Army of Two, my first impression....

[warcrow]

ARMY OF TWO

Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release date: March 4, 2008
Genre: Third Person Shooter
Tech: Engine Unreal Engine 3
Mode: Single player or Two-player co-op
ESRB: Mature (17+)

Note: My total game time is about 2-3 hours with this game, so keep in mind that this is an initial impression post. My opinions on things could change as I put more time in to it.

This was a game that I was not very excited about. In fact I almost didn?t really know what to expect when I popped in my X360 copy of the game. I just knew that it was built, from the ground up, to be a co-op game in both the SP and MP areas.


Graphics and presentation
The game looks great and runs at a very solid framerate with no noticeable tearing or stuttering. The PS3 version is equally impressive. Only peeps with a magnifying glass with notice any visual fidelity differences. I must say, I'm starting to get a little Unreal-Engine-3-fatigue though.


Plot
It's surprisingly interesting. You're not a special forces grunt, rogue scientist, or an average Joe marine--you're a contractor. You play as either Salem or Rios (you pick as the game begins) and you have been hired by the gov. to complete some missions for them (there is more story there, just done really remember it all). Yes, it sounds fairly basic, and it is (so far?), but I really enjoy how the story is playing out so far.

For instance, in an early mission I was parachuting into an Al Qaeda base (they acquired some left over missiles from the Russians, Cold War era stuff) and as we were dropping down I had the opportunity to snipe some baddies. I zoomed to scope and picked off two guys. Suddenly it was brought to my attention that I should take out the chopper below us that was about to take off. I zoomed in on it and fired a few shots off hitting it's body. My partner, Salem, swats my helmet and yells at me, "Go for the tail, man!". I fired off a well placed shot that ripped through the ruter forcing it to crash in to the side of a mountain. The intelligence guy in my ear responds, "Excellent work! We'll be sure to wire your bonus of $8k to your account ASAP". It was an optional objective that fed me some extra cash.

Why was this cool? Well, to me it was interesting because it wasn?t just a primary or optional objective to complete, but it was worth some additional merit. The reward of cold hard cash for all your objectives (primary and optional), just creates a little more incentive beyond the games goal checklist and achievements. Not groundbreaking for sure, but at least there is a bit of a spin there and it's a nice little change from just a straight up military shooter.



Gameplay
Since the game is built around co-op play, there are both interesting and lame gameplay mechanics that have been implemented here. The are:

• 
  - Buddy-cam: A nice feature that shows you what your teammate is doing via 3rd-person chase cam. A small window in the upper right-hand corner of the UI (can toggle off/on).
  
  - GSP: By hitting the "select" button you can pull up the GPS. What this does, visually, is change the game (from 3rd) to a 1st person perspective wireframe mode that overlays the terrain. Literally arrows and lines on the ground clearly mark out where you should go along with objectives off in the distance incase you get lost or don?t know what to do. Mission objectives are listed here as well a long with their monetary value. It's a simple, easy to use interface and if you're not into that, you simply don?t have to use it.
  
  - Step Jump: This is where you help you teammate (or he assist you) up a wall. A button press and a push upward on the left stick.
  
  - Back to Back: This is a move (not initiated manually I don?t think) that borrows the matrix-slowmo-gameplay, making you standing back-to-back as you blow everyone away. It's fun and usually only last 10 seconds or so, depending no how good of a shot you are.
  
  - Kudos system: Strictly an expression system for MP (still available in SP though) with no benefits other than communication. Both guys express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with one another. My favorites so far? When excited, the boys will play air guitars with their guns to one another making the crazy guitar sounds themselves. Or when pissed off, a punch to the family jewels is always entertaining.
  
  - Healing: If one of you goes down, the other can run over and drag him to cover. While the dragging takes place, the wounded can still keep gunning, providing cover and keeping him busy. The one healing simply holds a button down to perform the action which takes roughly 4-5 seconds to complete.
  
  - Aggro Meter: There is an aggro meter smack-dab in the middle of the (top) of the screen (not excessive). This meter will sway to the left or right, letting you know who has the most Aggro and is getting the baddies attention. When one of the boys has aggro, he will begin to glow red (more of a crackling layer of energy, not a soft glowing), similar to quad damage in Quake (minus the damage increase). The other player will eventually become transparent, both visually to the player and to the bad guys. I really like this feature. It's a great visual indicator as to what's going on and you do not need to look anywhere else--it's instantly conveyed to you.
  
  - Feign Death: Yes, much like the hunter class in WoW, you can feign death to drop your agro meter to zero dropping on the ground to play possum. This is pretty helpful in some situations, but doesn?t seem to be 100% effective in my experience.
  
