Army of Two Review

By Oli Welsh Published 5 March, 2008

It takes two to tango, whiskey, alpha, tango.

Version tested: Xbox 360

A few campaigns into Army of Two, and mercenaries Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem are lugging their risible body armour, pimped hand-cannons and mismatched names towards their next encounter with a bunch of insurgents who look like a street gang, in an army base that looks like a skate park, in an Iraq that looks like the outskirts of Denver. Rios (bald, scarred, The Serious One) is being Basil Exposition, wondering aloud to Salem (tousled, tattooed, The Impetuous One) whether a mole might be betraying them to the enemy.

"Don't know don't care," barks Salem, and the mindless killing begins once more.

In case you hadn't guessed from the getup that makes its supposedly macho heroes look like camp, sado-masochistic, medieval ice hockey goalies, Army of Two doesn't take itself all that seriously. This co-op-focused, third-person shooter is no Tom Clancy's Advanced Military Anorak Fantasy. Why are we killing these men? What's the plot again? Which third-world country are we blowing up next? Don't know, don't care. In the middle of one firefight, Salem starts banging on about who the best rapper in the Wu-Tang Clan is. It's practically self-parody.

'Army of Two' Screenshot 1

Yes - that is a codpiece with 'Merc' written on it.

It's a good thing, too. The light tone helps you get past the drab locations, dodgy politics, dumb machismo, clumsy dialogue and production-line plot of this superficially standard action game, and focus on what it does well: tactical AI, weapon customisation and superb two-player co-op dynamics.

For all that it revels in shooter cliché, the fact that Army of Two was designed from first principles for two players makes it quite an unusual beast. The core of this is the "aggro" system that splices the cover-and-flank tactics of a squad shooter with the threat management mechanics of an MMORPG, and then telegraphs it to the player with all the subtlety of a sucker punch. When one of the pair of "private military contractors" is shooting at the enemy, he draws their fire and glows red. His partner fades to transparency and can move to a flanking position unmolested, the better to take out the enemies behind cover, in body armour, or at machinegun posts. Or to not die, if he's the one under fire already (a "feign death" move also allows you to instantly drop aggro when your health is low).

'Army of Two' Screenshot 2

Versus mode lets you play as any enemy character.

As if the visual cues weren't easy enough to understand, there's an aggro meter at the top of the screen, showing you where things stand. It might seem like overkill, but the absolute clarity of the aggro system is Army of Two's greatest strength. It makes it supernaturally easy to fall into the game's steady, swinging rhythm, and means that EA Montreal has been able to notch enemy behaviour a few levels above blind and brain-damaged without making the game frustrating to play. Your opponents frequently attack from two sides and use cover properly, blind-firing and falling back when threatened - but since they can always be outsmarted and outflanked by using the aggro system, you've always got options.

The game is best enjoyed by far with another player, and supports split-screen play as well as a robust drop-in drop-out mode over Xbox Live or PSN. But the AI that takes control of your partner when you play alone is surprisingly capable, too. It's not that it's outstandingly clever, believable or error-free - rather that the command system is elegant and effective, with directions on the d-pad allowing you to toggle between passive and aggressive versions of advance, regroup, and hold-position. Between this and the aggro system, it's simplicity itself to manipulate the AI to get you out of thorny situations.

Whether alone or with a friend, progress in Army of Two is consistently effortless, without being dumb. Outright deaths will be rare, thanks to the healing system that allows downed players to keep firing while their partner drags them back to cover for a heal. There's a clear GPS overlay to point you to the next objective if you get lost. And despite not requiring any button presses to stick or unstick you, cover works seamlessly and intuitively, giving firefights an easy flow.

These are the only things that really matter, even though it's unfortunate to find not everything in Army of Two works so perfectly. There's a whole plethora of other co-op mechanics built into the game, and the majority of them are mildly pointless and prosaic in their implementation. Boosting up to high ledges, simultaneous co-op sniping, pre-animated feats of twin strength, and the scripted moments of back-to-back, slow-motion massacre all feel rather forced and flow-breaking.

