Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Few games try to foster a sense of uneasy cooperation during multiplayer matches, but that nerve-wracking sensation that your partners were going to turn on you at any time was what made the original Kane & Lynch’s Fragile Alliance mode so thrilling. That mode was easily our favorite part of the original title, so when we had the chance to check out the offline version of Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days’ Fragile Alliance mode, we jumped at it.

We got to spend most of our time with Arcade mode. This mode functions just like Fragile Alliance (which is still in the sequel) – eight players pull off a heist then fight their way past dozens of cops to a waiting escape van. The difference in Arcade mode, however, is that you play alone and the rest of your thieving compatriots are AI bots. This mode was designed specifically for those without an Internet connection, though online leaderboards will be available to those who want to get competitive with their online friends.

In Arcade mode, you play through as many rounds of Fragile Alliance as three lives will carry you. The difficulty ramps up each round, but you’ll also be able to purchase better equipment after each heist. Our first round started in a back alley, and by the time we’d got our bearings, our AI companions had already taken out a few security guards in front of an armored car containing a stash of four million dollars. We vultured in on the action, lining our pockets with nearly $300,000. Now all we had to worry about was crossing the street and running down another alley to meet up with our getaway van. Unfortunately, we were stuck on the wrong side of a group of trigger-happy cops.

Our $300,000 was a modest sum, but the $800,000 belonging to a fellow thief was too tempting to resist. Once we were sure the rest of the team was ahead of us, we grabbed Mr. 800 Grand and used him as a human shield, taking out two cops and an ally who’d spied our betrayal. With the money from both our fallen “friends,” our bank account was $1.5 million stronger, and since the rest of the team was too involved in a police shootout to stop us, we took the yellowbellied approach and booked it for the extraction point.

Like Kane & Lynch 2’s single-player campaign, you won’t die immediately after taking an excessive amount of damage. Instead you’ll be knocked to the ground, at which point you’ll have a few seconds to crawl for cover and collect your bearings. We landed on our back a few times, but we made it to the van before the rest of the team. Players who don’t betray their allies might wish to wait honorably for the rest of the team, but we promised to split our cash with the driver if he took off immediately. Our final take was nearly $800,000. Considering that thieves who work as a team must split their money with everyone, and that $4 million divided eight ways is $500,000, this seemed like a big win to us.

In Arcade mode the challenge ramps up pretty quickly. After a few rounds, our AI pals were turning on us if they didn’t feel like we were pulling our weight by killing enough cops, grabbing enough cash, etc. It sucks to be on the receiving end of a betrayer’s muzzle, but that just makes the thrill of revenge in the next round all the sweeter. On three lives, we lasted a total of five rounds, but online leaderboards and the inherent thrill of the heist should be reason enough to explore and replay the game’s six maps. With all these improvements, Fragile Alliance is looking better than ever, and we can’t wait to see how it performs when we’re working alongside some real lowlifes online.