Reviews// Kane & Lynch (Xbox 360)

In the Eidos / IO Interactive marriage, the happy couple has watched their little baby Agent 47 grow into a strapping young murderous lad befitting of the Hollywood treatment. Inevitably the urge to spawn a fresh new screaming brat into the world takes hold. The scan shows that its twin boys, Kane and Lynch. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so say many in that prejudicial - "all knowing but not really knowing anything at all" - way. So, let's take a proper look at the latest delivery and see whether it's a still birth or the potential for year of joy like its big bro.

Given the first child is a successful, disciplined, sociopathic killer, it's no surprise that the young Kane and Lynch collective is aiming to follow suit. Kane is an ex-mercenary and the character you control in single player. Your playmate throughout is Lynch, a psychotic wife murderer - a constant as your non-playable cohort in single-player or controlled by a friend in co-op play.

Like all blood siblings, K&L shares many attributes with its elder. Kane and Lynch is a third-person, over-the-shoulder shooter that's narrative-led. It's best to pay attention to the story, or you'll find yourself taking the wrong approach for the situation ahead. You wouldn't want to start shooting in a dancefloor full of raving clubbers – that would be just rude. So at these times it's probably best to use the crowd and keep that gun holstered. However, these elements of stealth are less important than they were in Hitman – indeed, this is the first big differentiator between the two, as Kane and Lynch is less a 'hide-and-seek-em-up' and more a 'shoot-them-in-the-legs-and-stamp-on-their-groaning-face-em-up'.

Both unsavouries begin the game incarcerated for their past misdemeanours, but get a surprise 'get out of gaol free' card in the form of a prison break orchestrated by Kane's mercenary ex-comrades, a shady group known as 'The7'. Oddly, it's only after being thrown in at the deep end, evading capture while fumbling with the game's handling, that you are presented with the tutorial. Taking the form of showing Lynch the ins and outs of weapons handling, use of cover and rappelling from heights, it's a novel approach, but slightly arse about face given prior engagement.

Like all good twins, the pair like to work together in their endeavours, and this is the other big difference to our Hitman friend. The first chapter of the game is pretty regular shooter fare - working from one objective to another, taking cover from a hail of fire and providing covering fire while non-player characters such as vault breakers get on with their job. It's an effective way of slipping you into the game's handling prior to things moving up a gear when Lynch becomes an active member in the game.