The swear-filled camaraderie commands - press X to play air guitar, pull trigger to butt shoulders - just make you cringe. The hovercraft sections are devoid of challenge (or any discernible handling model), although parachuting in with one player controlling the 'chute while the other snipes enemies has a dash of daredevil cool to it. Best of the bunch - and also the most overtly homoerotic touch in a game that's not exactly short of them - is the riot shield system, which allows one player to use a shield or car door as portable cover while the other cuddles up close behind and dispenses "lead" from his "iron".

'Army of Two' Screenshot 3

There's nothing like the love of one Mexican wrestler for another.

Virtually all of this comes into play in Army of Two's cunning and original Vs. mode. Wisely, EA Montreal has realised that without co-op and aggro, there's nothing to distinguish Army of Two from a very run-of-the-mill shooter, so it's enshrined these in the competitive multiplayer, too. Two teams of two are dumped in one of four large maps, crawling with AI enemies and a series of rolling targets. They compete for the cash rewards, vying to be the first to down a helicopter, kill an armoured enemy, or escort a wounded contact to an extraction point. The varied objectives, race-against-time feel, and the busy firefights on two fronts make this an original blast, but it must be said that the performance during our demo session on PSN was on the laggy side compared to standard co-op play.

Army of Two's guns feel dismayingly flat at first, but time reveals this apparent oversight to be a stealthily smart move. It encourages you to shop around and customise in the game's tantalising armoury (access is given midway through each mission), tuning your weapons for aggro, accuracy, ammo capacity, damage and ludicrous, gold-plated looks. Initially bland guns can develop a lot of character and tactical function over the course of the game, and you'll find yourself developing strong attachments to some of them, and swapping with your partner to try others. There are also some OTT super-weapons like a minigun and rocket launcher to unlock for a second play-through.

'Army of Two' Screenshot 4

Mummy, those boys are laughing at us!

But that second play-through is Army of Two's Achilles heel, its sticking point. The campaign is short, painfully anti-climactic, and (with the exception of a memorable attack on an aircraft carrier) it lacks any imaginative spark in its level design or set-pieces. It's just room after corridor after cave after factory after canyon after room full of cover points and shouting terrorists and rattling guns. There's not much in the game's presentation to draw you back either, with its graceless, gawky animations, blanket over-lighting, ugly art, wallpaper music and desolate lack of atmosphere.

The fine-tuned excellence of Army of Two's co-op gunplay will easily sustain you through one run through this gutsy, broadly enjoyable game. But the desire to revisit it is weak, and for a game that's designed with social online play in mind, that's a big problem. Any level of the current co-op king, Halo 3, has more spectacle and incident packed into it than the entirety of Army of Two; more that you'll want to relive in company over and over again. Bearing the strong Vs. mode in mind, it would be wrong not to warmly recommend this as a smart twist on a stupid shooter, but perhaps it should have taken itself a little more seriously after all.

7 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (100) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Carlo #1 4 years ago

    LOL

  • mkreku #2 4 years ago

    I want a codpiece with MERC on it :(

  • Paukl #3 4 years ago

    Insightful, Carlo.

    This game hasn't interested me from day one, I figure if you're going to do a milatary shooteer, it either needs to be serious a la Clancy, or a 100% piss take; a combination of the two leaves me cold.
    Edited by 1 at 05/03/08 @ 11:30

  • systems #4 4 years ago

    It's a rental then, or wait for the Classics range. Good, as I want Vegas 2 any way and that's only 3 weeks away.

  • thewolfiv #5 4 years ago

    7? wow i'm impressed i though it would suck, i guess the tampon thing will be for Ver 2...

    "one player to use a shield or car door as portable cover while the other cuddles up close behind and dispenses "lead" from his "iron". that made me laugh.

  • Quint2020 #6 4 years ago

    "In the middle of one firefight, Salem starts banging on about who the best rapper in the Wu-Tang Clan is."

