Kane & Lynch: Fragile Alliance Hands-on
We explore the backstabbing, double-crossing world Kane & Lynch promises to provide online.
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men has, like one of its titular characters, a split personality. All of the content we've seen up to this point has been from the offline campaign mode. However, recently we went to Eidos' London home to check out Kane & Lynch: Fragile Alliance, the game's online multiplayer component, on the Xbox 360.
The online multiplayer has a very simple concept, in keeping with the campaign storyline: You and three to seven others are dumped into a scenario where the aim is to steal as much money as you can then get out.
Players all start out equal to each other. There's no class or character selection to speak of and no initial weapon selection: You're just dumped into the action. In the case of the level we got to play, Withdrawal, all players spawn outside a bank, with instructions to raid it for as much loot as possible. You then need to get to one of a number of getaway vehicles that will arrive out the back of the bank after a time--between three and seven minutes--set by the game's host.
The matter is complicated by the artificial intelligence-controlled SWAT units that swarm in from the rear as soon as shots are fired, as well as the bank's own security team (though it didn't seem to pose much of a problem).
If you successfully navigate the level, reach the getaway vehicle, and escape, you bank an equal share of the money stolen by you, as well as anyone else who made it out alive.
Because of the large number of cops pouring into the building, it's imperative you work as a team to clear your way through--at least initially. And that's where things start to get messy. By doing some simple maths, you can see that the fewer of you who make it out alive with the cash, the more money those who do survive will carry through to the next round, assuming you can still get it all to the getaway vehicle. This gives you a hefty incentive to kill your teammates and steal the money they're carrying--the amount is handily displayed with their gamertags over their heads--so you can then flee without having to share that precious booty.
There is a second complication, however. As soon as you kill a member of your own team, you become flagged as a traitor, meaning you show up in bright yellow on the minimaps of other players and a bounty is placed on your head. Players who kill you will get an automatic cash bonus for doing so. While this bounty doesn't carry over from round to round in a match, if you turn on your own team, you will spawn in a slightly different spot and find yourself wearing an obvious black shirt the next time out, so everyone knows to watch out for you. Also, if you leave the alliance by turning traitor, you will finish with the cash you have on you rather than a share of the group haul. This means that while you don't have to share your swag, you could be missing out on a serious wad of cash if you mess up.
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- ESRB: Mature
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