Corporation). According to them, at some point before his arrest for the murder of 25 people in Venezuela, he took a not insignificant sum of money that was supposed to come to them and fled with it. Kane, of course, claims otherwise. The truth of the matter is never actually made fully clear, and is likely something that EA have left open for exploration in the confirmed, but as yet unfinished, sequel.

About a third of the way into the game the focus of the plot moves almost entirely away from the missing money and becomes almost entirely about Kane trying to get back the daughter he hasn’t seen for some fourteen or so years. Not since she was a child of five or six anyway. This leads to two possible endings when, at a critical stage in the game, you have to decide between her safety, or the rest of your men. And here the plot becomes even more convoluted as we are made aware (via one of the short teaser videos which show if you leave the game idling at the main screen) that dear Jenny actually wishes her Father no small amount of misfortune.

Oh dear. It’s not going too well for our hapless anti-hero at all. And worst, or perhaps best, of all, he has a watchdog in the shape of Lynch. A man convicted of beating his wife to death whilst suffering from a blackout. Another thing which is never fully tied up. Lynch freely admits that he has a small problem, which he takes some rather powerful anti-psychotic drugs to control (unsuccessfully most of the time), but maintains adamantly that he did not kill his wife.

Probably.

Between them they make a formidable, but decidedly odd, pair. Particularly Lynch who, inspite of his constant bitching and whining, stays fiercely loyal to Kane through the entire span of the story thus far. And there is no indication that he will change much when Kane and Lynch 2 sees publication. Assuming, of course, that Kane and Lynch 2 is, in fact, Kane and Lynch 2 and not just a game with the same general play. But both endings strongly suggest that there is a lot more yet for these two men to do.

Hopefully, the forthcoming sequel will build on the solid ground work that has already been laid down. Both plot and gameplay wise. Though tweaking some of the mechanics of the game itself wouldn’t go amiss. Most notably the aiming controls which are often either far too sensitive, or not nearly sensitive enough. Though it’s a minor issue which is more of an annoyance than a real inconvenience, it can cause some real irritation when you find yourself conked out on the ground because your target has run straight past you before you can turn to get a bead on him.

The cover system wouldn’t hurt having something of an overhaul as well. In principal, it works great, but in practice it can be a little finniky and will interrupt the flow of the game. Unlike the more conventional method of pressing X (or whatever) when near an appropriate surface, Kane and Lynch relies on automatically snapping you to suitable cover when you reach the right place. For things like barricades which you duck behind, this is fine, but for corners it can tricky as you’ll often fall just short, or step just a little too far. Again, only a minor issue in the grand scheme of things, but being integral to the gameplay, it sure could use some attention. Just to iron out the bugs.

Overall though, the thing that caught me most about the game was the apparent lack of emphasis on the shiney, high-def look that everyone else (including EA themselves in a lot of cases) seem to be favouring. In some of the close up shots characters will look a little waxen, but on the whole the emphasis seems to be more towards giving a slightly grainy feel (at least on the Playstation 3 and PC), perhaps to illicit an effect similar to using lower grade tape to make a film have that cheap documentary feel rather than being all polished and perfect. Whatever the reason, it does have a positive impact on the atmosphere.

So, all in all, despite some mixed reviews, Kane and Lynch is quite an enjoyable game. It also features online, Mulitplayer maps and the option of playing co-operatively rather than in single player mode. Add to the that the fact that it’s been on the shelves for a while now, and the price has dropped noticeably to reflect the underwhealming media attention, it also becomes a good budget title for those of us who have to be more discerning about where we spend our limited funds.

Graphics 9/10
Gameplay 8/10
Audio/music 9/10
Plot/Scripting 9/10
Overall 9/10

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