    SOLD

  • deepmenace #7 4 years ago

    how long to complete? sounds like perfect rental material.

  • gman7714 #8 4 years ago

    Surely it can only be Method Man!!

    Though ODB's Shimmy rocks socks

  • SeesThroughAll #9 4 years ago

    "It takes two to tango, whiskey, alfa, tango."

    Brilliant!

  • figgis #10 4 years ago

    Tsk, GZA!

  • Madafunkola #11 4 years ago

    RIP ODB. NWA FTW!

  • DDevil #12 4 years ago

    I've been flip-flopping on whether or not to get this since I first heard of it. At the moment it's a no and the review is just re-enforcing that viewpoint.

  • Carlo #13 4 years ago

    paulk: Insightful, Carlo.

    You didn't find T.W.A.T funny?

  • Johnson #14 4 years ago

    It's another just above average EA game! Wow.

  • evilbert #15 4 years ago

    lol @ "There's nothing like the love of one Mexican wrestler for another" caption!

  • MBar #16 4 years ago

    paulk: Insightful, Carlo.

    You didn't find T.W.A.T funny?

    Perhaps if you'd replied: Lima Oscar Lima.

  • muscleblade #17 4 years ago

    Its about 4-5 hours on the normal difficulty.

  • the_dudefather #18 4 years ago

    "Its about 4-5 hours on the normal difficulty."

    lol wut? really?

    heard 10 from somewhere else, but I normally play on the harder difficulties anyway

  • Setaro #19 4 years ago

    So, more gay than Gears of War?

  • gaselite #20 4 years ago

    "In the middle of one firefight, Salem starts banging on about who the best rapper in the Wu-Tang Clan is."

    Genius

  • bdc #21 4 years ago

    Takes two to twat ?

  • HarryB #22 4 years ago

    its a bit repetitive, run n gun... crap cover system. bad framerate. but still fun usually. not AAA

  • Paukl #23 4 years ago

    @ Carlo

    Sorry, I thought that was just your version of F1RST LOLZOOOOROFLCOPTOR!!!1!!!

  • Meho #24 4 years ago

    Had a go on the first mission last night and.............. I guess the Brothers in Arms games have spoiled me a lot because Army of Two didn't manage to keep my interest... Sure, I only played the first mission but the map is severely linear (more Gears of War than BiA, definitely), the friendly AI could be a little better (my buddy died because he ran directly towards enemy even though he had plenty of cover to choose from. It is true that my command was 'advance' but I did expect him to do this within reason and use available cover) and the GPS system is not exactly to my liking. I mean, it's kinda sexy to have it overlayed across the whole screen, but doing so pauses the game. Meaning, I'd prefer having a minimap with waypoints than having to jump out of the game to look for clues where to go. Even with the game appearing to be very linear as I already said. Back to back is, as stated in the review, pretty pointless beyond that first time you see it in the tutorial. Riot shield is a... riot, I guess because it looks like a gimmick and I've yet to see if it has meaningful tactical value later in the game...

    But, none of this is a dealbreaker if you play in co-op I imagine. Since I have no friends, and no desire to play with strangers, I'll never know. On the other hand, it's the production values that might be this game's downfall, not the gameplay. It's not that it's HORRIBLE but after the gargantuan success of Call of Duty 4 I'm afraid that average military look just doesn't cut it any more for many casual players (presumably the ones supposed to get this one rather than UBI's Tom Clancy shooters). Also, sounds... Guns sound too much like peashooters which, again, is not something I'd normally complain about but this is a game that probably needs all the style it can get (and tries hard with those buddy moves mentioned) because I suspect that its tactical component is simply not a deciding selling point.

    Edit: Grammar
    Edited by 1 at 05/03/08 @ 12:47

  • muscleblade #25 4 years ago

    @the_dudefather

    Its not 10 hours by a mile 5 is absolutely max. And you have to complete it on normal to play it on proffesional.

    Personally i liked the length of the game and the multiplayer is very fun so completing it 2 times and playing multiplayer give the game a good 20+ hours.

