So the release date for Kane and Lynch got pushed up a week. It’s really six of one, half-dozen of the other. Originally it was scheduled to come out the same day as Mass Effect, now it’s coming out alongside Assassin’s Creed.

The more I see of the single player campaign, the more it interests me, but without a doubt the primary draw for me has definitely been the ‘Fragile Alliance’ multiplayer mode. The mode in which you and a small group of other players are tasked with robbing a bank. So not only do you have to worry about completing said act of robbery, but then you have to worry about the other players. Because why split the money 6 ways, when you could split it 5 ways, if you catch my drift. So the name of the game becomes betrayal in an attempt to escape with as much of the loot in your pockets as possible.

But it’s not that simple, because let’s say you decide that your ol’ pal Joey has just about outlived his usefulness, and you’d like a bite of his slice of the pie. So you off poor Joey. Well now he respawns as a cop, tasked with taking out his former partners in crime, with a nice little monetary reward for him as incentive. Not only that, you’re now tagged with a giant “I’m a jerk who betrays his friends” label in the game, and everyone is going to think twice about turning their back on you again.

Also, the money you escape with is accumulative, and places you on the leader boards. The more cash you get, the higher up you go.

In general it sounds like a really new, fresh and exciting multiplayer experience, with a lot of temptation there to back-stab and double-cross to make off with the loot, just like real criminals, but appropriate consequences to (hopefully) curtail the moron who thinks he’s just going to smoke everyone right off the bat and take all the money for himself.

In my fantasy the whole game mode plays out like that one scene from Heat, where they take down the bank and then there’s a huge shootout in the street.

My concern comes due to lack of information. In fact, since I first saw the article that revealed the Fragile Alliance game mode and what it was about, I have not seen one shred of additional publicity/info on it. And the game is out in five days. So what does that mean? I guess some would argue that the whole game itself has been under-hyped and under-advertised, but I really hope this turns out to be the gem I know it should be. I’m not so much worried about the single player stuff, as it’s by the people that did Hitman. But Hitman has never had a multiplayer so… well, here’s hoping.

In the meantime, Call of Duty 4 is providing more than adequate entertainment. Someone told me that the game actually has a whole single player campaign, but I really don’t care enough to find out. The level design for the multiplayer matches is outstanding. I love all but one level (that flat level with the missile silos).

Actually, it’s enjoyable enough that I thought I’d host a little GameDay for Saturday (11/10/07, tomorrow). We haven’t done one of those in ages. Shortly before 4pm EST I’ll clear a bunch of space in my friends list, and accept invites from people who have CoD4 in their “Played Games” list (to be sure spots go to people that actually want to play CoD4). Then I’ll create a party at 4pm and people can join in and we’ll play for a bit. I don’t know for how long, I guess just until I don’t feel like playing any more.