Kotaku Australia » kane & lynch: dead men

GameSpot’s Kane & Lynch Review Hit The Dev Team ‘Like A Hammer’

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:40:00 +0000

Generally, we would suspect that any unfavourable review of one’s video game creation would be quite the bum out. In the case of IO Interactive’s Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, however, team members say that GameSpot’s damning review of the Eidos published crime epic knocked the wind out of them and that being caught up in the “conspiracy theory” brouhaha that surrounded the review was “surreal”.

Jens Peter Kurup, Director of Kane & Lynch at IO, tells GamesRadar that “there was something in the tone of that review that was tough on people, and on me”.

Calling the GameSpot thrashing of Kane & Lynch — a nasty 6.0, when many reviews range from 7.0 to 10 — “a review that I would like to forget”, Kurup is surprisingly honest in his feelings about the judgement.

Kurup says that single review has molded the opinions of gamers everywhere, even ones who haven’t played the game.

“In glimpses I still feel it, because when I meet somebody who hasn’t played the game, I can be fairly sure that his or her opinion is based on the GameSpot review”, Kurup said. “It just won’t go away”.

It doesn’t sound like we’ve heard the last of the unlikable Kane and Lynch, according to Kurup’s assessment of the franchise’s future. When you sell a million copies, you’re almost guaranteed another go — even if Jeff Gerstmann doesn’t like your game that much.

Kane & Lynch: How it feels to be critically panned [GamesRadar]

Kane & Lynch Ads Banned In UK

Mike Fahey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:20:00 +0000

The Advertising Standards Authority is not amused by the recent UK advertisements for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. The watchdog group has recieved 26 separate complaints against the violent ads, which include a TV spot, posters, and print ads. The main offender was the poster, which featured a gagged, crying woman with her head held back by one of the game’s heroes. Another poster contained a quote from OXM calling the game “Grittier and nastier in tone than anything you’ve seen before, the violence here is visceral, brutal and very, very real.” The television ads included the crunching noise of a rifle butt being brought down on a man’s face and another man getting his throat cut. The ASA has ordered that Eidos not broadcast or reprint the ads again, deeming them too graphic and shocking to be seen in any medium. Hope no one gets fired over a game as average as Kane & Lynch.

‘Shocking’ Eidos ad banned [MCV]

Kane & Lynch Sells Over A Million Copies

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 02:20:26 +0000

Middling review scores and a negative association with the controversy surrounding the termination of a Gamespot employee doesn’t seem to have harmed the sales performance of the Eidos-published Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. The IO Interactive action game has sold over a million copies since its launch in November, according to a report from Next Generation. That would mean sequel talk is more than likely, despite my predictions that everyone involved would like to avoid franchise talk like the plague. Guess that movie is still going ahead, too.

Also a big hit for parent company SCI? Pony Friends, which is, as far as we know, a harrowing pony war game.

Kane and Lynch Sells 1 mln [Next-Gen]

Gamespot Editor Fired Over Kane & Lynch Review?

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:05:00 +0000

We’ve heard an unsettling rumour today from an anonymous tipster that longtime game reviewer Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot has been let go. That wouldn’t necessarily be newsworthy, but the conditions under which he was allegedly dismissed were. According to the source, Gerstmann was fired “on the spot” due to advertiser pressure for his review of Eidos’ Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. A visit to Gamespot shows that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game has taken over the site very prominently, with backgrounds and multiple banner ads all pitching Kane & Lynch. Allegedly, publisher Eidos “took issue with the review and threatened to pull its ad campaign.”

Jeff’s review was certainly less than glowing. He assigned the game a 6.0, otherwise known as “Fair” on the Gamespot scale. The game is currently enjoying a Metacritic score in the 65 to 69 range, which the site describes as “mixed or average reviews.” According to our tipster, it wasn’t necessarily the score that was reason for Gerstmann’s rumoured axing, but the “tone” of the review.

Gerstmann has been no stranger to controversial reviews, as his scores of 10 for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and 8.8 for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had sensitive internet users up in arms. It’s now possible that many bitter fanboys may have had their wishes for his firing granted.

As our tipster points out, if the rumour is true, it could point to a distressing precedent at Gamespot and parent company CNET. “As writers of what is supposed to be objective content, this is our worst nightmare coming to life,” wrote the tipster.

Our efforts to confirm the story with Gamespot hasn’t proved successful. Our current requests with PR, Gerstmann and other CNET contacts have either gone unanswered or yielded a “no comment.”

Update: We did get confirmation that Mr. Gerstmann is no longer with Gamespot. The circumstances in which he was terminated or left of his own accord, however, were not disclosed.

Kane and Lynch’s Anti-Co-Op Multiplayer

Mike Fahey — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:20:06 +0000

Kane and Lynch, Total Bastards

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:00:39 +0000

Boy oh boy, I am excited about Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. And with the massive flood of games, that’s saying something! Here the game’s director Jens Peter Kurup talks about how the game and the characters evolved. So watch it! Great stuff, can’t wait until November when the title is released.

Sexing Up Kane & Lynch

Brian Crecente — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:21:53 +0000

It’s been quite awhile since a marketing idea has completely confused me. So I guess it’s about time.

Eidos today announced a partnership with Playboy and Fox Interactive to promote Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. If the promotional partner selection isn’t head-scratching enough, the concept certainly is. The idea is that IGN, Playboy and MySpace will team up to conduct a “cyber search” to find the “perfect girl who can best evoke Kane and Lynch’s dangerous vibe”. WTF?

A lot of things pop into my head when I think about the gritty, unsettling action shooter, but hot women is not one of them. In fact, I kinda find it disturbing that a game about the brutality of a mercenary and a psychopath could in anyway be turned into sexy. It’s not sexy, it’s not supposed to be. It’s disturbing. Let’s keep it that way.REDWOOD CITY, CA (OCT. 2, 2007) - Eidos Interactive, one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, today announced a partnership with Playboy, the premier online destination for men, and Fox Interactive Media to launch a Cyber Search for the ideal female to accompany the upcoming Eidos video game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.

Utilizing the strengths and communities of three media giants – IGN.com, Playboy, and MySpace.com – the Cyber Search will span three major online targets, from the gaming community and the leading men’s lifestyle and entertainment site to one of the world’s largest social networking sites – actively involving these communities to find the perfect girl who can best evoke Kane and Lynch’s dangerous vibe. Gamers can visit www.kaneandlynch.ign.com to submit and vote for their favourite candidate in the Cyber Search.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a cinematic crime drama that tells a raw and gritty tale of two anti-heroes – one a flawed mercenary, the other a medicated psychopath – set in an intense third-person action shooter. Forced to embark on a violent and chaotic journey, hating each other every step of the way, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men features a gripping storyline, relentless third-person action and an innovative twist on the online multiplayer gameplay experience.

Kane & Lynch Hands-On Impressions

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:40:30 +0000

Io Interactive and Eidos had the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men on the Games Convention show floor, finally giving us an opportunity to go hands-on with the third person shooter that’s heavy on style and Michael Mann cinematic allusions. Two scenes from the game were on hand, one that started on the rooftops of Remotomo Plaza and the ensuing Tokyo street firefight that awaits your team upon your exit. Kane & Lynch has been on my personal watch list following a preview at E3 ‘06, in which the duo extracts a target from a Japanese night club, a scene highly reminiscent in look and feel of Mann’s Collateral.