Army of Two

March 11,2008 - Electronic Arts’ highly touted Gears of War styled shooter Army of Two released to surprisingly sub-par scores for a game as long anticipated and advertised as this. As a new franchise for a developer/publisher notorious for taking the “safe route” of releasing yearly installments of sports titles, Army of Two is a definite deviation from that strategy. Did this deviation turn out to be a costly error or a wise investment on EA’s part?

Army of Two, like its name implies, is designed to pander to those gamers who love playing through a campaign with their sibling or best friend. Two people playing at once will create shared experiences that both can look back on and bond with even if they otherwise have little in common. When Army of Two is started up, players choose who will be Tyson Rios or Elliot Salem, two army rangers with a long history together who turn into paid mercenaries fighting mostly in Iraq, present day, for a private military contractor. During their assignments they uncover backhandedness and corruption within their corporation, an issue faced today by security firms like Blackwater. The story is actually delivered pretty well through in-game conversation as well as through cutscenes. The best part is that everything you need to know is eventually told to you in-game; meaning you won’t have to read the manual or search online to find the story like Gears of War made you do.

Despite a decent story surrounding Rios and Salem, the interaction between the two could have been better. As a cooperative game, Army of Two should always be forcing you and your partner to work together. The Aggro system, in which one player forces the enemies’ attention while the other slips around to flank unnoticed, constitutes most of the cooperative gameplay. Other concepts, like co-operative sniping, and back-to-back became either scripted events or unused gameplay like weapons exchanging. When cooperative gameplay was used right, like the back-to-back where both players stand backs-together to face their encircling enemies, Army of Two really felt like a two-person game. Most of the time though you and your partner are running through levels as two people who happen to be in the same place at the same time. This may be a bit of an exaggeration because you are occasionally forced to use the Aggro system to sneak around a turret or a heavily-armored foe, and you may choose to have one person carry a riot shield as moving cover for his partner, but more experienced players won’t need to. Instead of using a warping system, where a player lagging behind is warped to their partner ahead, EA opted for a system where one player is forced to wait at an elevator or unmovable door for his partner to catch up and help open it. Love it or hate it, this is a matter of preference. Personally, we felt like it encouraged players to stick together more often.

Disregarding the admitted lack of engaging cooperative aspects outside the story, the combat is actually very entertaining. Despite their fortidinous bodies, Rios and Salem can’t take too much fire before needing revival. For that reason, they’ll need to utilize the ample cover on levels. You’re equipped with a primary, secondary, and special weapon as well as grenades. Instead of a grenade button, however, you’ll have to equip them from the same radial menu as you do for swapping between other weapons. While in cover, for which there is no context-sensitive button to get into besides crouching near or standing against it manually, you’re able to blindly shoot or pop-up for better accuracy. The swarms of enemies will also constantly be on the move searching for better ways to assault you, so you’ll need to work quickly and strategically. While you are not permitted to pick up dropped enemy weapons, you’ll be impressed by the customization involved for the weapons you do own. As mercenaries, you get paid money for completing main missions and sub-missions. On top of this, you have access to a wider arsenal of weapons dealers that standard law enforcement may not. If you’d prefer a cheap AK-47 over your standard issue assault rifle, go for it. While you’re at it, chrome it out, add a larger ammo clip, upgrade the stock, and stick a shotgun on there as a secondary while you’re at it. The amount of customization you can purchase for each weapon is both rewarding and visually pleasing. It’s a shame that this customization peters out for the more expensive weapons like the M14 and .50 sniper; a sign that Army of Two may have been pushed out the door a little early.

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