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PLATFORM: Xbox 360, PS3
ESRB RATING: M
DEVELOPER: EA Montreal
PUBLISHER: EA
What the world needs now, is co-op games, sweet co-op games.
Na, not just for some. For everyone. It’s something that people realized as soon as online console gaming got started- it was a helluva lot more fun to play through an entire game with a friend than to play against 15 screaming 12 year olds. Allowing two people to play at the same time allows for new tactics, for you to be able to watch your friend’s back and vice versa. It made the experience of the game completely change, and while companies have done it well before, none have designed an entire game around the concept.
Enter Army of Two.
THE PITCH
You and your partner are an army… an army…. of TWO.
You’re a couple of heavily armored war vets, two serious bad asses who laugh at bullets, work great as a duo and put fear into terrorists around the globe… mostly because of their stylish yet useful face masks.
After a standard training mission the game throws you into a war, where you find out that your two characters are in the US Military. At the end of the mission, your boss realizes there’s a lot more money to be made by opening shop as a Private Military Company (PMC), instead of working for the government. He hires you two on and for years and years you all enjoy a fruitful relationship, killing people all over the world and bringing in tons of dough.
Flash forward to September, 2001. Certain events transpire that lead to the boys being called to duty in the Middle East. (Just like real life PMCs!) From here things quickly get crazy, as the company you work for becomes one of the largest military forces around, and there’s talk of privatizing the military… basically having your company becomes the U.S.’s military. You’ll follow the team through their major missions over the next few years, engaging in combat in all kind of god-awful, war torn places. Iraq, The Philipines, China, Miami… every manner of slum is on display here.
While the characters can be amusing, unfortunately the storyline is typical blockbuster movie stuff. You’ve got backstabbings and “twists” galore, and it ends on a very weak note. Thankfully, this game’s not really about the story.
THE PLAY
Let me get this out of the way first- Army of Two plays a helluva lot like Gears of War.
That’s not a slam, or a claim that it’s ripping the other game off. It’s just that there is so much similar between the two, even though they are very different beasts at the core. Army of Two has a similar cover system, but the big difference between this and Gears of War is that you don’t actually get glued to the wall when you hide behind it- you’re free to move around it, fire over or around it, or simply move away as you please.
But there’s plenty of little things that will remind you of Epic’s game as well, like the little musical cue that hits when you’ve cleared a room of enemies. Like I said, it’s not a bad thing.
The control’s exactly what you would expect from a third person shooter, and is pretty damn tight. You’ll have no problem jumping right in and being able to aim and shoot all your foes, and marvel at the incredible ragdoll physics as they flop to the ground riddled with bullets (or get sent flying from your shotgun blast).
The guns are very satisfying and have a nice heft to them. Over the course of the (very linear) game you’ll earn cash for doing all sorts of mercenary things, like taking targets out or escorting vips to safety. All the money you earn goes to your weapons. Practically every gun has upgrades of some sort, and you’ll be surprised how even the weakest rifle in the game can handle after a new stock, barrel, and a larger magazine. A little grenade or shotgun attachment doesn’t hurt, either. For the vain among us you can even pimp the gun out (that’s actually the name of the upgrade- PIMPED) and have a gleaming gold weapon of destruction. Sure to make your enemies take notice.
You can buy weapons through a mid-mission shopping mode, where you’re instantly given upgrades and new guns at certain checkpoints. Sure, it might not make much sense, but who’s complaining?
Hand to hand combat is nice, but some of the moves you make don’t exactly feel like killing ones (clotheslines, knees to the head, etc.) although they always end up in an instant kill.
One of the biggest innovations to the game though are the two player moves. There’s plenty of them to go around- like the great two player sniper mode that shows just where both you and your teammate are aiming on the same screen. There’s even a countdown button for the talk-shy among you. Perfect for taking out two guards at once. Course, the game basically hands you those situations…. like “Here. Here’s two guards. Have fun.” and if that weren’t silly enough someone will tell you that you should do just that.
Besides running around, there are a few parts in the game where you’ll ride around in a hovercraft. They’re decent and control well, but it feels real floaty, without much weight to it. You can bounce off walls without taking damage or even hearing any sound from the impact. There’s also some sections where you’re parachuting. One of you will control the flight, the other (who’s strapped to the other guy’s stomach like a baby) will be able to snipe any enemies below. They’re pretty fun, but short.
Every once in a while, you’ll end up surrounded. You and your buddy will go into “Back to back” (good thing they didn’t call it Ass to Ass…) mode, where everything will slow down to bullet time and you’ll have plenty of opportunity to kill all of the enemies around you. Really fun moments, but it would’ve been nice to be able to go into this mode yourself, instead of just playing them as part of a mission (they’re scripted.)
Besides all the little modes though, you’re constantly needing help from your partner. You will die very fast if you don’t learn to rely on him. You’ll feel like a douche, too, because when your health gets zapped you’ll fall to the ground wounded until you can get first aid from your friend. You’ll sit on the ground till he comes and rescues you, and you can fire back at any enemies (if you get hit here you die for real and have to restart), but if he comes it’ll be tough for him to get you back on your feet unless he drags you to a safe location. It takes a little bit of time to heal your buddy, and makes it more nerve wracking because if he gets shot he has to do it again…
Head on to the second part!