Have you ever had one of those days? You know, where you're being transported to death row for your various crimes as a mercenary. There you are, resigned to your fate when suddenly the heavily medicated psychopath chained next to you tells you to get down. An explosion tears open the back of the van and tosses it on its side. As you stumble out into the glaring sun, you find yourself in the middle of a firefight. Your only option is to follow this psychopath in his escape. And it just gets worse from there?

Welcome to the rest of your life. Your name is Kane. And you're a dead man.

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is an over-the-shoulder third-person shooter from Eidos Interactive. You play as Kane, a former mercenary sentenced to death for his crimes. Before the execution can be carried out, you are broken out of jail by your former partners, the 7. The 7 claims that on your final mission you double-crossed them and stole from them; and if you don't return what you took, they'll kill your estranged wife and daughter. Return it to them, and they'll just kill you. As added insurance, they're sending along Lynch, a psychopath with eyes on a position within the 7, to keep an eye on you.

I have to admit, the game left me a little disoriented at first. Like Kane stumbling into the bright sunlight amidst a firefight, I wasn't really sure of what was expected of me or how to accomplish my goals. Should I just shoot it out? Should I try to sneak past people? Do I need to be careful of alarms? None of this was really clear to me. In addition, there were some confusing squad-based mechanics added in. In addition to Lynch, other characters will join with Kane throughout the game. While it was nice to have the extra teammates, as they provided me with extra ammo when I was out and kept me alive when I was wounded, I never really got the hang of controlling them. This left me feeling disconnected from a substantial part of the game.

For example, when I was wounded, it seemed completely random whether my artificial intelligence partners would make it to me in time to inject me with adrenaline, or whether I would bleed out. I had no control over it whatsoever, and it really prevented me from being immersed in the game.

Where Kane and Lynch: Dead Men really shined for me, though, was in co-op play. While there is no online co-op option, it can be done with two players on one system. This really solved all of the problems I had with the squad command system and really made the whole game much more enjoyable. I was able to coordinate attacks with my partner, provide covering fire and fight as a far more cohesive unit than could ever be done with the computer's AI programming. And I finally felt like my life and death was under my control. If I or my partner was injured, the other could make his way toward the injured member and inject him with adrenaline, getting him back on his feet. It was much better than sitting around waiting to see if the computer-controlled player would make it to us in time.

Even with the addition of another player, there were still some issues. The controls felt too loose to me. I know firing an automatic rifle is not a pinpoint accuracy procedure, but the kick from the guns was just too strong. When I pulled the trigger, my first shot would hit, but then I would immediately be knocked off target by the recoil and have to readjust. It was frustrating and made things especially difficult when accuracy was required. At one point I had to aim for a very tiny point on a target and only had a couple seconds to get my shot off. I lost track of how many times I replayed that section before I finally succeeded. Also, despite there apparently being a large selection of weapons, I always seemed to end up with the same things. A little more variety would have been nice.

In addition, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men also features a unique version of online play. Rather than play straight death matches or capture-the-flag missions, Kane and Lynch features a new type of multiplayer match referred to as Fragile Alliance. In Fragile Alliance, you play on a four-man team performing a robbery. The stolen money is divided equally among any survivors at the end of the heist and can be used to buy upgrades for your character. The fewer the number of survivors, the more money each individual receives. This leaves you with a difficult conundrum. You are most likely to succeed as a group, but you can increase your winnings if you turn on your allies and kill them. If you kill one of your allies, you will be immediately marked as a traitor, alerting the other members of your team to your actions and allowing them to take action as they see fit.

If you get killed off in Fragile Alliance, it isn't the end. You will be respawned as a police officer giving you the opportunity to take revenge on your killer and turn on your former allies. Police officers receive a "finder's fee" in cash for players they kill with an extra bonus if you kill your killer. I was really impressed by this game setup as it is a welcome and exciting change from standard online multiplayer. I usually ended up playing as a cop, due in large part to my propensity to run off guns blazing right in front of my enemies.

Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is a decent game that really shines when played with a friend. Just be warned, that friend may stick a knife in your back at the first opportunity.