  - Co-op Snipe: Ok so, this is such a video game mechanic. I know that's sounds a little weird to hear, but it's just something you would only do in a video game (somehow that sentence makes sense to me). When you select this option, the UI goes to a split screen mode allowing you to both shoot an object at the same time. The one instance I used this (forced to by the game) was when we needed to hit a gas tank (surprise surprise!) to take out several snipers standing next to it. I'm sure it's much more fun in MP.
  
  - Weapons: There appears to be a decent cache to choose from that are all highly customizable and upgradeable.
  
  - Weapon Swap: Players can swap guns with one another since you both can carry different weapon types at any time (determined pre-mission launch).
  

AI
So far, my experience with the AI controlling my partner in the SP campaign has really been all over the scale. Mostly the AI responded to exactly what I told it to do. Commands are issued through the D-pad (similar to R6:Vegas--but not as refined). Here are some of the wacky moments after only 2-3 hours of game time:

• 
  - At one point early on in the game I needed to perform a Step Jump to progress in the level. Noticing that Salem was not around to help me out, I called for him to regroup with me. Nothing except for a "Jeez man, I'm on my way--hold on!" I called again--nothing. I checked his chase-cam and he appears to be crouched down, walking, but not moving. I ran back to him (it's easy to find your buddy since they have a blue arrow over their head, especially in GSP mode), only to discover he was caught up in a fruit cart. No matter what I did (recalling from different locations, grenades, etc) he would not become unstuck. I ended up restarting from the last checking which wasnt far back at all, but it was still an annoyance. Comical, but an annoyance.
  
  - There was a situation where I had Salem hunkered down behind a rock pulling aggro. As soon as I became "invisible" to the baddies, I ran to the left around a huge rock to flank the bad guys. As I was running and gunning up the left side (think of this area as horseshoe shaped) a grenade went off right under me dropping me like a rock. I (automatically) called for assistance to Salem. Like a good, faithful friend Salem calls back that he's on his way. But, the genius decides that he's not going to go the safe route (the one I took), but that he's going to head straight up into enemy fire taking hit after hit! He finally makes it to me and proceeds to drag me to safety behind a rock..THAT'S LOCATED IN THE ENEMY BOROUGH! On top of that, he makes it to a rock but takes us to the wrong side setting us up right in front of a turret! I was yelling and laughing so hard I couldn?t even fend off the enemies that were swarming us. It was a hilariously bad situation.
  
  - Believe it or not, the third wacky instance was a repeat of the above. I flanked up the left and was hit by another grenade (turned out it was a proximity mine not a grenade--doh!) and Salem ran through the enemy borough yet AGAIN! I couldn?t believe it. But, this time he dragged me in the right direction, away from the enemy and behind a rock to heal me. Hey, at least hey revived me, right?
  
  - The last wacky instance, was in the same area but this time I had set a timed explosive on a missile to disable it. As I ran away at the 10 second timer began ticking down. Salem was behind me and what does he do? The dip-shit runs towards me to catch up, but loops around a boulder the wrong way (nearing the explosive instead of going father away from it) nearing him to the explosive. It went off, of course, right when he did this. I didn?t kill him, but it was awesome to see him fly into the rock wall.

Despite the AI wackiness (not sure how much that will continue since it's completely anecdotal), I'm really enjoying the game. It's a really solid shooter, with a solid framerate which I really appreciate. I don?t know how long the SP campaign will last or if it will be able to remain interesting. I certainly hope so.

Also, I'm looking forward to checking out the MP aspect of this game. If anyone is interested in playing, feel free to shoot me a PM as I'd like to check it out with someone who isnt a random jackass on XBL.

 

[warcrow]

Played a few hours more yesterday and the game is definitely fun...when the AI co-operates. When he's listening to your orders, pulling aggro, allowing you to flank--it's really pretty fun. But it's the time he does quite do what he's suppose to do that it's frustrating. :/

 

[pontifex]

sounds awesome. is this coming to pc?

 

[Beev]

I was really looking forward to playing this coop with a friend of mine about a year ago, then it sort of fell off my radar. All I care about is the coop, nothing else. When you're done with the game will you update this thread with how long it is/how the story is/how the overall coop is? As in, is coop just rinse repeat, do you use the same team tactics over and over? That's one thing that turned me off of Gears of War for example. You just go into a room, kill the waves of guys/bomb the holes/repeat. Bored me to tears.

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: Beev
That's one thing that turned me off of Gears of War for example. You just go into a room, kill the waves of guys/bomb the holes/repeat. Bored me to tears.

A guy sitting on his couch, headset on, holding a controller, bored, weeping - it's a humorous mental image.

 

[Josh123]

My cousin and I played the game last night and it was pretty good. I had a little higher expectations but oh well. The graphics weren't as good as I was hoping for and I don't care for the movement that much. It would of been better if they would of made a button specifically for melee attack and the cover system should of been like Gears of War IMO.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

This game sounds like just the ticket for a good co-op shooter, which we are always on the look out for. Thanks for the first impressions :beer:

 

[warcrow]

Beat the SP campaign yesterday.

