Written by: Mark

 

 

 

Or to give it it’s official title "Army Of Two: The 40th day", is the sequel to the multi platform 2008 game Army Of Two released by EA Games.

 

It would be fair to say that the original game received mixed reviews thanks to a pretty weak plot and some inconsistent action sequences. Now almost two years after the original, EA Games have brought the franchise back with the promise of a stronger story, better action and more co-operative gameplay which was undoubtedly the stand out aspect of the original.

 

In this review we take a look at the Xbox 360 version and see if it proves that not rushing a sequel will make a better game.

 

In Army of two: The 40th day the same two heroes from the original game Rios and Salem have returned only this time have set up their own private military company. Whilst on a mission to Shanghai the city comes under attack from terrorists and it is left to our heroes to defend the city and it’s residents.

 

Unlike the first game all of the story takes place in one city rather than in various locations around the world and personally I view this as a very positive move as it gives the scope to add more focus on the surroundings and this certainly helps the story to flow better.

 

To assist with the flow of the story the customary cut scenes are in place and it is fair to say that they are pretty well put together with some good voice acting which helps to get to know the characters better.

 

A further new aspect is the ability to find radio logs scattered throughout the game and these help to add more depth to the story and help to fill in any missing pieces. Whilst this is certainly not a new feature and has been seen in numerous games it is a pretty good formula and gives more reason to exlplore each setting.

 

 

As eluded to earlier in the review it was the gameplay that proved hit and miss with the original game and to give the developers credit they have put a lot into ironing out the obvious faults of the original with several new inclusions.

 

Firstly the battles now seem to work better with the targeting system seeming to have been tightened up which leads to some far more satisfying and intense moments rather than frustration and this is crucial to how the game plays particularly when working co-operatively with a friend.

 

A further major improvement is in the cover system which again plays so much better and leads to a much more rewarding experience. There is still room for improvement in this however as you still enter cover when approaching objects. This does make battles slightly more easy than they really should be. Perhaps I am being a little over critical with this but having played the excellent Gears Of War series it surely cannot have been much to expect a similar use of the cover system seen in these games.

 

New inclusions now see the need to make more moral choice and again when working with a human player this ensures that decisions need to be agreed. These choices undoubtedly add a new dimension particularly when faced with a hostage situation which leads to decisions needed as to whether to go in all guns blazing or approach with a more cautious and tactical approach and have certainly been implemented very well and leads to these being one of the undoubted highlights of the game.

 

Also new is the option to find yourself in tricky situations where you can mock surrender to create an opportunity for your partner to attack. Whilst this is pretty cool the first few times it comes up just a little too frequently and leads to it becoming a little tiresome if truth be told.

 

As previously highlighted the level design is superbly well animated however are somewhat linear and this is not helped by the GPS system which shows the way to progress and certainly takes away the need for exploration and sometimes leads to the player missing the aforementioned radio logs.

 

 

The AI of the enemy does not do itself justice and I would certainly have hoped that in a game which leans heavily to co-operative play that they would offer better attack patterns to utilise the need for tactics. However what you get on many occasions is enemies which simply stand and wait to be shot rather than putting up an intelligent fight. Whilst this is disappointing it must be said that it certainly does not spoil what is a pretty good gameplay experience.