Army of Two
For many of us, some of our fondest memories of playing video games come from the times we spent playing co-operative games with our friends. I remember when I was younger, I’d head over to my friend’s house, and we’d immerse ourselves for hours playing some of our favourite games of the time. With the arrival of newer, more powerful systems, it’s been a trend for several years now for game developers to focus more on single player games, placing greater emphasis of the cinematic aspects of gaming. That’s why it’s so refreshing when a game like Army of Two is released.
Set in a war-torn, modern-day setting, Army of Two follows the exploits of Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios, two ex-military personnel who are now mercenaries working for Security and Strategy Corporation (SSC), a private military corporation (PMC) that specializes in sending mercenaries into battle where the regular army just doesn’t seem to fit the bill. It’s quickly made clear that there are issues with the way the army is being operated, which is why certain lobbyists would like to see the current-day military be disposed of and replaced completely with organisations like SSC. Everything seems to be going well for Salem and Rios, who happen to be in the thick of things and making a hefty profit, but Rios can’t help but wonder if there are other reasons for their recent level of success.
Army of Two is third-person action-adventure game which makes use of fairly straightforward game mechanics. The graphics and audio are standard show, and generally what one would expect from a now current-generation console; what truly separates Army of Two from its competitors however is its focus on co-operative game play. One of the key elements of the game is called the aggro system, which is similar in concept to what one commonly finds in MMORPGs. The idea behind the aggro system is that when one of the players is attacking an enemy, he grabs his aggro, or rather, his attention. This causes the other player to be ignored in most part, and lets him run around performing other actions, such as using devices or performing stealth kills. The level of aggro accumulated by a certain player varies in intensity and is determined by several factors, including the type of weapon being used and field position being held by himself and his surrounding enemies. This introduces to the game an interesting dynamic which quickly turns into a give-and-take relationship between the two players. There are also other interesting elements to be found throughout the game which include the shared use of a shield, synchronised sniping, and back-to-back firing. Another important element is the ability to drag your partner to safety when he has been wounded. Once pulled away from the dangers of gunfire, the wounded ally can be properly healed.
There is also a nice array of weapons that can be purchased and unlocked. These weapons all fall in to one of three categories: primary, secondary and special. Each player can carry one of each of these types. During various times throughout the missions you are given the opportunity to access a weapon store, where you can spend the money you’ve accumulated. Each purchased weapon can then be upgraded to a varying degree and “pimped” in order to add extra flair.
Unfortunately, if Army of Two is generally recognised as being a co-operative game, it’s also because it severely lacks polish in the single player mode. During a single player campaign, you are given the responsibility of assigning commands to your AI partner. These commands generally vary between being aggressive, defensive, moving forward and staying back. This works well enough at first since you can do without relying on your partner too much, but as you take on further levels or chose to play on a harder difficulty, the fact that you can’t give specific orders to your partner significantly hinders your progress; in fact, facing off against tougher opponents and bosses, not only becomes difficult, but is down-right frustrating.
The game also comes with a multiplayer online mode which features two-versus-two style matches. In these matches, you have several primary and secondary objectives to complete, each of which rewards you with a varying amount of money depending on the difficulty of the job. During the duration of the match you are constantly racing against your opponent to see who can complete these objectives first. At the end of the match, the team with the most cash wins the match. There are also computer generated enemies which populate the playing field. These enemies are completely neutral, which means they will openly attack either of the parties. It’s because of this that the aggro system once again comes into play; however, it’s certainly not as effective when facing against a human player. The weapon store is also accessible during these matches by approaching these large green weapon caches. It can play an important role in determining whether one wins or loses because the money you spend on bigger and better weapons is taken directly form the money you gather in order to win the match.
Army of Two is one of those games that will be remembered for one thing; in this case, its co-operative game-play. Admittedly, the game is far from being perfect, but it manages to introduce enough new and interesting game-play elements that it can perhaps one day claim to have help revitalised the co-operative game market. In the meanwhile, I’m perfectly happy with being able to play a game that takes me back to a time when my greatest concern was whether or not I got to be player one.