The game ended up being alright overall I guess. I was starting to get a little bored with the game right about the time it bagan to wrap up, so I guess it ran it's course well. I think most people are going to be, overall, disappointed with the SP part (still have not played any MP) as it's not very meaty.

Really, the star of the SP game for me is the (pretty well) crafted pseudo-coop nature of the game. I really enjoyed telling by AI buddy to lay down a supressing fire, watching the aggro meter pull his way, as I began to figure out a flank strategy. I sorta feel like they could have played that up even more than they did, or at least planned out level design more appropriately to help cultivate that behavior. What they supplied there was fine, but not amazing.

What I would like to see in AoT 2:

- More weapons to choose from with more upgrades. How about some prototypes?
- Better voice acting and dialog. Cut the campy, cheesy one-liners.
- Drop the crap hovercraft mission(s) and turret mounts. It just feels like filler.
- Option to switch to first person from third.
- More interesting plot.

 

[R Nilla]

I like how the demo FORCES you to play with another person. No single player allowed.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Just finished a couple of play throughs of the demo, I'll be picking this up. The heavy co-op reliance is exactly the kind of game I'm after.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Well, I thought this was the best co-op game I've played in a good while. My friend and I played through a good 5 times the last 3 on pro. Achievement whoring makes this title very worthwhile. Working on getting your SMG, assault rifle, handgun, sniper, shotgun, riot shield mêlée, field medic, ect. makes the next play through a different experience because of your weapons load out. The difference in accuracy, power, ammo, of weapons, and the varying upgrade options adds a nice layer to the strategy e.g. Pimp a gun for crazy aggro, and have your mate use a suppressor to lower theirs' even further. The aggro mêlées were good for a laugh or two as well.

 

[biggestmuff]

Yeah, I liked it too. I've played through it on normal and halfway through again on Pro, but I lent it to a co-worker. I still haven't played it online co-op with another player.

A little too much gay action in the game, though. "Back to back!" Huh? Reminds me of Requiem for a Dream. What about the tandem jumping? Teh ghey, huh?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Yeah, I liked it too. I've played through it on normal and halfway through again on Pro, but I lent it to a co-worker. I still haven't played it online co-op with another player.

A little too much gay action in the game, though. "Back to back!" Huh? Reminds me of Requiem for a Dream. What about the tandem jumping? Teh ghey, huh?

I never pay attention to stuff like that, but it is funny when others point it out.

I dug this thread up for a reason though, to mention there are two co-op missions and a final boss battle as DLC. They have been out a while, but I hadn't seen them mentioned. Kiev and alternate Miami ending. You have to kill Dalton in the final big boss battle, probably since the cut scene for that was very unsatisfying. Pretty standard boss battle stuff, which is to say, not a fun fight, but since the download is free, hard to complain about added content.

 

[tvdang7]

i played this game. t=The frame rates some time chug and you REALLY need a good gun because sometimes you wont hit the enemy when hes moving but overall SP and MP is REALLY fun. Need more people to play on xbox live some times it takes a while for me to find a game. This is a good dorm room buddy game 2 v 2, helps promote good team work.

 

[lupi]

Just saw this in target for $27 for the PS3, worth picking up?

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: lupi
Just saw this in target for $27 for the PS3, worth picking up?

Here

Its a solid co-op game to play with a buddy. By yourself....I dunno

 

[AstroManLuca]

Once it drops to <$20, VIAN will go out and review it.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Once it drops to <$20, VIAN will go out and review it.

im not even going to lie, i thought this was a new post by VIAN until I saw warcrow's name as the creator.

 

[drbrock]

me and a buddy are thinking about getting this for a cheap great online co op game. would you guys recommend this or would you with another game?

 

[AstroManLuca]

It might be fun if you like FPSs. Of course, there's online co-op in Halo 3 as well, but you've probably already played that. I've also heard Too Human is pretty good as a co-op hack-n-slash, if that's more your style.

However, if all you really care about is cheap and with co-op, I'd look at getting Schizoid from XBLA. Very fun, extremely teamwork-oriented.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: drbrock
me and a buddy are thinking about getting this for a cheap great online co op game. would you guys recommend this or would you with another game?

I consider it a top notch co-op game. You can't do many things without your partner, so that lone wolf, run around and do your own thing, can backfire fast. E.G. If you drop down into a fight, and your buddy gets tagged while still up top, you are hosed.

Most the weapons are fun, and overkill and agro have some cool melee moves. You have to decide what weapons load out each will have too i.e. who will carry the anti-aircraft to complete a extra bonus mission, stuff like that. Deciding what weapon to upgrade when money is tight is interesting as well. Adds tactical choices to the mix, but once you are well financed that aspects goes away.

Typical cheesey dialog, story line, etc. but graphics are good, and the game play is fun.