Army of Two Review
It takes Two to tango, and these guys put up a hell of a dance.
Posted by Robert Workman on Monday, March 03, 2008
We've got enough experience with mercenary/military action games to make us think we're enlisted in the service. However, there's always room for more, and Army of Two more than satisfies. Electronic Arts put together a finely tuned action opus, one that serves genuine purpose when it comes to team empowerment.
In the game, you portray two wisecracking mercenary soldiers as they work through a series of missions. The game's tutorial introduces you to numerous tools of the trade, including the Aggro system. Aggro lets you take or give focus on a battlefield, depending on your approach. If you feel like you can handle incoming fire from enemies, you can shift the Aggro on yourself, glowing bright red and drawing fire while your partner sneaks around from behind. If you prefer stealth, you can give Aggro to your teammate, letting them blindly shoot enemies while you take them out from the rear.
As the game's title suggests, partnership plays a big role. Not only will you call upon your partner for combat scenarios, but you'll also have to keep an eye on him in case his health dwindles below dangerous levels. You'll sometimes need to drag him out of harm's way in order for him to heal, or risk restarting at a new point for a hefty amount of cash. You can also form defensive positions with shields, switch weapons when you need something with more significant firepower or trade positive (and negative) feedback, which affects the balance of your team. It's really a wonderful system, and probably one of the deepest co-op experiences you'll run across.
General gameplay consists of running and gunning, and occasionally using your smarts to get out alive. The artificial intelligence is perfectly balanced, although some rookies might find the opposition hard to overcome. The general controls are great, with excellent gun functions and a simple partner instructing system mapped to the D-pad. You can have them hold position, thrust ahead and do a couple of other functions, even though you never take direct control of them. The use of a sweet GPS system comes in handy as well, particularly when you're lost and need directions to get back on track.
Visually, Army of Two scores with outstanding details. The soldiers look very intimidating with their custom mercenary gear (we love those skull helmets) and plenty of slick moves, such as the cover slide. The levels are great, varying in locale and providing lots of cover points and stuff to blow up. You'll love taking a ride on the aircraft carrier, with waves so realistic you may actually feel seasick. If you get sick or take on too much damage the display darkens a little bit giving you this creepy feeling that you're seriously about to die, unless your partner can pull you out of harm's way.
The game's audio is in a league all by itself. The music is decent, consisting of battle themes that are nowhere near as irritating as the rock tune in the recent TV ad. However, the voice work really shines, aggressive and humorous at the same time. These guys aren't afraid to throw profanity into the mix to express emotion, but they do so in a way that's refreshing and not a movie-style cliche. The sound effects are on the money, too, especially when it comes to the heavier firepower. The roar of the chain gun will put a smile on your face.
Army of Two is very playable alone, but multiplayer is where it's at. You can work with a friend in co-op through Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, and the results are satisfying. There are a couple of side problems, however. Occasionally, you might run into miscommunication about who should take the Aggro. In addition, if your buddy's injured, you can call on him to stay put, but then you waste time trying to track them down since their location isn't indicated on the map. You can work through it, but it takes patience. The multiplayer two-on-two combat scenarios are great as well, although there are only four maps available. EA promises more in the future via download, but at a price.
In spite of lacking content and teamwork flaws, Army of Two is an effective, worthwhile action game that takes co-op gaming to new heights. Even if you're on your own, however, you'll find a lot to like here. The gameplay is engaging and, in some aspects, original; the presentation is very good; and the action never lets up, even going as far as throwing in unnatural elements your way when you least expect it. Bottom line, it takes Two to make a thing go right.
Final Score: 8/10
