Kane and Lynch may look like buddies, but they would also jump at each other in a heartbeat. That's what IO Interactive wants to make you think - in Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), partners in crime are not partners for long. Or at least, when playing the game's online multiplayer mode called "Fragile Alliance," you have to understand that a criminal's life is dog-eat-dog.

Lead game designer Kim Krogh told IGN in an interview that Fragile Alliance is more "about manipulative game play, where co-operative or competitive gaming is a means to an ends." According to him, it's survival of the fittest and only those who play like a criminal will survive.

Krogh further described Fragile Alliance as "a mode that puts you into violent criminal situations and rewards the double cross, like befriending someone… and then killing him." He called it satisfying when you can be as ruthless as possible, and we couldn't agree more.

If anything, it seems like Kane & Lynch's multiplayer mode is far from co-op, yet you have to work with others to succeed. Krogh explained:

Everyone knows going in that working together is the only way to get the job done. But only up to a point. Think like a criminal. They don't trust anyone. So the better players will find a way to take advantage of other players and situations. The more seamless the better. For example your headset and what you say is part of your arsenal.

Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PC)]

Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)]

Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3)]