History VideoGame / KaneAndLynch

* PersonOfMassDestruction: The titular duo have a penchant for being this. Anywhere they go is ''not'' going to look pretty once they're done with it. Best exemplified in Dog Days' ''Airstrike'' chapter, in which the two make a well-kept office building look like it got hit by a tornado.

* DeconstructionGame: Both games are surprisingly subtle deconstructions of crime-themed action games. Both deliberately avoid glorifying violence, and instead goes out of its way to portray realistic consequences of it, such as the firefights being messy with civilians very frequently being caught in the crossfire. Unlike the charistmatic anti-heroes of titles like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, the two main protagonists are portrayed as miserable, desperate, selfish and destructive, as to show how morally bankrupt one would have to be to commit the actions of the anti-heroic protagonists found in the aforementioned titles as well as how horrible they would actually be in reality.

* DeconstructionGame: Of crime-themed action games.

* PaintingTheMedium: To the point where you wonder if [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis the cameraman is an actual character]]. Hell, [[spoiler:possibly confirmed by the fact that one of the Chinese soldiers physically grabs the camera after Kane and Lynch hop on the train]].

->"What would you not do for love? For acceptance? When would you give-up? For Kane & Lynch, there is no limit. When there are no options, when the situation is broken beyond repair, [[Determinator they'll never give-up."]]

* PersonOfMassDestruction: The titular duo have a penchant for being this. Anywhere they go is ''not'' going to look pretty once they're done with it. Their ImplacableMan tendencies aren't helping the situation, either.

* ImplacableMan: The "heroic" duo have huge overtones of this that runs contrary to the otherwise "realistic" style of the series, able to shrug off gunshot with rebounding health as well as suffering gruesome punishment as part of the plot without going down for good. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfMBFpPbHDc&feature=channel The first trailer for Dead Men]] even depicted Kane getting shot repeatedly to no effect, leading some to presume the protagonists were in some way supernaturally empowered.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: The titular duo have a penchant for being this. Anywhere they go is ''not'' going to look pretty once they're done with it

* Deconstruction Game: Of crime-themed action games.

* [[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]]: Kane is a borderline Type IV/V because at the root of it what he really wants is to rescue and reunite with his daughter. He was plenty rotten before, but in the game's narrative he has an understandable and sympathetic motive. Lynch is more of a straight-up VillainProtagonist, depending on how sympathetic you are to his obvious mental illness; by the time the sequel rolls around he's a bit more likable.

* CrapsackWorld: Oh so very much.

* HostageSituation: One of the most prominent set piece tropes in the series, seeing as our protagonists are career criminals to whom subtlety is anathema. Whenever this situation develops it turns out incredibly badly for them and quickly escalates events beyond their control.
* HurricaneOfExcuses: Lynch gives these whenever he's accused of something.

* TheStoic: Kane seldom lets his temper get the better of him, but [[UnstoppableRage when he does]]...
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Kane and Lynch are not the best of friends. Sometimes wavers into EnemyMine territory, especially in ''Dead Men''.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: The franchise is arguably based around the premise of letting the player portray one half of this team dynamic while emulating the cinematic stylings of Michael Mann. In any other series the protagonists would probably being [[MidBoss mid bosses]] for a more heroic protagonist to take out before the end of the first act.

* BlackAndBlackMorality: Grey if you're being ''generous''.

* LoadingScreen: Used to provide exposition between levels in both games.

* TVGenius: Lynch in the movie, as early scripts seem to indicate.

* TheCaper: The main focus of Fragile Alliance, the multiplayer mode for both games in the series.

* EscortMission: Despite being protected by Kane, Lynch, and his bodyguard/driver, Glazer can still be a bitch to protect.

* FireForgedFriends: By ''Dog Days'', Lynch seems to have warmed up to Kane, and even refers to him as "an old friend", though Kane doesn't show anything more than customary politeness to Lynch initially. [[spoiler:While it'd be a stretch to ever call them ''friends'', Kane is rather sympathetic following Xiu's death; he tries to actually talk to Lynch after when they escape, and when Lynch breaks down in the TV shop and starts sobbing, it's somewhat evident by Kane's body language that he actually feels bad for him. Not to mention that they stick together to get out of Shanghai]].

* MooksButNoBosses

* NoEnding: [[spoiler:The "end".]]

* DonutMessWithACop: The first mission has Kane gunning down waves of cops near - wait for it- a donut shop.

