Like peanut butter and jelly (or chocolate, depending on what type of person you are), there's nothing like a great partnership to warm the cockles of one's heart. Gears of War's Marcus and Dom had that special something that we've haven't seen since the days of Mario and Luigi, and there are a number of games that allow friends to help each other out instead of fragging each other into oblivion. Now, Eidos and Io Interactive are bringing a new partnership to the Xbox 360, but the characters in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men aren't very good friends. Actually, they despise each other, but that shared hatred isn't enough to keep them from working together. Why would they do that, you ask? A recent visit to Eidos' San Francisco office gave us a glimpse into the minds of these unique characters.
The two characters meet on death row, although they each took fairly different routes to the big house. Kane lived a normal (some might even say boring) life with his wife and children, but that was suddenly shattered when his son accidentally killed himself while playing with the gun that was kept in the house. Unable to carry on, he disappeared into the criminal underworld after his wife and daughter skipped town, joining a mercenary group called The Seven. He took many lives around the world, but it wasn't until a botched job in South America that left many of his fellow mercs dead that he was brought to justice.
Lynch, like his partner-to-be, was an average American, working in and office and heading home to his wife every night after work. Unlike Kane, however, Lynch was a functioning schizophrenic, meaning he had to take his meds a few times a day to keep from having an episode. Although he was religious about taking his medication, he still blacked out from time to time, and one morning he awoke to find his wife dead. Since he couldn't explain what happened, he was quickly sentenced to spend the rest of his short life awaiting execution on death row.
Our two anti-heroes meet for the first time in an armored van that's transporting them to another prison, and it's not long before it's blown off the road and the men are nabbed by the remaining members of The Seven. The mercs have broken Kane out to give him a chance to track down the diamonds that he lost during the South American mission. The baddies also give him an ultimatum. If he attempts to escape or bail on his orders, his wife and daughter will be killed. To add insult to injury, they decide that the certifiably psychotic Lynch will babysit him and report any indiscretions back to The Seven.
The interplay between the two characters is one of the most interesting elements of the game, as it's obvious that they can't stand each other. They spent a good chunk of time bickering with each other like an old married couple, and there was a moment in which Kane actually had to remind Lynch to take his medicine. When you play, you'll control Kane, the more level headed of the two characters, and you'll actually need to keep Lynch in check. He's a tremendous asset during combat, as he'll basically fly into a blind rage that doesn't stop until every enemy has been killed. However, he's just as likely to start killing innocents, so there are a number of moments in which you'll need to order him to stay behind.
The first level we got to check out took place in a large (yet packed) nightclub that the two had to infiltrate in order to kidnap a crimelord's daughter. Unlike many games (including Io's own Hitman: Blood Money), you won't simply be able to stroll through the crowd in Kane & Lynch. Instead, you'll be forced to lead with your shoulder in order to navigate the throng of innocents. As soon as the lead started flying, however, the scene instantly became chaotic, as characters fought tooth and nail to get out the door.
After leaving that locale, we headed to one that seemed a bit more peaceful, at least at first glance. Standing atop an office building in Tokyo, we could see the city sprawling out in front of us. Dressed as a team of window washer, we slowly rappelled down the side of the building, stopping when we got to the boardroom that held our target. After placing an explosive on the windows and blowing a huge hole in the side of the building, we headed in and engaged in some heavy duty combat.
The action in Kane & Lynch is presented in third-person, and while you can go it alone, you're much better off utilizing your teammates to help you with the sticky situations you'll encounter. The game features a fairly basic command system which allows you to give orders to each (or all) of the men on your team. You've also got the ability to take the weapon they're holding and make it your own simply by standing next to them and pressing the correct button. From what we saw, the AI-controlled characters didn't need a lot of hand holding, but it's nice to know that the option is there if you want to use it.
Although Kane & Lynch is still a while off (the game is currently slated to come out "sometime in 2007"), it appears to be shaping up very nicely. The game's visuals are excellent, quite a step up from the solid (yet far from next-gen) graphics in Hitman: Blood Money. The lighting engine is particularly nice, featuring some cool effects and a heavy dose of HDR lighting, something that was immediately evident during the nightclub sequence. Will this be the Xbox 360's version of peanut butter and jelly? Only time will tell, but Kane & Lynch is certainly looking tasty.
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