Army of Two Review

Ok, so a few days back I was able to get hold of a copy of Army of Two. Truth be told I wanted the 360 version (just had a hunch that it would be the better looking/running version) but as luck would have it, I ended up with the PS3 version. Not a problem, as the devs and media (such as 1UP) have stated both versions to them at least look and run identical.

So, basic premise of the game is that you are two elite soldiers who work for this special security company that is hired by the government to do military work. Team work plays a huge role (as you could have guessed), but most of the game is a basic balls out action third person shooter. Think The Club meets Stranglehold and you basically have the control/gameplay mechanic pipped.
Where the game separates itself from other third person shooters is with added emphasis on co-op, mainly due to the aggro system. The way aggro works is, whichever one of you is killing the most people, making the most noise, or using the baddest weapons draws more aggro than the other player. This makes enemies put their attention to that player (who glows red during this time) and away from the second player (who turns more invisible). This allows the other player to creep about and flank enemies going un-noticed. Some heavy armour enemies actually require this tactic to be killed. This is actually quite a clever system that helps gameplay develop, not only because there’s that level of tactical play, but also because in co-op, you’ll find yourself constantly competing to see who can get more aggro. The person who sustains aggro for a certain period of time is rewarded with an “overkill” bonus, which basically slows down time and greatly increases one’s damage. Another decent co-op mechanic is “back-to-back” mode where you and your co-op partner (real friend or CPU) go back to back, in slow mo, John Whoo style killing people all around you whilst spinning in circles. This addition is actually rather satisfying, mainly due to the decent enemy animations and blood splatter that make killing them in slow motion, all the more fun. (though not exactly innovative).

There’s also a basic cover system, which isn’t really even a cover system. You just place your character behind a wall or object, and the game sort of recognises it as cover, in that when you shoot out from it, you’ll shoot a little further out (left or right) than usual, as if you were stretching to shoot from behind it. It’s a pretty lacklustre cover system as games like GoW, Uncharted and Vegas have done a better job in the past, but still, it just about works.

Actual controls are generally quite fluid. Weapon switching is nice, easy and quick, aiming feels pretty solid (some auto aim helps) and your characters movements are decent. Camera can get in the way now and again, and cause you to get caught behind objects/walls which can be annoying. But a good player will be able to avoid these miss haps by using the free control camera to keep things in check. the sat nav mode (which basically shows the level in wire-frame and has arrows pointing to objectives) helps those who are stuck, but imo offers a little too much information. As it spoon s you directions to go.

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Truth be told, when I first started this game, I thought it was pretty terrible. Outside of great looking character models, visuals were a jaggy, bleak, low res texture booting mess. (though it has to be said, the frame rate throughout the game is really smooth, with only a few un-hindering drops here and there, but they’re rare). Gameplay seemed fairly old, tired and already tested. Controls appeared to be a bit fidgety and everything felt over-all sloppy and un-polished. I stopped playing an hour in…..BUT…..for some reason….

I wanted to play it again. Something about the game drew me and my friend in. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as we thought? There’s actually something really satisfying and fun about the game, even though to begin with it is rather un-polished. The weapons are satisfying to shoot, and animations on all fronts (enemies and allies) are well done, making kills, deaths and movement more fun.

So, shortly after, we popped it back in, and we’re very glad we did.

The first two levels in the game (one is a tutorial and one is a basic mission where you aren’t in your proper armour) must not have had much time in the development cooker, because everything after these levels is so much more polished and over-all much, much better looking. The very first level after the first proper mission (3rd level) looked a hell of a lot better. Areas were wider, there was more scope and scale, better lighting, better textures and less jaggies. You also start the level para-gliding through canyons which is a nice refreshing addition.

From here on, me and my friend were pretty hooked. While the gameplay itself does get repetitive, what holds it all together and gives you the drive to play on, is an excellent upgrade system. It’s basic and bare bones in implementation, but not in satisfaction. Every upgrade to the weapons, not only makes the weapon feel, shoot or act differently (more power, silencer, extended or enhanced barrel, mag sizes, grenade launcher or shotgun add ons etc) but they actually make the weapons look a heck of a lot better too. And it’s this that makes you want to keep doing missions, earn as much money as you can, and pimp yourself and your weapons to the max. Essentially becoming the baddest looking lead with the craziest arsenal ever. Upgrading your magnum with a stupidly over-the-top extended super barrel to give it shotgun like power just puts the biggest grin on your face.

The levels themselves also get a lot more brave, manic and good looking. There’s decent variation in it too, from underground caverns, to laboratories, to airships, Chinese architecture, military bases etc.
While there are only a few enemy types, and gameplay basically remains the same throughput, outside of a few para-gliding parts, there’s still just enough to keep you hooked. The few entertaining CGI cut-scenes help to build the story and break up the action. Where the game really shines, is co-op. You should enjoy it just fine on your own, but even more so with a friend. The neat little additions like aggro, back to back, the fact that like GoW, when you’re down, your friend has to drag you to safety and heal you, or giving each other boost/pull ups to different platforms etc. All of these things help to build a more cohesive co-op mode. There will be moments when you get giddy making a killer shot (a shotgun to an enemies face, a sniper head shot, a melee to the legs etc), when you and your friend pull off some decent tactics, or just skim by what appeared to be an impossible level with wave after wave of enemy. There’s also fun to be had in fine tuning a character to your own play style, upgrading the weapons you primarily use (are you a lay back and snipe type, or a balls out gunner, maybe even a precision shooting pistol maverick?).

I’ve essentially played this game now non stop whenever I’ve had the free time over the last 2 days (maybe 7 or so hours) and have yet to complete it, so while it all revolves around a basic premise, repetitive play and things we’ve really all seen before, it actually pulls them off well and is rather addictive. The story, while utterly predictable and painfully over the top (America is the saviour, two men take on all the bad people, which include Africans, Arabs, Chinese, Mexicans etc), is still entertaining and almost funny, the main characters while cheesy and too “hip” (bro?) are still very cool. Mainly in their abilities, attitude, and appearance (GoW syndrome, big burly men in seriously good looking armour). If you’re an action/weapon/fire-arms junkie and are not expecting anything overly deep or innovative, you will most likely enjoy this. It’s a fun kick about, and one of the better co-op games to come by on the next-gen consoles in a couple of months. Like with cinema, not all films are made to be Oscar winning works of art, some are simply dumb, mindless but fun pop-corn films. Army of Two is akin to that.

It’s quite a hard game to rate. Since there aren’t really any ratings to even get an idea of where it’s at. But if I was to give it a pre-rating based on everything I’ve played thus far, it would probably be verging on around 7.8 - 8.2.

NeoGAF