  • MuppetThumper #26 4 years ago

    enough with the machismo bullshit. i hope this crashes and burns.

  • Darren #27 4 years ago

    The single player game doesn't sound too enthralling from the review and I'm not interested in playing it online so I won't be buying it. Just as well it didn't score 9 or 10/10 really as I might have missed out on a great game. The truth is I'm more than a bit bored of shooters at the moment, they offer little that's genuinely new or exciting that we haven't seen elsewhere (and often better) . I'm now getting to the point where I can't tell one from the other to be honest, they're so samey! :(

  • GordonCaladan #28 4 years ago

    Army of Two. NO HOMO.

  • ScarOnTheSky #29 4 years ago

    Phew - I'm glad the game is okay, wasn't expecting a stellar score anyway.

  • dadrester #30 4 years ago

    haha.. tango, whiskey, alpha, tango.

  • Moz #31 4 years ago

    Do they seriously think Halo 3 co-op is that good!!! The Halo 3 campign is average at best! Which make me think that either I should ignore the last comment or not bother with Army of Two if it is in fact worse then the Halo 3 campign

  • Stifler #32 4 years ago

    @ Moz

    Shhhh....you don't know what you are talking about, you have embarrassed yourself and your family.

    :)

  • syphaa #33 4 years ago

    Such a shame.
    Was holding out for this title.

    What a anti-climax to what looked like a real solid good fun MP game.
    Will still give it a blast I reckon...

  • Apologie #34 4 years ago

    I don't trust that much in Eurogamer review's (especially after that reference to a game, in my opinion, pretty average (Halo 3)... i think the game looks and play's awesome, a must buy for me... the co.op is well balanced and the whole presentation is top notch.
    Don't miss these game just because of a review... at least give it a try.
    Edited by 2 at 05/03/08 @ 13:50

  • Quint2020 #35 4 years ago

    Don't know what all you guys are on about 7 is a good score from EG, they seem to like being at least 1 under the average review score except for the really big releases.

  • ccfb #36 4 years ago

    "the most overtly homoerotic touch in a game that's not exactly short of them - is the riot shield system, which allows one player to use a shield or car door as portable cover while the other cuddles up close behind and dispenses "lead" from his "iron"."

    You are reading WAY too much into that.

  • koji_m #37 4 years ago

    ffcourse a Halo 3 reference had to be made...

  • gman7714 #38 4 years ago

    Game just dispatched my pre-order.

    Metacritic avg is 80 so far and according to most reviews the game (having been on my watch list for ages) seems to do what it says on the tin so I'm happy

  • mr_ruberfon #39 4 years ago

    "In the middle of one firefight, Salem starts banging on about who the best rapper in the Wu-Tang Clan is."

    introducing the ghostface killaaah!

  • WiseNail #40 4 years ago

    When are we going to get a few Lesbo-erotic games, that's what I want to know...

  • the_dudefather #41 4 years ago

    try Fear Effect II

  • T4RG4 #42 4 years ago

    "Do they seriously think Halo 3 co-op is that good!!! The Halo 3 campign is average at best!"

    Phew, agreed :) Brother and I found it SO bland, I dont know why people cant take their rose tinted glasses off when it comes to Halo3. Anyway, thought this game would be average at best, whilst 7 out of 10 isnt an average point, it certainly is an average game score. Although from the review and peoples comments here, it really sounds like a 6.

    Me avoiding.

  • monkie_king #43 4 years ago

    "the most overtly homoerotic touch in a game that's not exactly short of them - is the riot shield system, which allows one player to use a shield or car door as portable cover while the other cuddles up close behind and dispenses "lead" from his "iron"."

    queers of war?

  • asphaltcowboy #44 4 years ago

    Hey monkie_king, I've 2006 on the phone, they want their joke back! :p

  • DrDamn #45 4 years ago

    Pleased and unhappy it didn't quite cut the mustard. Pleased as I really do have too much to play in the shooter section of my games collection. I have a terrible lack of control when it comes to not buying good games regardless of how much I will play them. Unhappy as this was EA with some new IP - which we really need to encourage.