* FourPointScale: A [=GameSpot=] editor was, rumor has it, ''fired'' over panning this game hard, while they were running ads on the site.
** Made worse by the fact that, while his video review did pan the game pretty hard, he gave the game a 6.0 overall. 6.0 isn't terrible- it means the game is average.
** The reviews for ''Dog Days'' have ranged from "Awesome" to "Horrible", with most falling around "Average". So, at least the series is consistent!

** Lynch is a literal Psycho For Hire as of ''Dog Days'', finding work as a henchman in Shanghai.

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Lynch in the movie's script. He uses the word "confabulated", for God's sake.

* ShortRangeShotgun: Averted. In fact, the shotguns are probably one of the best weapons to use in any encounter (except when trying to take down snipers, of course). Indeed, in ''Dog Days'' the shotguns have better accuracy than the machine pistols (although this is mostly because the machine pistols suck).

* BadBoss: Lynch's boss, Glazer, is a petulant, racist, obnoxious expatriate crime lord.

* FanDisservice: Hell, even without their horrible box-cutter wounds, the pair wouldn't be much to look at naked.

* ScreamingWarrior: Lynch, especially his epic "DON'T FUCK WITH ME!!!" in the Shangshi Tower climax.

* SoundtrackDissonance: [[spoiler: Immediately after the game ends with Kane and Lynch, now likely the two most wanted men in Asia, hijacking an airplane full of innocent people and flying it away, a Chinese love ballad plays over the credits.]]

*** Team Io seem to be attempting to make this series the TropeCodifier in this field.

* InNameOnly: The writers admitted straight off the bat that the film will have little to do with the games, and they only bought the rights because the current death of creativity in Hollywood means it's much easier to get a licensed project greenlit.

* JitterCam: In ''Dog Days'', where it's the default option for the standard camera. It's supposed to represent the mental state of the characters, but many players just generally find it nauseous and annoying. That said, you can turn this option off.

* LoadingScreen: Used to provide exposition between levels in both games. ''Dog Days'' keeps the StylisticSuck running by presenting the loading screen as a buffering online video.

* BeardOfSorrow: Kane grows one in the three years between Dead Men and Dog Days.

* PhraseCatcher: Each of the multiplayer characters would like to remind those left behind, via radio, [[MostAnnoyingSound not to ever underestimate them]].

* StylisticSuck: To a truly epic degree.
** Though there are [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation some reviewers]] who believe that it worked [[GoneHorriblyRight too well.]]

The games have received polarized reviews for its gameplay, but has been applauded by gamers and critics for its harsh, brutal tone and uncompromising, genuinely bleak atmosphere.

** Lynch even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this later on [[spoiler:in Shangsi's tower]] by pointing out that two white guys with automatics ''will'' stand out quite a bit in Shanghai. This is mainly because by then they have raised five flavors of hell, and even average civilians would be in on the manhunt.

** [[spoiler: Shangsi having Kane and Lynch captured instead of killed could be explained away by him wanting to hire them, as he attempts to do when he meets them in person. After all, the duo have already gunned down scores of police officers by this point in the game, so it may not be possible to stop them using force.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Almost impossible to believe, but the second game is even ''more'' grim than the first. Whether or not it averts DarknessInducedAudienceApathy depends on how much you really care about the protagonists.

* CorruptCop: The Shanghai police department, to a truly astounding degree. Aside from being paid to personally kill Kane and Lynch, they're also not concerned with property damage or civilian casualties. Its SWAT team binding and gagging an entire restaurant staff in order to more effectively ambush the heroes is the ''least'' assholish thing they do.

* DamnedIfYouDo: One Achievement. Only one guess for the other Achievement's title.

''Kane and Lynch: Dead Men'' is a third-person cover-based shooter with squad-based gameplay inspired by Creator/IOInteractive's previous such game, ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters''. The plot follows the titular characters through a story of escape, betrayal, and redemption. The game opens with Adam "Kane" Marcus being transported to jail. His prison bus is then assaulted by a very well-organized group of men, and one of the prisoners being transported with him shoots his cuffs off and threatens to kill him if he doesn't follow. You see, Kane was one of The 7, a group of mercenaries - until he ditched them with the money, during a mission that went bad.

Its sequel, ''Kane and Lynch: Dog Days'', was released in late August 2010, and ditches the original game's squad-based mechanics in favor of a greater focus on 2-player co-op gameplay. After a TimeSkip of 3 years, the plot focuses on the pair reuniting in Shanghai, China to oversee a black market arms deal. What initially seems to be an amiable if tepid rendezvous between the pair quickly escalates into a mounting crisis that threatens to either destroy them or the city itself. [[ItsAllAboutMe And we all know which one]] ''[[AntiVillain they]]'' [[ItsAllAboutMe will choose...]]