Rainbird

User Score
6.9

Presentation - 6.5
Gameplay - 7.0
Value - 6.0

Let me get this out of the way: The story in Army of Two is bad, like really bad. It has very few original ideas, and is filled with clichees and bland characters. Therefor I wont talk more about it, because all you really need to know is basically that it sucks badly.

Once you are in the game, you have the option of playing as either Salem or Rios, who are partners and at the same time both manly men with guns on mercenary missions. They don't really play any different, in fact, both of them play as your standard TPS shooter character.

Having said that, the game still has some interesting ideas for coop. Back to back shooting, one man carrying a shield while the other shoots from the cover it provides and other things as well. Most of these ideas work decently, but they are spread throughout the game in a very linear manner, meaning if you have the option of picking up something for use as a shield, chances are you wont survive without it.

That's not always the case though, just often.

The greatest emphasis on coop though, is probably seen through the aggroing. When one player is shooting or doing other stuff to attract attention, then the enemies will focus on him, and loose focus on your partner. This allows for the one who is now the unnoticed one, to create some stealth maneuvers, like sneaking behind the enemy and shooting them from behind. Although the idea is good, it feels unpolished like a lot of the other moves implemented in the game.

A big problem in Army of Two is the difficulty curve, which is hardly existant. The last mission is not much more challenging than the first mission, which only adds to the lack of replay value the title already holds. If you want to play the game again, it probably has something to do with upgrading your weapons, or because you lacked a better option for playing coop with a friend. I can't speak for when playing online (both competetive and coop), since I never bothered with that. But from what I know, the servers were region locked, and finding players was always a difficult task.

There is one thing Army of Two does really well though, which becomes even more impressive when considering how few games get it right. It actually has good SixAxis controls. If you shake the controller, you character will reload, and there are brief sections when you fly a parachute, which can also be controlled with SixAxis. Both of these options are either just as good or better than their ordinary counterparts. Seeing how well Army of Two does it, makes you wonder how so many other games can screw it up.

When completing missions, you gain cash. This can be used to upgrade your armor (very simple upgrade system) or your weapons (much deeper upgrade system). There is only really one thing special about this, which is that you can upgrade the looks of your weapons. While this increases your aggroing in theory, it's hard to tell a difference in the game, and most of these upgrades are downright ugly (these are mostly bling upgrades, so imagine an AK-47 made of gold and covered in diamonds and you get the idea).

With the ability to upgrade your armor, comes the ability to buy masks with new looks. These masks are probably the most recognisable part of the game, and most will probably find them to be either awesome or stupid.

The graphics for the game was never a selling point, but looking back at it now when the sequel is underway only makes it look worse. The style of the game isn't particularly "inspired" so to say, but the game doesn't look downright bad, just not mediocre.

This problem could have been settled with some interesting setpieces, but they are rare in this game, and while the idea of a flooded city is cool, it isn't that well executed in this game, there certainly was potential for more in this setting.

And finally, while the voice actors are decent, the musical score is pretty bland and unmemorable. There was a lot of potential in this game that got flushed out by a lack of polish, which is a great shame, but the sequel (subtitled "The 40th Day") looks to correct many of my complaints, so there is still hope for the Army of Two games to become synonimous with awesome coop fun, but it's not even close to the top yet.