  • Les #46 4 years ago

    “The single player game doesn't sound too enthralling from the review and I'm not interested in playing it online so I won't be buying it. Just as well it didn't score 9 or 10/10 really as I might have missed out on a great game.”

    You mean you feel you have to get every 9/10 and 10/10 game so you don’t miss out on a great game?! I know countless of games with that score that I’d gladly would have missed out on (Oblivion being the most obvious example). Scores shouldn’t matter. Read the text. If it doesn’t sound appealing to you you’re better off not playing it, even if the score is very high.

  • Darren #47 4 years ago

    @Les - What I meant to say is that I'd have hated Army of Two to have been a truly great game because I've gone off shooters at the moment so I had no intention of buying it anyway, I want to play something different (it's why I've ordered a baseball game of all things!). I don't like missing out on must-have games and it's not that I don't like shooters, it's just that I feel like I've O/Ded on them! I'm saving my enthusiasm for the genre for Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2 later on this year, by then I'm hoping shooters will feel exciting again! :)

  • samaran #48 4 years ago

    if the answer isn't ghostface or raekwon i will not buy this game

  • Waldo #49 4 years ago

    I'm so sick of these American gung-ho games.

    I'm sorry you have to play it. :(

  • Les #50 4 years ago

    "What I meant to say is that I'd have hated Army of Two to have been a truly great game because I've gone off shooters at the moment so I had no intention of buying it anyway"

    You could always have waited a few months till it's platinum or discounted or whatever and see by then if you're into shooters again...

  • neilqpr #51 4 years ago

    GZA or no sale.

  • MuppetThumper #52 4 years ago

    I'm so sick of these American gung-ho games.

    Waldo: I'm sorry you have to play it. :(

    He might not have to play it but he does have to put up with it plastered all over the web and can feel dejected that hunk of shite jingoistic crap like this seems to be the pinnacle of the industry these days.

  • kangarootoo #53 4 years ago

    "He might not have to play it but he does have to put up with it plastered all over the web and can feel dejected that hunk of shite jingoistic crap like this seems to be the pinnacle of the industry these days"

    Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

    I mean come on. I agree with the negative points, but I think we are getting rather too sensitive if we start whining about the meer existence of games we don't like. "Plastered all over the web" is pure exageration and you know it.

    And for the occasions on which you do find youself confronted by some small snipper of AoT info, I've got the medicine. Its called "closing your eyes and moving along".
    Edited by 1 at 05/03/08 @ 16:53

  • dodgymanc #54 4 years ago

    haha tango, whiskey, alpha, tango. Genius.

  • Loser #55 4 years ago

    Spelling out a vaguely rude word in the phonetic alphabet is genius??

    You must be constantly amazed with the modern world!

  • Les #56 4 years ago

    "Spelling out a vaguely rude word in the phonetic alphabet is genius??"

    I agree, it would have been genius if the full sentence had made sense as well. Now it's merely funny.

  • Nillsens #57 4 years ago

    A seven is deserved, the storyline is disjointed, the action is broken up too often, the controls can be a little fiddly at times, it all feels a little uninspired and I can't help but feel they intended for the game to be longer a few months ago but just cut out a load of things.

    All those things aside, I am having fun playing it. Mowing down some arabs and then playing air-guitar on a big gun is just the kind of thing that tickles my fancy, and tilts the game towards an 8 for me.

    An the homophobic undertones of the review remind me of that scene in Grease where John Travolta and Jeff Conaway hug then act all tough. Seriously EG, lay off the "large burly men shooting things together = gay" theme, it's not really funny.

  • arsenal84 #58 4 years ago

    Not my type of game

  • arsenal84 #59 4 years ago

    Cool

  • arsenal84 #60 4 years ago

    Brilliant

  • CaptCastle #61 4 years ago

    Roll on Friday. Can't beat a bit of co-op shooty joy!

