Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days

GAME OF THE WEEK:18 cert, Eidos, Xbox 360 (also PS3, PC)

It's been well documented that game sequels tend to surpass the originals, but Kane and Lynch 2is in an entirely different league from its predecessor. Once again, it's a third-person shooter in which you play middle-aged, burned-out criminals. This time, however, you're playing as the volatile Lynch and not the world-weary Kane. The game begins with our two antiheros bloodied, tortured and desperate.

Flashback two days earlier and Kane has just arrived in Shanghai to work with Lynch on what’s promised to be a cushy gun-running gig. (That a level-headed crook would return to work with a psychopath requires some suspension of disbelief.) Of course, not long after they arrive, Lynch angers the local mob boss Mr Hsing, prompting an all-out war, with Kane and Lynch pursued across Shanghai by police, the Chinese mob and some English gangsters too.

The first noticeable difference between parts one and two is the appearance. Unlike the relative sheen of the first game, Kane and Lynch 2looks like it was shot with a digital camera. The "hand-held camera" shakes with explosions and briefly goes out of focus when it turns a new corner, giving the game a sense of immediacy absent from many shooters. The new Asian location is very welcome, as the crooks fight in grungy fish stalls, dank sweatshops and restaurants filled with Chinese lanterns. It's an endearingly grimy game; if part one was Heat, then part two is The French Connection.

The game play is noticeably better too: the targeting and firing could still be a little more accurate, but it’s quite generous with hiding places and abilities such as blind fire. There are neat additions such as hostage taking and the throwing of combustible objects. And it really shines as an online game: you can play the entire campaign in co-op mode or do individual missions in an uneasy alliance, which gives you the option to betray your team at crucial parts of a heist.

This is a grisly, violent shooter, and it lacks the precision of the likes of Modern Warfareso it won't appeal to all tastes. But if you enjoyed the first game, or if you're in the market for a shooter with character and edge, you really should become acquainted with these deeply troubled criminals.