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Army of Two
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Montreal
Genre: Action
Release Date: March 4, 2008
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
ESRB: M - Mature
Reviewer: Eric
Talk about a great game that got past me. When Army of Two first came out I
thought the concept was dumb. Going on and on how two men can do anything
sounded…well truthfully it sounded gay. There I said it, Army of Two sounded
gay. Right now I am eating my own words because this game is far from gay.
The second game in the Army of Two franchise should be out soon, hence why I
decided to finally give in two the first game in the series. Army of Two takes
you right into current affairs with the story, something most games have been
doing but Army of Two seemed to do it before some of the bigger releases.
Any way, you get to pick from two members of the Private Military Corporation,
Rios or Salem. No matter who you pick the other guy will be with you and in the
gay way I thought prior to playing the game, that other guy will following you
to the deepest parts if he must. Rios and Salem seem to be contract works in
ways since the PMC does the dirty work for the United States. Do a job for lots
of cash and forget about it once the money is deposited into your account.
What makes this game so much fun is how it was created. From the very beginning
you can tell that Army of Two was created for co-op or online play. Even if you
don’t feel like playing with somebody your AI partner is at your bidding.
Control him however you want. You can either make him the shield while you get
into a good position or you can both snipe down a gas tank for a big explosion.
Army of Two is all about team work and that is something that I love, especially
in this game.
At times the gay radar will go through the roof as Rios and Salem have to do
back-to-back. What is back-to-back? In Army of Two it is a sequence where both
men have their backs to each other, while standing in the middle of the room,
trying to kill and blow everything up. Sounds real gay but it does help out the
whole team work aspect the game is built around. Good idea indeed.
Each mission you go on has other smaller missions inside of them. Any where from
blowing up a helicopter to killing a certain guy, these missions help you earn
extra cash for the in-game store. The store lets you buy new weapons and armor,
along with upgrades in both of those fields. There are some pretty pointless
updates (bling) but overall the upgrading aspect is real cool and it will have
you going for all of the extra missions to earn more money.
Army of Two also has a nifty little feature called the aggro system. The aspect
around it is simple and when the it’s first explained to you it sounds/seems
stupid. It really isn’t, it’s a neat feature that brings this whole new aspect
to gameplay. Early stages the aggro system makes the game a tad simple but trust
me things will get harder and then the real strategy will begin with the aggro
system.
Graphic wise this game is still pretty looking and it came out over a year ago.
Character models are detailed and the enemy creations seem endless at times.
Even the ragdoll physics in this game are impressive and…you get the point, over
a year old. Army of Two is just an impressive game, more such than some of these
newer titles.
I found so much good with this game, did I find anything bad? Yes I did and the
one major problem I have is the co-op. Sure, playing the game with a friend is a
blast and the whole point to the game is playing with a friend. But when you
don’t play co-op the computer AI can only do so much. On occasions my
computerized partner would drag me all around the map to heal me, even in the
middle of a machine gun wielding enemy. It also doesn’t help when your AI friend
shoots like an idiot when you are holding a shield. The guy is in front of you,
shoot straight ahead!
The games story is good and all but why are key points left out of it? Rios has
a scarred up face. How did this happen? He is a main character and they even
show off his scars enough to make you notice that something is up there. Throw
this in with the bad dialogue and you have yourself a night full of b-rated fun.
Buying the equipment in the game was a favorite part of mine but when you beat
the game you will unlock all of the weapons. Does this not defeat the whole
purpose of buying new weapons during gameplay? Buying new weapons would help out
though when some of the loading screens tell you armor is key success? Maybe
that was a way the developers are telling you to not buy the weapons since it is
sort of pointless.
Final Verdict
When Army of Two came out it got enough buzz from the gaming community and there
is a good reason for that. The game is well done and to the date I think it is
better than some of these other so-called next gen games. Single player gameplay
might not be the best but co-op is a blast. Army of Two is a damn good game and
a must own with its bargain price.
Rating Breakdown
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
+ Action packed and full of fun for countless hours with
friends.
- Playing by yourself can not compare to co-op.
Graphics: 9 out of 10
+ Rios and Salem kill enemies in graphical bliss.
- Fact: believe it or not there are some better looking
games.
Audio: 8 out of 10
+ The music and sound effects fit well with the action.
- Great Caesars Ghost! Some of the spoken dialogue is…is
corny.
Replay Value: 8 out of 10
+ Playing both on and offline will have you coming back,
trust me.
- Playing the game alone for another go might have you
whimpering.
Overall
8.50 out of 10
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