  • Feanor #62 4 years ago

    Seriously EG, lay off the "large burly men shooting things together = gay" theme, it's not really funny.

    It is funny, and it's also accurate.

  • Ryze #63 4 years ago

    Inspectah Deck & RZA as far as the lyrics go.

  • muzzer77 #64 4 years ago

    Halo 3 co-op is just average, stop ass kissing Halo 3 will you. I only got to about the 3rd level on co-op before boredom set in. Why oh why people keep building this game up i don't know. The people who benefited from Halo 3 the most are the owners of E-bay. Enough of the hype now, lets move on.

  • captainrentboy #65 4 years ago

    Played this in work today, two missions in and I'm loving it, suuure it's not looking like one of the all time greats but it's a whole lot of fun, has a really good and intuitive set of controls which feel nice and steady with the aiming/movement and it's spot on with collision detection.
    Don't be put off by the silly machoism as it's clearly taking the piss out of itself.
    I'd say if you were ''ummming and ahhhing'' about whether or not to get it then go for it!
    Any game that within the first 10 minutes has a guy poking another guy's eyeballs out with his thumbs and then goes into a setpiece where crazy suicide bombers are running at you and you have to shoot 'em before they blow, must be worth a look.

  • InfiniteEndings #66 4 years ago

    Ghostface
    GZA
    Raekwon (When paired with Ghostface).

    Dead Heat!!

    Honourary mention Inspecta Deck - For the mosts explosive opening verses of the Clan

  • Nillsens #67 4 years ago

    "It is funny, and it's also accurate."

    Well then you'll really have to explain that one to me.

  • SBfistfun #68 4 years ago

    Poo - Tang more like..

    /retires as I will never better that in any aspect of my life

  • Les #69 4 years ago

    "Halo 3 co-op is just average, stop ass kissing Halo 3 will you."

    I'm no Halo fan, but what games have better co-op than Halo? Couldn't name one (but then again, I don't play co-op games).

  • DFawkes #70 4 years ago

    This is a game built on co-op play, so obviously it has all the options open - split screen, Live/PSN, LAN play...

    Wait. No LAN play? So if you have 2 360s in your house (I don't, this is just an example), such as 2 brothers both owning them, they both have to be on Xbox Live Gold just to play, even if they're only in bedrooms next door to each other? That's an awful oversight.

    Still, irrelevant as I have no interest, but a co-op game without the option to system link seems like a strange thing to forget.

  • HarryB #71 4 years ago

    they keep booting system link off so people can't use tunneling services to avoid xbox live fees... but this game is getting a bit boring now on mission 5. too many enemies, they took too many hits... when enemies get near you aiming is terrible. but I keep playing....?

  • mr_steve100 #72 4 years ago

    He spelt TWAT out in his RSS feed/post! How rude!

  • mukki #73 4 years ago

    Mnn now this game doesnt sound as great as I expected to be... =/

    might still check it out

  • The-Bodybuilder #74 4 years ago

    Ghostface

  • Vin #75 4 years ago

    Worth a punt at 20 quid or less, I reckon.

  • kangarootoo #76 4 years ago

    Played this last night. Just single player so far.

    Thoughts.

    1. Agrro system works really well, especially because you can give you partner passive or aggressive variants of each order. It ends up being quite by the numbers, but feeling like you are in control is a good thing.

    2. Other co-op type stuff like climbing and co-op sniping (which with an AI controlled partner is doubly pointless) is hollow and feels like it during play. Back to back is tolerable, but to be honest its not really much fun to be forced out of cover in a game that is based around cover. Parachuting feels the same, tolerable but not really much fun.

    3. The exception is the portable shield, which is a lot of fun, and would be even more so in co-op mode (as a human player would probably choose sensible targets to shoot).

    4. The whole slapping on back or kicking in nuts stuff is utter bollox. I tried it once or twice, found it utterly without reason, and forgot all about it. I wouldn't feel grumpy about it, except that I know the manhours spent on all that tosh could have been put to better use elsewhere to polish up something of substance.

