Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

When it comes to trigger-happy, explosive entertainment, what’s better than The Sopranos and Jason Bourne? The answer can only be both at once, which is why we love the heist-flick essence that Kane & Lynch: Dead Men channels into videogame form. Part thug brutality, part capers and hijinks, the latest wild ride from the developer of Hitman has its fair share of rough edges — maybe even more than its fair share — but its epic missions are so thrilling that they’ll sear away the nuggets of disappointment you’ll occasionally feel.

If you haven’t memorized all the pre-release trailers, you’ll agree it’s a shame that Kane & Lynch doesn’t do a better job of setting up its thoroughly excellent story. So here’s some background: Ex-mercenary Kane is on death row when his former employer, a mysterious cabal known as The7, hires Lynch to bust him out. Seems that Mr. Kane has buried a knife (or seven) in their backs and made off with a load of diamonds that was supposed to be divided among The7. They give him three weeks to return the goods, or they’ll kill his wife and daughter. Oh, and Lynch sticks around as his evil babysitter and partner in crime.

And yeesh, do they commit crimes. Kane & Lynch is gritty and raw — vicious might be the best word to describe it. Lynch is truly, badly insane in a give-you-the-creeps way, and between that, the sailors-would-blush dialogue, and the wholesale slaughter of hostages, this one is not for the kids or the gentle of heart.

If that didn’t send you scurrying off to play Beautiful Katamari, prepare for one of the best opening levels you’ve ever seen. Kane’s escape from an armored prison transport is a confused, frantic bloodbath as you half-stagger, half-are-dragged-off to a grim meeting with The7. The game’s fantastic set pieces draw heavily from Michael Mann flicks like Heat and Collateral to create large-scale action sequences with big crowds of innocents and even bigger crowds of enemies. In one, you’ll try to sneak discreetly out of a heist (complete with ginormous backpacks, just like in Heat’s bank scene) as hordes of panicked office workers flee the building…but naturally, the waiting SWAT team recognizes you just as you see daylight, and good lord is it on!

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