In the years following the advent of broadband online console gaming many games have struggled to match up to what the market wants. While the Wii is struggling to reinvigorate social party gaming with friends all in the same room the hardcore section of the market has seen a shift in the opposite direction to singular online gaming. Services like Xbox Live have been a tremendous success in this regard, offering triple-A titles like Halo, Call of Duty, and Burnout that enjoy a spot of the shelves of many gamers. Another shift has begun however as these services have expanded and advanced, this one being in the direction of cooperative-focused titles that allow gamers to share a singleplayer experience simultaneously. Taking a hint in more than one way from Epic’s massively popular Gears of War, Electronic Arts has unleased its own co-op focused title into the fray entitled Army of Two. But does the partial redesign that pushed back this title for so long stand a chance? Read on and find out…
Army of Two, as previously stated, has alot in common with Gears of War, that being a third-person shooter designed around a two player experience that is easy to pick up and play with a buddy. However, should you be on at 3am and can’t get ahold of a friend or want to avoid an annoying 10 year old you can opt to play the singleplayer campaign. With a partner-AI at your disposal you’ll find the experience to be nothing terribly exciting or truely enjoyable. The AI itself on both sides of the firefight can be quite clunky and annoyingly dumb at times, as enemies will more often then not charge into your fire. Trust me when I say that the co-op experience is the best way to experience this game.
The Aggro system, the highlight of the gameplay mechanics, is probably one of the most interesting parts of the overall experience. By laying down a sufficient amount of fire you or your partner (whichever is not unloading on the enemy) is almost invisible and can pretty much sneak up on most of the game’s enemies. If the Aggro is sustained for a period of time either player can activate the Overkill mode, a function that slows down everything in the game and pretty much green-lights the player to kill everything in sight with almost no consequences. Players will also enjoy the amount of customization players can do to their weapons, allowing the player to adorne every single weapon with a pimped-out finish that would make both evil dictators and warlords alike envious.
As is almost the standard for all shooters nowadays a multiplayer component is present as well, though it clearly isn’t as inticing as the game’s campaign. The usual assortment of modes is present, though the combat is limited to 2v2 in scope. While this is supposed to keep players enjoying Army of Two for some time to come its clear that EA needs to redefine its interpretation of exactly how long we should be doing so.
- Rating: 3.5 out of 5
The Unreal Engine 3 has become a household name in the gaming industry for some time now, appearing in everything from Xbox Live Arcade titles to games like Rainbow Six Vegas and Bioshock. Army of Two can feel proud to be in the upper echelon of the graphics department, though its not very far up there. While the cutscenes are quite the looker for an American-developed title (just take a look at the Alice character and tell me I’m wrong) the standard gameplay isn’t as impressive as it could be. Nothing really stands out visually when in-play save for the draw distance in a handfull of levels.
The audio design of the game is something EA can be very proud of with Army of Two. The whitty dialogue between the characters is a most enjoyable banter that can’t help but be enjoyed, especially when the two main characters interact with one another. The only disappointing part comes in the sound of the weapon’s fire in which most of the guns sound pretty much the same; its hard to tell the difference between an AK-47 and a FAMAS, two radically different assault rifles, by sound alone.
The only big gripe one can discern from the tech side of the game is how the game’s campaign is written. While the game did see a minor revision that set it back almost six months its clear that the scope of this did not reach the narrative of the game; if anything it feels like it has been downgraded. While the campaign does tell a story that expands over a decade of combat that characters experience the narrative is written in such a way that each mission feels only days apart rather than the years that seperate them. Call me picky but when a time leap of four years occurs wouldn’t you expect the characters to have a change of opinion however slight? Dialogue can be poorly placed at times as well and many things in the story go unexplained or lacking in information.
- Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Army of Two is a good interim title for those jonsing for action between triple-A titles like Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. While the campaign is easy to pick up and play it also suffers from this as it is exceedingly short; 4-5 hours or so when played on the normal difficulty level. Gears of War was like this though so its not all bad; its just different. Just don’t expect Army of Two to stay on your shelf for as long as Gears did. Hopefully the next title in the series will fix the glaring errors made in this game.
- Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Single and Multiplayer: 3.5
Technical Specs: 3.5
Overall and Replay Value: 3.5
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Players: 1-4
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