Aiming is a little sluggish but can be quickly fixed with a trip to the options screen, while accuracy is a little harder to correct. From what I gather IO wanted the game to be a little more realistic than your everyday shooter, but they chose to do this by decreasing accuracy. That’s fine, I can handle a game where you can snipe an enemy at 500 ft. with a 9mm, but unfortunately went about 10 steps too far and now it’s damn near impossible to hit any target at a distance with any weapon. It’s not quite as bad with some of the more proper rifles, but it still feels a little absurd considering Kane’s background.
The cover system is also pulled off with all the grace of a drunken ox, but works significantly better than the build I played at X07. It’s still context based and activates automatically when you press against it, but now entering and exiting feels more fluid and less random. Good or bad, the one thing you have to give them credit for is its consistency. That being said the lack of an auto crouch for low cover is incredibly frustrating and is only further compounded by the crouch being awkwardly mapped to the Left Bumper instead of something more traditional like one of the sticks.
Once you get past those quirks the rest of the game is pretty straightforward. Basic commands such as attack and follow are mapped to the face buttons and A.I. does a decent job of following orders, but you may notice that your allies have a tendency to stand out in the open and not actively seek cover. This can be a problem in some of the later missions where 20-plus enemies are assaulting you, but for the most part you’ll barely notice because they seem to do such a good job staying alive. Even if they do get dropped you can always revive them with a shot of adrenaline. Which brings us to Kane & Lynch’s crowning achievement and one I hope many other games follow.
Like most FPS games on the market today, Kane & Lynch doesn’t feature health points but instead uses the Call of Duty 2 style “find cover and wait” method of regeneration. What makes this experience unique is that if you die the game doesn’t just simply end. Instead your teammates have a set amount of time, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-30 second to come over and revive you with adrenaline and unlike BioShock which featured immersion breaking Deus Ex Machina machines every few yards, there is a penalty for being killed. Die once and it’s no big deal, but die before the chemical has had time to work its way through your system and you’ll overdose on your next shot. It’s a great way of solving the problem of death in videogames without removing the challenge.
Article comments
1 - Matt Paprocki
Wow. There's something I've never seen on the internet. Someone justifying their opinion on a crappy product by claiming their smarter than everyone else because they like it.
Maybe you should jump around and do a Homer Simpson dance while saying "I am so smart, I am so smart."
Oh wait, you're not. You chose to trudge through a miserable pile of crap, horribly coded to the point of being unplayable at times, just to get through some dialogue and proclaim to the internet that you're smart for doing so. The difference between this and Bioshock? Bioshock's gameplay wasn't broken, was completely open to the players choices, and the story was done almost entirely through gameplay.
You were immersed in Bioshock's world and never taken out of it. Kane and Lynch, well, not so much. It looks like hell, the frame rate is junk, and it doesn't matter what gun you have. You can't shoot people, and in crowded areas, forget about it. And no online co-op? That's a product killer given that, you know, the whole game is based around it.
And if those "douchebags" stop playing online, there won't be anyone left. In a year of Call of Duty, Mass Effect, Halo, Bioshock, Simpsons, Orange Box, and certainly more I've forgot, why in the blue hell would I or tell my readers to play a game as clunky as Kane and Lynch? Right, I wouldn't. Because I'm smarter.
2 - Jason "Njiska" Westhaver
"I am so smart, i am so smart. S-M-R-T i mean S-M-A-R-T"
Ah Matt, the noble critic who decides to lambaste the game by playing only the first level and nothing past it. A man who routinely plays games that are about story and then skips the cutscenes so he can bitch about gameplay. That's some real GameFaqs quality reviewer integrity, right there.
Now as for your rebuttal. I am not trying to justify my opinion by saying, "I'm smarter than everyone else," but rather, "Get your expectations right because if you don't know what you're getting into you won't enjoy it" and if you question me calling out that fact i suggest you go read around. I did a lot of research on what the complaints were before i wrote this, specifically because of your objection and the biggest complaint was that the shooting wasn't like Halo. In fact everyone who criticized the accuracy seemed to begin their statement with, "I've played hundreds of FPS games and this is terrible". If you go into anything with the wrong expectations, which a lot of players have, then of course they're going to have a hard time enjoying it. Kind of like you complaining about the whole Assassin's Creed future time-line. Besides, the accuracy is still way better than Tomb Raider Legend.
