So it’s been a while since you took down General Raam in Gears of War and you just can’t wait for the sequel later this year to get your next helping of man-sized co-op gunplay? Have no fear for EA is here, with Army of Two, which they describe as the first shooter designed solely with co-op play in mind. You take on the role of either Salem or Rios, former army rangers who become part of a private military contractor before suffering a vicious betrayal at the hands of their former bosses and must fight back! Grrrr.
Falling somewhere between the classic ‘lone hero’ FPS and a squad based shooter, the formula is simple: a 3rd person shooter containing a handful of scenarios in which not only are two heads (not to mention guns) better than one, but they are quite simply necessary for your very survival. From simple situations like giving your partner a boost onto a high ledge only for them to pull you up after, to the more advanced simultaneous sniping, back to back shooting and operating vehicles; the potential for these situations could be limitless. In reality due to various cuts made to the game pre-release, of the handful of situations you will encounter most can be skipped or occasionally feel forced. In some cases relying on shocking verbal cues such as “Why don’t you two guys do a co-op snipe here?” Hmmm.
Having originally announced a 4th quarter release date for 2007, the game eventually saw the light of day only recently, and judging from the early marketplace video downloads available, with significant edits from what had originally been planned apparently down to negative previews. This discrepancy is also evident in the overall length of the game which will barely fill the basic 8 hour run-through you would expect from a retail purchase.
The aforementioned and relatively frequent set-pieces aside, the general gameplay incorporates a system known as Aggro to emphasise the teamwork (or lack thereof). When one player shoots at the enemy his aggro increases, and is indicated by a flashing red pendulum display on the screen. This action effectively makes his partner invisible to the enemy, leaving him free to change position, line up a tricky shot or whatever. Again, good in theory but in reality a completely unnecessary addition for most in-game situations you might come across. Since your ability to blind-fire when in cover can be almost as accurate as taking aim carefully with the left trigger, the need to make genuine use of the aggro system only crops up with the occasional bad guy who happens to have an invulnerable face, forcing you to work together and allow one of you to run around and fire on his delicate rear end to take him out.
Graphics are not as much of a let down, with detailed characters and environments all appearing well designed and nice lighting effects to boot. Similarly with the control system which, being reminiscent of any other shooter you've played recently, will be easily picked up and reasonably adaptable to any preferred style of play.
If you can stomach the inevitable lag when relying on EA servers that comes with any online play, the campaign should ideally be attempted with another human. Although the partner AI is effective and mostly able to work around you depending on your orders. So it is surprising that the only major problem with Ao2 is the enemy AI and how they behave within the basic level design. They will freely take and change cover as you approach, often limiting the use of powerful shorter range weapons and forcing you to make kamikaze runs of your own in order to replenish dwindling ammo supplies or pick up a much needed health pack. After a couple of levels, the number of occasions in which you find yourselves reliving yet another 'corridor' environment or long range pitched battle will become tiresome.
However what slightly misses the mark in the campaign due to having to stick to a pre-defined linear path is also what makes the multiplayer option quite interesting. It sees you and your partner face off against another pair in an attempt to complete different missions, with numerous computer controlled opponents thrown in for good measure. Given the forced nature of the co-op sequences and actions in the campaign, the ability to use them in more interesting ways is refreshing, as is the challenge when facing both human and computer controlled opponents in the same environment. Add to that the number of usable vehicles that were mysteriously absent from the campaign and all the ingredients are there.
While in theory a great concept for encouraging players to find new ways of working together, the execution of the game's trademark co-op actions does not fit well with the linear levels and only serves to annoy when facing enemy AI whose behaviour makes about as much sense as the plot, which doesn't know whether to take itself seriously or not. (It could easily be a Bruckheimer classic in the future) If you really need a gung-ho shooter to get you through the summer months and have something against FPS then look no further, but prepare for an army of disappointment.
