Game Review: Army of Two (Xbox 360)

Well it looks like miniviews had a great run. They're just...game reviews now. Sigh. (You know they're still miniviews in heart though)

Two heads are better then one they say. How about two bona fide badasses? Yes I did just take this idea from ninja. its a good one.

Ahem....

Army of Two 360
Publisher: EA Games
Developer: EA Montreal
Genre: TPS
Players: 1-2

Army of Two promised something very few game had been able to do up to the time, and that was to bring out a game that centered almost wholly around co-op gameplay between two people. (gears was the closest thing to the point, but not quite. Get it?...nevermind...)Most everything about the game centers around your ability to work together in the game. Drop whatever you thought you knew from reviews, and listen up.

This game follows two characters, Salem and Rios, two mercenaries from a privatized military service. They will be forced to work together to overcome a massive conspiracy that very well could change the fate of entire nations.
And thats about all there is to a storyline. Not much (obviously) but this game tends to center more around character development then the center plot. the two main characters in particular have their own traits and qualities, however, they both sure do love to curse and beat down on each other. This isn't bad at all, as it shows them to have more then just a friendship but a brotherhood kinda deal. I don't care what the other reviews said, the characters acted perfectly fine and didn't seem too stereotypical at all, at least, without one of the characters pointing it out to the other. The characters, though, never really get built upon. They stay static and aren't so dynamic (as in, going from silent to emo in half a second. Cough *Cloud* cough.) Other then that, story doesn't exist too much. A big conspiracy threat, but its fine for this kind of game. Connection issues are almost non-existent, and co-op is great and balanced.

The graphics for this game aren't good, but they aren't at all bad. The game has decent lighting effects and gunshot reflections, and the textures are hit-and-miss. I did notice framerate issues, but it may have been due to internet connection errors from me or my friends connection(damn you DSL). Animation is good. its not great though, but for co-op parts the characters sometimes look crunched up with they're animations(such as step jumping and the guys foot goes through my hand.) Character models themselves look great. The faces down to their feet look great quality. No Gears, but still great.

The sound effects are rather on the meh side. Gunshots, rockets, explosions, they all work fine but nothing is memorable. Music works. Adrenaline pumping parts could have benefited from more fitting music, though. There really isn't much to say here, except that voice-overs were exceptionally well done. The dialogue, maybe, maybe not. but the voices were hit.(Who doesn't love Clyde's classic "****-o!"?)

Gameplay. The gunplay works great, thanks in large to a Rainbow 6 Vegas quality cover system. With regenerating health, your gonna need to take cover rather often, and if the cover system were less then good, hard mode would be near impossible. Co-op parts are implemented with great skill and care. maybe not with total innovation in mine, but still well done. Back-to-back gun battles are thrilling and tense, as your teamate has to work with you to make sure you don't die(I'll get to aggro in a sec.) For some of the lesser items, shielding and gunswap works great too. (Don't forget to press A near your teamate to do a praise movement, and the Trigger to smack him upside the head!) Theres one thing that you know was just put in there because they were running out of ideas: Co-op snipe. Total waste. they knew it too because they never make you use it! Also, taking after gears of war, if your partner runs out of life, they go down. You have to make your way over to them before they die. However, once your down, your not totally defenseless. You can shoot to take out close enemies while your teamate heals you.
Onto aggro, one of the biggest things in the game.(Not to mention one of the most successful.) You and your teamate have an aggro meter.(Short for aggresive meter) If you shoot them, you gain aggro and the enemies tend to focus on you, giving you buddy the ability to sneak behind them. Bigger guns means more aggro, so choose carefully. Likewise, if your friend has all the aggro your basically invisible to the enemy. If you or your friend get enough aggro, you can trigger an "Overkill" which temporarily puts things in slow motion for you, but you do 2X damage. Also, your buddy runs at normal speeds against the slow enemies who won't even attack him because they're focusing on you. All in all, co-op is this game great specialty. They scored on this one. Don't have a buddy? Don't worry. Your teamate in storymode is actually smart.(Fancy that, eh?) He acts as close to a human as an A.I. would in the game. The enemies, however, are pretty stupid, at times. Other times they're brilliant, so I don't really understand the A.I. much...

Replay value comes in many forms. The first is (obviously) co-op, and if you've got a good friend, you'll want to run through it again on hard-mode. Multiplayer is so-so. Its no Halo or CoD4, and its rather boring after a while. Buying masks, guns, and upgrades will hold you for a while, especially if you like achievements (who doesn't?) All in all, its a good 8-12 hour campaign and then 5-6 more hours collecting things. Not too huge.

Lets get to it then! (Good Ay!)

Presentation: 3.5/5
The characters are memorable, if very static, and the storyline is meh. Still, no connection issues and great looking menus with little load time.

Graphics: 4/5
They work great, especially character models. A bit of classic FPS frame issues and bland texturing, but thats the only problems.

Sound: 3.5/5
Not much here, except voice acting, and even thats brought down by only decent dialogue.

Gameplay: 4.5/5
Co-op lovers your dream has arrived!...at least, until left4 dead comes out. Great gunplay, co-op segments and fine tuned back-to-back get annoying later when it starts getting a bit repetitive. But only JUST before the end.

Replay Value: 3.5/5
depends on how many friends you have, really. If you've got a few good ones, your in for a good time. Stay away from multiplayer (unless you like....)

Overall: 4/5

Fine tuned Co-op gun play mixed with good to decently tuned everything else. Don't forget though, it centers around the Co-op play!