Army of Four built using Battlefield 3 engine - report

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 1 December, 2011

Has four-player co-op.

EA is making an Army of Two sequel called Army of Four, according to a new report.

The game features four-player co-op and is developed using DICE's Battlefield 3 engine, Frostbite 2, Kotaku claims.

It is in development at EA Montreal, Kotaku said. We assume it means Visceral Montreal, the studio EA Montreal became following a recent reorganisation.

The developers are, according to Kotaku, struggling, and some DICE staffers will be drafted in to help.

Army of Four is in fact the third game in the co-op shooter series, and news of its existence comes as little surprise. In April EA called for a senior producer and lead environment artist "for the Army of Two franchise" to join the Visceral Games team in Montreal.

Army of Two launched in 2008 to a 7/10 Eurogamer review. Army of Two: The 40th Day followed in 2010, and also received a 7/10.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 6 months ago

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  • FireMonkey #1 6 months ago

    Interesting. Quite liked the co-op on the others.

  • BigDannyH #2 6 months ago

    Despite the "bro" characters and the ridiculous views on mercanaries in war, split-screen co-op was quite fun in the first game.

    Rented the second game and it was clearly such a rush job (with some horrendous PS1 style graphics) I just returned it straight away.

    4 player co-op sounds fun but I'll be reading plenty of reviews before investing.

  • MattEdWithCheese #3 6 months ago

    So Army of Two and Army of Tutu had the hand-shakey fist-pumpy-bromance stuff, what's in this next one? Group hugs? Buttsecks? I'd buy that!!

    @FireMonkey The 4 player competitive was my favourite part of the original!
    Edited by MattEdWithCheese at 01/12/11 @ 09:57

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #4 6 months ago

    Four mercs? That's a lot of high fives!
    And how do you do back-to-back with four?

    Looking forward to hearing more about this, I enjoyed both of the previous Army of Two games.

  • King_Edward #5 6 months ago

    Meh.

  • sonicyoda #6 6 months ago

    Ha, for the next game we'll have 6 player co-op! Then 8! Then 10! The possibilities are endless!

  • Spunkweazle #7 6 months ago

    Army of Loads

    Will it now take four people to open every door?
    Edited by Spunkweazle at 01/12/11 @ 12:57

  • Doctor_What #8 6 months ago

    I actually really love these games, but I've never played them in singleplayer. If you've got a friend in the room (preferably) or online they're a great blast. Big, dumb, and satisfying. The bad guys are pantomime villains, the events are ludicrous, but there's something just right in the player feedback loop that makes it enjoyable to mow down the hundredth identical terrorist.

    I'm less fussed about this becoming four-player. It's hard enough to organise a time to play with one mate online - getting four people to a) buy a cheesy cover-based-shooter and b) turn up online at the same time, sounds nearly impossible. Hmm.

    I'm an unashamed fan of this series, so it'll be interesting to see how EA pitches this one to convince people like me that it's still as much fun for two as it has been in the past.

    EDIT: 'multiplayer' > 'singleplayer'
    Edited by Doctor_What at 01/12/11 @ 11:11

  • knightmt #9 6 months ago

    I have to agree with BigDannyH I enjoyed the first in coop, but the second did not hold my attention not sure why.

  • LazyNinjaUk #10 6 months ago

    Enjoyed both, but the second was visually quite bland and the gameplay laborious. Would like to be able to customise my armour, they sound effects need to have a BF3 style weight to them, and destructible environments wouldn't go amiss.

  • PoundHound #11 6 months ago

    Great news! I also liked the first two games, and thought AoT1 was superior. AoT2 just didn't have the variety of settings. The Zoo level was the only one that really sticks in my mind as being different.

    I'm going to guess that you can have 4 players if you like, but it'll still work like the first 2 games when playing with just 2 people or on your own.

    As for the back to back moments, maybe you ssplit off into pairs or something.

    Anyway, I welcome more couch co-op stuff, so I'm quite looking forward to this.

  • iNsAn1tY #12 6 months ago

    Frostbite 2 will be powering a lot of upcoming top-tier EA releases, unless a dev team has good reason to keep their existing tech.

    Quite liked the second Army of Two - it was creaky, but pretty good for a two-player blast-through with my brother.

  • xuiton #13 6 months ago

    looks weird with the frostbite 2 engine. It also looks like they have made it more look like gears.

  • xandoodle #14 6 months ago

    Four player offline or online co-op?

    Some explanation would be great...

  • f0nZ #15 6 months ago

    Another game which will have hard time to sell.

  • patootik #16 6 months ago

    Keep doubling and in 10 years it'll be simply called "Army"

  • Triggerhappytel #17 6 months ago

    Army of Tutu x 2?

  • comben #18 6 months ago

    @xandoodle yeah, its exactly what anyone who is interested in the game would want to know. im guessing since its not mentioned and there are few 4 player split screen FPS's and that its running on a new engine that it will be the usual 2 player coop offline with 2 more for linkup/live etc. if so, boo.

  • glaeken #19 6 months ago

    I wonder if it will have destrucable environments given its using Frostbite. That could make quite an improvement to the game.

  • space_ace #20 6 months ago

    Army of Two Many

  • DSR3 #21 6 months ago

    Where's Army of Three?

  • nuanimal #22 6 months ago

    Fair enough. Plays alright if you can get it cheap.

    But would rather have another Mirro's Edge.

  • Djimm #23 6 months ago

    I loved the weapon customisation in 40th day - you could make some real hillbilly specials.

    Also, it's about time we had a game featuring Nolan North's voice cos we don't have enough of those :|

  • Cobalt_Jackal #24 6 months ago

    @MattEdWithCheese Mmmmmmm, OH YES xD. Seeing as I bat for the other team myself, I have to say in agreement that i'd be UP for it too. ;)
    Edited by Cobalt_Jackal at 01/12/11 @ 19:33

  • digitalash #25 6 months ago

    "Has four-player co-op"...

    Really? From a title like that I was expecting a single player hidden object game.

    Given that they're adding four players, it's The Law that there'll be a token woman (a raven-haired leather clad assassin whose name begins with V, no doubt) so maybe the Bro stuff will take a backseat.

  • CUTZ-SIX #26 6 months ago

    Army of two:2 was a pice of shit. Very boring.
    The first was just o.k.

    Not getting this one, unless some mayor changes somehow sway me.

  • WeaponXv1 #27 6 months ago

    It'll get to the point where it's just "Army".

  • mcreddie #28 6 months ago

    The guns never had any oomph in the first two IMO

  • FarbrorBaku #29 6 months ago

    Give it up ea, this series is just bland and utterly forgettable, there is no justification for a sequel.

  • Bluetooth #30 6 months ago

    FOUR? Twice the Bromance? Or shall we say... BR-ORGY!!! (that didn't quit work)