Contributed Review by: Evan Zinser
Our long wait has ended, and the next-generation “built from the ground up” co-op game is here! Army of Two was originally scheduled to release in mid-November of 2007, but shortly before this date the publishers/developers delayed it until the first quarter of 2008. This delay was due to technical problems that would otherwise have negatively affected the overall experience. So was the additional time worth the wait? Yes, but for some, Army of Two is only worth a rental.
You play as Elliot Salem or Tyson Rios, retired United States Army Rangers, who have since entered the private sector to work for the Security and Strategies Corporation (SSC). They are sent on special missions for SSC, missions that the Department of Defense believes can’t be completed by anyone else. As you progress through the game, Rios begins to realize that the questionable events that are unfolding around the two soldiers are not just coincidence. What follows is a story of conspiracies, betrayals, and two men who will do anything to find the truth.
The story is simple enough to follow and has enough twists to keep you interested. However, the story is not the highlight of the game. Army of Two is a third-person shooter that can be played cooperatively either online through Xbox Live, with a friend via split screen, or with the AI partner. There is also online multiplayer that pits you and a friend against two other opponents to fight for various objectives. In this game you must really act as a team to progress through the levels, and that is what distinguishes it from other co-op games. Whether you are playing with the AI or a human player, you will need to act as a team in order to successfully complete your objectives. The main focus is indeed the co-operative experience, and it delivers–both gold plated and diamond studded.
The game play for the co-op campaign and adversarial modes are, unsurprisingly, very different. In the co-op campaign you will need to flank the enemy while your partner draws fire; co-op snipe two enemies simultaneously; team up on a riot shield; go back-to-back to take on huge amounts of enemies; drag and heal your partner when he is down; and step up/pull up to progress through certain parts of the levels. In the online adversarial modes, however, you will only be able to do two of the aforementioned actions: revive your teammate, and step up/ pull up. In both modes of course, you will be able to slide into cover, shoot from cover, and jump over cover to kill the baddies.
Visually, this game looks good. The graphics look good enough for the Xbox 360, but they don’t stand up to titles such as Call of Duty 4 or Devil May Cry 4. I noticed that in some areas of the game the graphics looked particularly good, where in other parts they looked mediocre. The sound, on the other hand, is top notch, with excellent voice acting and sound effects.
Even though this co-op experience is one of the best out there, the game falls short in one key area: multiplayer. Any weapons that you unlock/customize in the single player campaign can only be used in the campaign, which quite frankly, stinks! Since the developers stripped the main co-op elements from the multiplayer, it’s safe to say the multiplayer pretty much throws the whole co-op concept out the window.
If you are looking for the best co-op campaign experience money can buy, then look no further than Army of Two. However, if you are looking for a game that has enjoyable multiplayer, and a long lasting appeal, then keep looking–there are plenty of other games on which to spend your greenbacks.
All images courtesy EA
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