Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is out today in the UK. The game has taken its share of criticism for its dodgy combat engine and cover system, but it does have something that clearly makes it stand out from all the other cookie-cutter action shooters around at the moment. Kane and Lynch’s characters are among the strongest – not to mention most violent – ever seen in video game narrative, which points at good things on the horizon for anyone bored of battling alongside same generic set of butch marines on the same battle for humanity in every game.
Our personal favourite, Lynch, is a medicated psychopath, whose happy pills aren’t so effective that he’s willing to restrain from regularly shooting cops and passers-by on his mission to keep an eye on Kane. Add in numerous blackouts and hallucinations and you’ve got yourself one messed up puppy.
In celebration of its debut, we’ve cobbled together a list of our favourite video game loonies who can give Lynch a run for his money in the dangerously unstable stakes. Beware, there are some minor SPOILERS, so we’ve tucked the full list away on the turn:
5. Max Payne (Max Payne)
4. Kai (Heavenly Sword)
3. Catalina (GTA III / GTA: San Andreas)
2. Max (Sam & Max Hit the Road / Sam & Max episodic series)
1. Arthas Menethil (Warcraft III / World of Warcraft)