EA’s barmy army...
With the one-man army that is the Master Chief leading the way in shooter land right now, EA’s Montreal studio have decided not to take on Microsoft’s icon at his own game, but instead develop a blaster which brings something different to the genre. Wise move.
That in mind, Army of Two should not be considered along the lines of Halo, Call of Duty and Gears of War, but instead should be taken as an innovative co-operative blaster designed firmly around two-person play.
Pretty nifty
That’s not to say Army of Two can’t be played on your tod. With just the one pad connected, there’s still a pretty nifty AI system that takes control of the second playable character. But alas, as with most decent shooters, AI can only make up for human ingenuity (or if you’ve ever played a game with our Jonny, quite the opposite!) so much, so Army of Two should be far better played with a mate, be it online or side by side in the same room.
The titular Army of Two, a pair of ice hockey mask-wearing private military company contractors, are capable of some pretty astounding feats of teamwork that would make Gears’ Marcus Phenix and Dom Santiago green with muscle-bound envy. Pick up a car door, for instance, and you can use it as a sort of riot shield, with the other player walking behind and firing over the top.
Army of Two should be far better played with a mate, be it online or side by side in the same room.
And that’s just the tip of Army of Two's ballistic iceberg. Co-op sniping sees a window appear in the top corner of the screen, showing the location of your partner and allowing you to co-ordinate simultaneous strikes; there’s an option to give your partner a knees-up, allowing them to fire over taller scenery; and you can even drag your injured teammate across the ground while they provide covering fire.
When one of you does take too much damage to the Halo-esque recharging health system and go down, instead of simply dying, Army of Two boasts a novel QTE minigame whereby you end up stuffing the wound with a tampon. Yes, it may sound odd, but apparently its common practice in the real-life battlefield for treating bullet wounds and soaking up blood (Who knew, eh?). More than two deaths and its game over, however, so Army of Two’s health system should see the game be forgiving enough to enjoy, but by no means a cakewalk either.
There’s a tactical element too, and it’s called the Aggrometer. Part of Army of Two’s HUD, it’s a gauge which swings from left to right, indicating which of the two players is doing the most damage to enemy forces and thus, getting the most attention from them. With effective co-ordination, one player can bear the brunt of the enemy assault, allowing the other to heal, get to cover, or even flank the enemy and enact a surprise sneak attack.
Double damage
Max out Army of Two’s Aggrometer and you’ll activate Overkill, where you turn invincible for a short period of time and deal out double damage, with the other player completely ignored by enemies altogether. A second power mode, ‘Back to Back’, can also be activated, seeing your deadly duo facing away from each other and rotating back-to-back to spray oncoming foes with bullets.
Army of Two is going to be one to watch in the new year, though how well its novel two-player spin will work in reality is sure to come down to unforeseen elements such as pacing, level design and net code. It looks nearly as good as Gears of War, and if it plays anything like Epic’s gorefest did online then Army of Two might just meet the hype.
Preview by: Mark 'Mayhem' Scott
Preview Published: 03.01.08