    5. The plot is thus far somewhere between shite and offensive, but I always knew it was going to be. It doesn't bother me, I just hum to myself during the cutscenes. No doubt people will rattle on in years to come about the plot being great, the way they do with MGS games (though let it be said, the plot in AoT is far worse).

    So it would seem that the co-op stuff you can use anywhere is good, and the stuff that relies on scripted set pieces is shite. No big surprise there really.

    Overall I think the review is about right. I am surprised, as I expected it to be worse after seeing recent movies. But I'm still playing it, which is a good sign. One final note, the control system and UI is pretty poor and below the bar set by EAs more recent work. Like I said, not played it co-op with another person yet, and I expect that to increase the fun somewhat.

  • Peew971 #77 4 years ago

    Maybe Halo 3 has 4 players co-op but the king of co-op is still Gears of War :)

  • spookyzombie #78 4 years ago

    I'd score it 6/10. The third person look and feel of it reminds me a lot of Frontlines and Fronlines is better than Army of Two.

  • DAN.E.B #79 4 years ago

    these Games have better co op than halo3

    GRAW1&2 (these two games have 16 player co op)
    Splinter cell conspirousy theory
    Gears of War

  • BooMMooB #80 4 years ago

    Peew971 - Gears is fooking boring in co-op, and in no way superior to halo3 in this department. Come to think of it Halo3 stomps Gears in every single department...

    hmm.. see what you made me do. :)

  • darleysam #81 4 years ago

    So I'm hearing stories coming up that even splitscreen co-op requires both players to be logged into a Live account (possibly Gold, not heard about Silver). Is this actually the case? And if so, how can something like that go unmentioned in the review? That's a pretty big point if it is true.

  • Nillsens #82 4 years ago

    @darleysam

    Only one gold account is needed for split-screen.

  • darleysam #83 4 years ago

    Yeah, I'm hearing some conflicting reports now. Some people saying they couldn't get it to work with anything less than two Gold accounts signed in, others saying they had no such need, got it to work with two non-Live accounts. Could just be some confusion in the reports, with people mistaking Live accounts and just profiles on the console, but it seems pretty strange.

  • kangarootoo #84 4 years ago

    Hang on a minute. Why should anyone need a gold account for split screen?

    Its local. Running on a single console. Nothing to do with networks of any kind. What if you don't have internet access; does split screen co-op then not work?

    That sounds bloody ridiculous, surely some confusion has slipped in here, can someone clarify?

  • BillyBrush #85 4 years ago

    Method man or no buy for me, who cares if lyrics are any good if they don't nursery rhyme

    plus there was one rap where he said he was standing with a dynamite stick with no pants on +1

    i cannot actually beleive games have got so lame the characters would discuss such tripe, shamefully i am still considering buying it after this, as long as there is no rap in it it could still be Ok

  • Les #86 4 years ago

    "That sounds bloody ridiculous, surely some confusion has slipped in here, can someone clarify?"

    As you own the game, it should be quite easy to find out, no? ;)

  • darleysam #87 4 years ago

    Kangaroo, yeah, it was a batch of misleading reports. I now understand that there's no System Link LAN play at all, the only way to play across two consoles is via Live, therefore needing two Gold accounts. Calling this 'no local play', some people were interpreting it as no splitscreen play without two Gold accounts. Mass stupidity ensued.

  • asphaltcowboy #88 4 years ago

    @darleysam

    Thanks for clearing that up!

  • kangarootoo #89 4 years ago

    @Les

    I have been playing the PS3 version.


    @JSPOOLE

    If you don't know what someone has done, or why they are shooting at you, how do you know if they are a terrorist? Or is it enough to know they are wearing a turban?

  • djed #90 4 years ago

    a 7/10...
    lolea

    also, almost every game is gung-ho, except farenheit, which was subtle.

  • kangarootoo #91 4 years ago

    "also, almost every game is gung-ho, except farenheit, which was subtle"

    What?!

