From IO Interactive, the developers of Hitman: Codename 47 and Hitman 2 : Silent Assassin, we now have Kane and Lynch, which is quite a different experience, so if you`re expecting a new Hitman... you`re out of luck.

You take the role of Kane, an ex-mercenary, on death row. While being transported from prison, the bus is attacked by unknown men, and you end up running from the police, alongside Lynch whom you`ve just met. Just when you think you`ve escaped, your escape vehicle turns out to be nothing more but a ride to those who organized this whole thing, namely "The 7". "The 7" are a group you used to work for, in your mercenary days. Now they're pissed off because you had run away with their diamonds, after their retirement mission in Venezuela had gone wrong. Even though Kane tries to explain to them that he thought they were all dead, they don`t believe him and tell him that if he ever wants to see his family again he`d better bring the diamonds back. Lynch is there to keep an eye on him, and report back to "The 7".

I`m going to tell you from the start, that I liked the game. It`s by no means a master piece or an innovation in the gaming industry, but it is an interesting experience, and I really liked the ending (there are two of them). I`m not going to reveal too much of the story since that is the main reason why I played it until the end, and I don`t want to ruin it for you. Believe me, however, that the story will compel you to finish it, and overlook all the negative parts of the game.

While going through the campaign, you will discover more and more about Kane and a little insight into his weird companions past. We quickly find out that Lynch is quite a psychopath and that he was sent to prison for the murder of his wife, and that he will make things harder for us during the campaign, due to his black outs that usually end up in mass murder.

Besides Lynch, the other thing that will make things difficult as you play is the squad control, combined with the missing AI. It`s nice that the producers introduced some measure of control over your team mates, but they could have done it a lot better. You can order them to defend a position, attack an enemy, or just follow you. Sounds easy, doesn`t it? In theory, it should, but it just sounds, it really isn`t. When (and if) your teammates decide to do what you ask them to (after repeating the order about 10 times), they do one of three things. If you order them to defend a position, behind cover usually, they decide it isn`t the best place for them to stay and end up running in the open and usually die. If you order them to attack then you can watch and wave goodbye, as they charge into 15 enemies and last about 3-4 seconds. If you order them to follow you, then you can be sure that they will get in the way of your shots, and that they will run in circles around you while being a nuisance.

It`s a good thing that the enemy AI seems to be just as bad. They try to find and take cover, to shoot in bursts and then hide, or run away when things seem to get messy, but they fail miserably and you can kill 3 or 4 before they have time to react. They hide behind objects, but not entirely, so you can kill them even easier, because they`re standing still. The only problem comes from the overwhelming number of enemies you are put up against in later missions, and the fact that their aim is spectacular.

The missions are long, with checkpoints in between, but if you quit during the mission you have to start it from the beginning. That would have been fine, but on some of the later levels the checkpoints are fewer and fewer and you tend to die easily. Another source of frustration was the fact that some bad guys just didn`t want to die after five shots to the head, while others died on the first shot (yes, with the same silenced hand gun).

Remembering my silent assassin days, I tried at first to play the game using a sneaky approach, while leaving Lynch behind. That only worked on two or three enemies and on only two levels. Even though you have a silenced hand gun and sniper rifle, you can only use them for stealth kills on levels that were especially designed for this, any other attempt only causing frustration.