A year ago today, Electronic Arts released "Army of Two." As we get ready for the sequel, did we find the first one worth playing?
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Game: "Army of Two"
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: EA
Release Date: 3/6/08
What it was about: The third-person shooter puts you in the role of two private military contractors (or "mercenaries") named Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios. From 1993 to 2009, the beefy pair travels to several countries (Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, China) to take out specific terrorist threats, but the plot thickens...
The gameplay focused on teamwork between the two characters in order to complete objectives. When one character obtained the "aggro" by contantly shooting at enemies, he would glow red. This left the other player almost invisible to his enemies, enabling him to further infiltrate the area or take out enemies from the side or behind (this was usually be the best way to take out a boss). Players could also drag each other to safety to heal.
What was cool about it: As silly as the "aggro" mechanic seems on paper, it worked. When my friend and I would shoot willy-nilly on our own, we often found ourselves dead. Plus, when you're the non-aggro player, it's really fun to ninja dudes from behind. The healing mechanic saved us many a time from starting a mission over. Thankfully, the developers removed a touted tampon-for-healing mechanic; early on, players could stop bleeding by inserting tampons into wounds (something that real mercs allegedly do -- but no thanks).
There were also other great uses of co-op play: the co-op shield, which lets one player use a riot shield or car door to shield from enemy fire while the second player shot freely and safely from behind. Parachuting had one player steering and the other sniping enemies on the ground. Back-to-back mode was a triggered event that had players swiveling around and shooting enemies in slow-mo. All of these were pretty fun, and could've been used more in the game.
What wasn't so great: I didn't play the campaign in single-player, but I read that those who did found the co-op AI to be incredibly stupid. Some cited incidents where the AI player decided to drag you slowly to safety in front of heavy fire. There was also a lack of drop-in co-op, which seems criminal not to include in a co-op-focused game.
I have to mention, for every good co-op mechanic, there were also a few forced and seemingly lame ones. There was the step-jump, which required one player to boost another player up to a higher point (standing next to each other and hitting a button was all that was needed); the co-op sniping, which had both players snipe two objects or people at the same time; and at times, both players had to stand next to a door to lift it.
I also found the story to be really cliche. Some of chummy moments and lines uttered between the two characters made me laugh out loud. And though my friend and I played the game on the normal setting, the last boss was abnormally easy. Like dead-in-a-few-headshots easy, though it might've been a glitch (if so, it was the only major one we encountered in our playthrough). When he abruptly died, it went right to the final cutscene, and we scratched our heads and said, "This is it?"
Features I neglected: Honestly, I didn't bother to try the game's multiplayer modes. Once I finished the co-op campaign, I moved on. The multiplayer mode allowed up to four-players in two-man teams to compete against each other in completing objectives and earning money. There are three multiplayer modes: Warzone, Bounties and Extraction. I would pop in to see what's going on now, but I've since given my copy away.
How long I played it: I spent about eight hours playing it on Xbox 360 with a friend, both locally and online. I didn't notice a significant lag in online play.
The future of the franchise: Last October, it was announced that an "Army of Two" movie is in the works. And it's expected that next week EA will be revealing "Army of Two: The Sequel." (Great name.)
Worth tracking down? Sure. A year later, the game can't be very expensive, and even though it's by no means wildly innovative (particularly the story), I did enjoy playing it. But make sure you have a friend who's along for the ride.
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