As for my comparison to Bioshock I stand by it. Those life chamber's completely broke gameplay. There was no challenge anymore. Without the fear of death for me playing Bioshock became more about making it from story section to story section and the in between fetch quests drove me insane. If you want to see how a game like that should be done go play System Shock 2. Same gameplay more or less, except there's a cost for death and it's actually challenging.
I'm not trying to say Kane and lynch is a better game than Bioshock, just that i feel that Bioshock has been over praised for what it really is, while Kane and Lynch is getting the shaft by the community.
I'd also like to point out that your claim about framerate is grossly untrue. Yes there are one or two spots where it dips, namely due to explosions or the whiteout effect when you get dropped, but the rest of the time it's smooth. It even features an incredible night club level, which you haven't seen, where there are hundreds of actors on screen with no slow-down.
If you wish to argue properly i suggest you go finish the game first. And don't skip the cutscenes like you do in every other game you review. Then we can talk.
3 - Ken Edwards
Of course you are right Matt. No one else liked the game, or gave it a high score.
4 - Matt Paprocki
"Ah Matt, the noble critic who decides to lambaste the game by playing only the first level and nothing past it"
I didn't review it. And I can assure, playing any deeper would have only caused me to bitch more.
"A man who routinely plays games that are about story and then skips the cutscenes so he can bitch about gameplay."
Yeah, damn video games and their gameplay. Who cares about that? If the game's gameplay is engaging enough (BioShock, Mass Effect), I'll get involved in the storyline. If not, why the hell would I waste more time with a game I didn't like?
"Now as for your rebuttal. I am not trying to justify my opinion by saying, "I'm smarter than everyone else,"
really?
1. I don't know why the rabid trolls of the Internet thought it'd be wise to drop $60 on a game that is so clearly above their Neanderthal level
2. I suggest you go back to school and relearn the basic concepts of narrative.
3. Perhaps in a few weeks once the "Douchebag" effect has worn off you might actually be able to find some decent competition.
4. you will enjoy this game, if you don't than just go back to Gamefaqs.
"In fact everyone who criticized the accuracy seemed to begin their statement with, "I've played hundreds of FPS games and this is terrible""
So, it's wrong to assume that aiming a target over an enemy and firing should result in a hit? Maybe in something striving for perfect realism I could see it, but this is hardly realistic.
"Kind of like you complaining about the whole Assassin's Creed future time-line."
I didn't expect to enjoy Assassin's Creed for the same reasons I don't enjoy Splinter Cell and such. However, the futuristic parts completely threw me off and destroy the immersion of this detailed world they created outside of it.
"just that i feel that Bioshock has been over praised for what it really is, while Kane and Lynch is getting the shaft by the community."
It's called gameplay, which means no constant distractions and irritation because you can't shoot an enemy you've clearly got a shot on.
"I'd also like to point out that your claim about framerate is grossly untrue."
From other reviews and forum posts:
Gamespot: Both games (PS3, Xbox 360) have occasional frame rate issues
Forum poster: How does a game with graphics on par with first generation Xbox games still suffer from frame rate slowdowns?
Eurogamer: Slight frame rate issue I noticed
Gametrailers: The frame rate is horrible
Jubox: the frame rate isn't that stable to begin with
"while Kane and Lynch is getting the shaft by the community."
Probably because there's no reason to trudge through it or waste money on it when there's so much else to play this year. It needed more development time, period.
"Of course you are right Matt. No one else liked the game, or gave it a high score."
Those are hardly high marks, and the other versions are rated even lower. A few even scored it in the 50's. Earth Defense Force scored higher (and rightfully so).
5 - bob dole
nope disagree sorry i had loads of laughs messing around shooting people. especialy the great bank level. but i would have rather carried on in civi life than fighting the local rebels! good game. good story but i only suggest this game for people who can concentrate and be patient longer than a 2yr old which doesnt seem to be any of you!
6 - Chanc
The only thing i did not like aboout this game was the Accuracy issues, thats it.<-- period