Army of Two

"A testament of how fun a co-op game can be"

Army Of Two

I'm all for a good deathmatch game. “Unreal Tournament III” has remained glued inside my Playstation 3 ever since its release date and the recently released “Frontlines: Fuel Of War” has provided many hours of battlefield goodness. But ask me any day what I would like to play and the answer will always be co-op. Thanks to “Halo: Combat Evolved” reviving of the long dead cooperative gameplay, developers finally learned many of us would rather team up with a friend than enter the bloodstained arena. Killer titles like “Gears of War” “Halo 3” and 2007's sleeper “Kane & Lynch: Dead Men” supporting fully featured cooperative modes have left me craving for more. And you can now add Electronic Arts “Army of Two” as a further testament of just how fun co-op games can be.

Players assume the role of Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem, two US Rangers who become members of a private military organization called the SSC. The game follows several years of their career as guns for hire and eventually spirals into political conspiracies, betrayal and revenge. The story isn't particularly well developed and doesn't really present anything viable as a story, but if “Call of Duty 4” can win game of the year with its zero plot I think people can look past this one as well. Thankfully the story doesn't get in the way of things and the game lets the action take center stage.

“Army of Two” is a third person shooter similar in vein to “Gears of War”. Just like “Gears” this is not a run-and-gun affair, and playing it in that manner is going to get you killed again and again. Instead you need to approach gunfights strategically and slowly. Hiding behind cover and taking your time to slowly pick off your opponents or by using the “Aggro” feature are the keys to victory in “Army of Two”. The Aggro feature is basically a means of creating a diversion for your partner. The more you shoot and cause havoc for enemies, the more they'll focus on bringing you down giving your partner a chance to flank their positions. The main point of this feature is to force people to cooperate to overcome imposing odds and it succeeds in this manner very well. It's nice to see a game putting heavy emphasis on teamwork instead of a “every man for himself” ideology.

What really makes “Army of Two” unique is its various co-op tactics you employ throughout your endeavors. During several areas both players will be parachuting together with one man steering the chute and the other sniping enemies below, or one man can grab a shield and the second player takes cover behind him and shoots to advance through areas with heavy gunfire. I really haven't seen co-op games present scenarios such as these in games yet and in doing so “Army of Two” sets a new standard I'm sure many co-op games to come will follow.

The campaign mode spans six levels which might not sound like much but all of them are large and extremely varied in locales. You'll be hunting Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, cleansing a U.S. aircraft carrier of terrorists and even fighting in Miami during a hurricane. There's plenty of incentive to return to “Army of Two's” campaign in multiple play-thru, not just because the action is insanely fun. There's an arsenal of weapons to purchase and upgrade. from standard assault rifles to mini guns, stinger missiles and even Dirty Harry's .44 magnum which will blow anyone's head clean off.

The game can be played alone with an A.I. partner but this brought about my biggest gripe with “Army of Two”. The A.I. isn't bad by any means. He'll occasionally do some smart things like drag you to safety if wounded and heal you or provide covering fire. But on many occasions my partner would take cover in areas that provided no cover or continually tried to revive me in hotspots where he was cut down as well forcing me to replay a few certain areas again and again and again. Of course the game isn't called “Army of One”, it's “Two” for a reason. You can play co-op through splitscreen or online and both work perfectly. The online is great; every game I played was completely lag free and the general vibe of the community was friendly and filled with people who love cooperative gaming as I do.

There's also a versus mode available with a variety of two on two games. Teams compete against each other to either eliminate targets before opponents or escort hostages to safety while the other team tries to stop them. The teamwork aspect of “Army of Two” is still evident here but I found the versus mode nothing particularly noteworthy when there are already so many other deathmatch options available. Yet don't get me wrong, from a technical standpoint it's completely sound and definitely provides a small slice of adequate diversion from the co-op mode which is the real star.

From a graphical standpoint “Army of Two” looks great. You'll see some texture pop-in at the beginning of levels but beyond that everything is nicely detailed from the characters to the environments and runs at a smooth framerate throughout. The sound is good on all levels but it could've benefited from a more rousing soundtrack during the levels. The guns all pack a nice punch while the voices for Salem and Rios are both solid and its fun to hear them bicker against and cheer for one another. I especially liked being able to walk up to your partner at any time and psych up or listen to them play their machine guns like guitars.

“Army of Two” was developed from the ground up to specifically cater to people who love cooperative gaming and in this aspect “Army of Two” is a resounding success. The gameplay is a blast, there's plenty of replay and enjoyment to be had throughout. Yet the best thing about “Army of Two” is the atmosphere it creates for you and your partner. Whether it's your best friend or a complete stranger, you'll find yourself laying waste to enemies, high-fiving and having an altogether riot from start to finish.

Pros:
-Perfect offline/online co-op gameplay
-Plenty of upgradable weapons
-Long, varied levels
-Never a dull moment

Cons:
-Shallow story
-Versus mode is average
-Partner A.I. is sometimes iffy

Graphics- 9.5
Gameplay- 9.0
Sound- 8.5
Overall- 9.0

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/13/08

Game Release: Army of Two (US, 03/06/08)