Written by: PlayDevil.com Staff

 

 

 

Let’s get this straight from the start. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first game. Released at the start of the recession, the original Ao2 perhaps was the game that showed off the worst of the excesses of the decade.

 

Full of fist-clenching, chest-bumping moments, gold weapons, and a mechanic that involved gaining cash for every ‘terrorist’ you killed, Army of Two was an unashamedly brash, bromantic game, that failed on several levels. If you played in single player- then your team-mate wasn’t great, and the actual shooting itself just felt a bit off.

 

The co-op focus and interesting multiplayer modes were admirable, but ultimately, it wasn’t the shining light that I’d hoped for.

 

Two years later, and now we’re treated to a sequel, "Army Of Two: The 40th Day". The developers, EA Montreal, have promised that many of the more irritable elements of the first game will be toned down, and other aspects sorted out, along with the compulsory raft of new features that you come to expect. So, with a demo now out for all to play, what do we here at PlayDevil make of the new title?

 

The first thing you see is the fact that the graphics are noticeably better. Shanghai, the level you play in the demo, looks pretty lovely, whilst your own characters look pretty awesome as well. On top of that, the game runs beautifully, despite a myriad of explosions and special effects happening all the time. However, most importantly, has the gameplay seen the same amount of love?

 

To be honest, I was surprised by the amount of gameplay innovations and improvements. To start with, the protagonists, Rios & Salem, are far more restrained than before, this time exuding a quieter sense of their machismo, which was appreciated, and their armour is certainly a little more subtle. The GPS system is great, giving you a helping hand with where to go, marking out important targets, and telling you other important information.

 

The best feature is the identification of senior officers- you can now often diffuse a situation by sneaking up, capturing the leader, and holding him hostage whilst you round up the minions.

 

The co-op moves are back, and work really well- but this time they feel less forced. There’s less of a requirement to always be in some kind of crazy co-op move, whilst at the same time, team-work is still critical to complete your missions. It’s now more about building up rage so your partner can flank, rather than going into some crazy spinning move.

 

There’s also some moral choices, which affect how much cash you earn, which is an interesting move, and the plot also seems like it could be more interesting, although EA didn’t give too much away in the demo.

 

Unfortunately, it’s not all great news. For me, the actual shooting mechanics were still poor. Aiming is fiddly- there’s no auto-aiming, quick aim, or limited tracking when a target begins to move- all features which Modern Warfare players in particular will be gnashing their teeth about. But even compared to other 3rd person shooters, such as Gears of War 2, everything feels really clunky, slow and inaccurate. You still get to upgrade guns, but to start out so weak does not make you feel like a super-soldier at all.

 

Whilst this sequel has some cool new features, and improves on some previous problems, the one area where the game was weakest feels even more broken that before in the context of the new game. And ultimately, when a game is described as a shooter, if the actual shooting is not up to much- it’s always going to be hard to recommend, no matter how good the plot or secondary features are.

 

Hopefully EA can work on this, but at a point so close to the release date, it seems doubtful. Fingers crossed!

 

Army Of Two: The 40th Day is published by Electronic Arts and is heading for release 15 January 2010.