| Army of Two |
| Posted on 6th April 2008 by Sean Evans |
Army of Two is ultimately a game with a few jarring problems - both in its mechanics and morality. It is, however, not fair to call Army of Two a bad third-person action shooter, because behind its questionable intent and occasionally clunky gameplay, there is still fun to be had overall. For a brief overview, Army of Two is EA's recent attempt at diving into the current trend of the "co-op action" pool, splashing alongside the likes of last year's so-so Kane and Lynch. The story revolves around the lives of two private military mercenaries, Rios and Salem – two clichéd and often annoying "badass" leads who are up for big money in exchange for fighting various threats in a big modern war.
The game's plot is generally a contemporary stab at mirroring today's real-life political happenings, but really just ends up a bit shallow and un-hinged. Rios is the sensible soldier; often criticizing his position in the private army but whose views are often beset by best pal Salem, the wise-cracking ladies' man of the pair. Naturally, you can choose to play as either one of the two, encompassing the obvious direction of the game's title. Although, whoever you choose to play as there is no resounding difference between either characters besides slight cosmetic alterations. I see this as a great shame; if EA wanted to push the game's co-operative action into a higher plateau, a little momentum between the two characters regarding, let's say, power and speed, would have been nicely suited.
As it stands, however, both Rios and Salem tread through the game's six missions always together and always very much homo-erotic. OK, all homosexual tendencies put aside, the nature of both Rios and Salem and their "close" friendship is something you may feel a bit nauseous about when playing with a friend. But seeing as how Army of Two is primarily an action-based co-op experience, perhaps it's best to move onto that aspect of the game!
As a co-op experience, Army of Two bodes well. The shooting and cover mechanics are, for the most part, well done and when working alongside a friend (whether he/she is next to you or playing online) there is a degree of fun to be had that stems from tactics used via the Aggro system: Army of Two's version of Russell Crowe's anger issues and demand to gain sordid publicity. It works like this: one player consistently shoots as the enemy, preferably from safe cover, and garters all the attention (or Aggro) of the opposition, while the other player avertedly scuttles off to a position where they are able to take out the enemy from a safe vantage point. It's a system that works pretty well and is visually represented by a bar indicator on the top of the screen, as well as the aggressor glowing an angry red and a transparent body mask for the stealth player. Aggro may seem like a gimmick or even a guise for representing proper tactile commands, but the system works solidly enough that it just ends up being a sort of confirmation that you're playing the game well.
Despite this, you'll find yourself unable to maintain a steady shot on the enemy when running at full speed and trying to play it gun-ho. Your ability to aim with accuracy gets shot and becomes more of a sensation where the game has sneakily inverted your control scheme during the loading screen. It's a strange parallel between the entertaining cover-shooting and just going at the enemy like a handicapped Rambo, so it certainly forces you back into playing cover and being tactile with your teammate. That decision kind of makes sense... but not really. Within the entirety of the gameplay lies a fairly fierce enemy A.I., which despite my best intervention of test and experiment, is hard for me to gauge whether or not is actually clever or just far too punishing and aggressive. Either way, there will be times when you get your ass whooped; the enemy will rush you, run away when under heavy attack and gang up on you like you said something nasty about their collective mommas.
I mentioned load times before – some of which are overly long and laborious and seem to drag on between cut-scenes and objectives. With good reason, I would think, seeing as Army of Two's small environments but admittedly pretty graphics need some room to breathe, because there will be moments during set pieces where you will stop and admire the graphical sheen put into Army of Two's vintage woodwork. Ragdolls flail appropriately, the sun glistens on Rios' and Salem's armour and the water in the navy ship mission is damn impressive; not to mention a steady frame-rate that resonates well with the action and keeps up to speed with everything in the game world.
Furthermore, it pays well to know that a lot of people don't have friends, and for the majority of their time will spend playing Army of Two will be on their lonesome, acting buddy with the computer rather than the luxury of a real human specimen. When you're playing this kind of game and have to rely on the game's intelligence to do as you say and help you achieve your desired goal, it can be quite daunting. However, your A.I. buddy is often competent with your orders, while not exactly street smart but more strictly obedient like a farmer's dog. As long as you maintain his position and offence/defence well, you should have no trouble. This, of course, does mean you may have to baby sit him perhaps more times than you're willing, but doing it successfully can pay off.
When you do manage to wade your way through the story missions, completing the goals you were set earns you plentiful helpings of government cash, on which after and during certain parts of missions you can spend on weaponry and upgrades, as well as useless things like masks and different types of armour for the flashy and inane. Purchasing and acquiring new weapon sets is certainly an enjoyable aspect of the game, and allows for different styles of play to be opened up depending on what you choose to load out on. You better make the right decision, too, as you can't pick up fallen enemy weapons, only swap with your partner (which the A.I. is basically never willing to do).
Army of Two also features a competitive versus mode for online and system link players, which definitely requires teamwork and strategising. Moments of recurring online lag aside, the inclusion of A.I. to extend the Aggro system into the multiplayer is present, as well as objectives that you and your real-life buddy need to finish before another pair of assorted humanoids. It's not perfect, but the maps are layed out in such a way that will make you think about what you do before you do it, so there is definitely fun to be had.
On the whole, Army of Two's dichotomy between being a strategic shooter and just an unwholesome excuse for blasting unassuming terrorists as if it's Judgment Day is sure to please the casual shooter audience. However, if you're looking for something a bit more tasteful and truly thought-provoking in your co-operative action library, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 or Gears of War are far more recommendable choices. |
Single Player Score: 7/10
Multiplayer Score: 6/10
Overall Score: 7/10 |
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