  • djed #92 4 years ago

    What?!

    also, almost every game is gung-ho, except farenheit, which was subtle

  • asphaltcowboy #93 4 years ago

    Fahrenheit wasn't published or made by EA... wtf are you talking about?!

  • Les #94 4 years ago

    "I have been playing the PS3 version."

    But you have a 360 as well?! What made you get the inferior version? ;)

  • MiY4MOTO #95 4 years ago

    Bought it, played it for a while (single player) found it to be run of the mill & pretty boring to be honest.

    Yes it looks pretty, tho I found their use HDR lighting was overkill and got damn annoying pretty quickly. The dialogue was so-so, the plot was, hell... I forgot what the plot was. Stopped playing after a couple of hours because I was bored. Can't remember where in the world I was fighting, who I was fighting or why.

    The cover system was damn annoying, the hit detection suspect, and the co-op AI seemed to do some damn stupid things. For a game that's "borrowed" so much from Gears of War you think they would have least implemented a decent cover system!

    I'd rather they'd have spent the man hours they wasted on the pre-rendered cutscenes (with an in-game engine that looks as nice as it does were they really necessary?) or the cringe-worthy air guitar stuff, in fixing the obviously broken aspects of the single player campaign.

    But, since this is a multiplayer game plain and simple I guess they didn't really play-test the single player mode. Or at least thats how it feels to me. The whole experience is just rather bland.

    7 / 10 seems like a fair review, maybe a little too high for me, or maybe I'm just being too harsh because I've just finished Half-Life 2: Episode 2... again. (now that's how you do an action game.)

    Put it this way I turned Army of Two off to play Timeshift, which I picked up for £14, and found to be much better value for money!
    Edited by 1 at 09/03/08 @ 21:37

  • driptray #96 4 years ago


    Personally I prefer this cover system to Gears of War as it's much more subtle. The GoW one screamed "Gameplay Mechanic!" everytime you used it, whereas this one is simply intuitive and perfectly functional.

  • MuppetThumper #97 4 years ago

    Penny Arcade's friday comic sums this game up perfectly.

  • kangarootoo #98 4 years ago

    @Les

    I borrowed it.

    Seriously though, if the PS3 version is inferior, I'm not sure in which way. It ran just fine, I saw no frame drops or tearing (could just be my shite eyes of course), and unless you compare screens side by side I'm not sure anyone could tell the difference.

  • kangarootoo #99 4 years ago

    Is that aimed at me? And you keep checking back? I'm flattered.

    I ignored the comment because I wasn't really sure there was any point in having a discussion with you about war or the world stage. It was a sideways dig at you, knowing how you would react. A throwaway comment designed purely to annoy.

    You've made it quite clear numerous times in the past and now that you are a blinkered machistic Fox news loving war monger, who didn't get enough hugs as a child and now sees the world in binary terms, dividing everyone into either being a manly bomb-droppin' hero of "freeeedom" or a liberal terrorist loving pussy (people that use the word liberal as an insult make me laugh, every time).

    I am neither a nursery nurse, nor a psychologist, so I can't really help you either way.

    Brutal rebuff indeed, puleese.

  • Les #100 4 years ago

    "(people that use the word liberal as an insult make me laugh, every time)."

    TBH it makes me want to cry... Just like people using the word conservative as praise. What on earth is good about ignoring progress?!

    Btw, the 'inferior' comment was an attempt at being funny and in anticipation of EG's next face-off article... ;)

  • captain-future #101 4 years ago

    I like the cheesy atmosphere of the game.

    First thing that went through my mind when I discovered the A-button does the "High 5" and other silly moves like slapping your partner over the head was: Rios' and Salem's MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURE COOL!

  • Byzanite #102 4 years ago

    twats
    Edited by 1 at 18/03/08 @ 14:35

  • T4RG4 #103 4 years ago

    Just played the demo through. Fucking rubbish.

    If the demo is anything like the main game, would be a 6/10.