EA Montreal's newest release, Army of Two: The 40th Day, can really make a gamer rethink a journey to the Far East.
The game picks up right where its predecessor left off: protagonists Rios and Salem have founded their own PMC (private military company) and have been doing quite well. That is, until a routine mission to Shanghai turns into the firefight of a lifetime.
The opening cut-scene of the game shows the real graphics overhaul the team has made. But for every two steps forward EA Montreal makes, it takes one step back. This is exemplified by the horribly rendered explosions and special effects littered throughout the game.
The main problem with this game is its lack of plot. The game rarely explains what is happening with our heroes, and when it does, it's very convoluted and poorly developed.
In short, there's a rival PMC and they're rather upset. Other than that key fact, players will be left in the dark until the strange and anti-climatic end.
The game unfolds in a linear fashion, until Rios and Salem are faced with moral dilemmas that will ultimately shape the way the game is played.
EA Montreal boasts that each decision that the player encounters affects the characters, plot elements, and weapon drops. Whether or not it's a substantial difference is disputable.
Morality aside, Army of Two is a grand improvement on the original formula of a partner-based, co-operative shooter.
First and foremost, the game feels more realistic, enemies are downed quicker, weapons like the R 870 Shotgun actually have a set range, and enemies react quicker to the Aggro system.
Unfortunately, this comes with a few disadvantages in terms of difficulty. Enemies can down Rios or his partner in just a few shots. Enemy grunts can even revive one another, making the eight- to nine-hour story line feel like an eternity.
The friendly AI has also improved significantly, but of course that would only be noticed if the game was being played in the solo campaign mode.
Inventive gameplay additions like mock-surrender and timer-controlled footlockers add a certain nuance to the game, but aren't real game-changers. The original did, however, provide incredible back-to-back shooting sequences that are sorely missed.
The most confusing, but relatively helpful, addition to the game is setting two different difficulties in co-op campaign. As strange as this concept sounds, it tends to work out well, save for the fact that the veteran player will need a lot of revives to keep the game moving. The best thing about this feature is that newcomers to the franchise feel like they're a force to be reckoned with.
The game does a great job as far as weapon customization is concerned. With tons of add-ons, different scopes, silencers, and various paint jobs, no two weapons look alike. Also, ‘home-brew' weapons can be created using parts found throughout the campaign.
Online multiplayer is standard affair for a shooter game. As the title suggests, it pairs the two gamers up on a team and pits teams against one another. Co-operative death match is incredibly fun, but at this point in the franchise, competition is rather limited.
Also, EA is forcing gamers to have an EA account to play this game online. The account is free and simple to set up, but this ploy seems like a sly way to solicit information from the gaming populace.
The shelf-life of this title is fair, providing a tough difficulty setting and different morality choices on every play through. It can easily be left in the console for the next few weeks.
This is a good, but not great, shooter game. It just doesn't bring any new features to the industry or revolutionize the shooting genre. It's a vast betterment from the original, but still leaves a few tweaks to be desired. Combat is fluid, controls are tight, but sadly, Army of Two isn't quite worth the $60 price tag.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
