Welcome to Gaia! ::

Every so often, I go into a game expecting one thing, only to have the developers take that expectation, kick it around and throw it to the curb like something that is so revolting you don't even deem it garbage can worthy. Usually, this is a bad thing, but for Army of Two, it bodes well.

My initial impression of the game came from a early trailer where it fades in with footage from 9/11 in the background. I then grew concerned that this was going to be one of those super-patriotic shooting games where the main characters are two members of a super elite US Army squad who march into the battlefield against a group of bearded terrorists with an American flag hanging off of their massive erection. The only part of that assumption that is marginally correct is the terrorist part, and only a small fraction of that were with Islamic terrorists. Two levels out of the game involve that demographic. The rest of the game either involves Asians or plot spoilers.

Another thing that ousted my original assumptions of the game is that the two main characters start out as part of the US Army for the first level, and then become members of a privet army. On top of that, they aren't even that patriotic. The majority of the levels have you fighting for money (which you can use to buy weapons, upgrades for said weapons, and masks). On top of that, the two characters are actually likable. They both have a good sense of humor, great voice acting, and how they interacted with each other was, dare I say, believable.

The games story shocked me too, the main plot in the levels are linear, but there is a subplot that erupts and takes center stage towards the end of the game about a senator trying to privatize the US Military to be like the company that the two main characters work for. This story has a remarkable amount of depth and political commentary, I wish I could go further in depth on this, but I don't want to spoil anything.

Graphically, the in game visuals are impressive, the developers have created a solid atmosphere for the game that is compelling and nearly flawless. I didn't notice any engine glitches at all, either graphical or physical. Something interesting that I should mention though, is that the in game graphics are actually more impressive than the pre-rendered cutscenes.

Where this game shines the most though, is the gameplay. This games mechanics are tuned to near perfection. The cover system is intuitive, the shooting mechanics are familiar, and then the little things that the team added to it are well applied. One of the mechanics that gets a lot of mention is the back-to-back segments, I also feared that these would either be drawn out or show up too often (like the Tequila Time segments in Stranglehold). However, when these come up, they are far between and they never outstay their welcome.

Ultimately, this game is wonderfully balanced, there is never a time that you think that it's impossible, you might think to yourself "This will take some time" but never impossible. The AI in this game is amazing, your team mate never gets in the way and is never not doing something to help the fight, a moment never came around when I wondered if he was doing anything or just picking his nose. Just like with your teammates AI, the enemy AI is challenging and impressive as well. They will take cover, and actually force YOU out of your cover.

The short comings of this game are just that, it's very short. I started the game around 3PM and finished it around 10:30. While it does have some replay value to it, I wanted more out of the campaign mode, the story was interesting enough that it could have been fleshed out a little bit longer. Also, the vehicle segments of the game, are really unnecessary. The hovercraft that you use is awkward to control and just seems to be filler. Finally, some firefights pit you against an absurd amount of men who just keep flowing in wanting to shoot at you.

Overall, this game was very satisfying, I have yet to play around with the Coop, or the versus mode, but I fully intend to. I also intend on playing through the game with the other character, because I suspect that he will play a bit different and will see events from a different perspective.

As much as I hate to tip my hat to EA, they fully deserve it with this title. I greatly hope that this game does well enough to warrant a well made sequel. They might have a new franchise on their hands that already have me as a fan.

Army of Two: 8/10

I like how you said something about flags flying off of erections. Reminds me of Yahtzee's quote on CoD4...

Anyways, I'm going to agree on a few things and disagree on a few things. As for disagreement, I don't think everything about the controls are intuitive, and that it is sometimes cumbersome. I think the voice acting was done well on some, but at times it just needed to be shut off (and the Asian guy is not very PC). The one thing that really needs to be kicked from this game is Back to Back. Basically, EA decided that having parters willing to die for each other was not enough, so they opted to go for a complete game feature reminiscent of bad movies.

Now for agreement...while the play mechanics aren't perfect, EA do some good stuff concerning covering fire, and said stuff should be implemented in some of our other war games. The game's strongest feature (that pretty much earases my complaints) is the story. Yes, it is short, but it's good...REALLY GOOD.

Now that I'm on the subject of story, I think it needs to be suggested to cover MORE than one perspective in a lot of games. Campaign modes are nice in games like Ao2 and CoD4, but they are regrettably short. Instead, why don't you give us a primary storyline, then add campaigns that have the same battle mechanics, but are separate and/or supplementary to that first story.

Anyways, I would give a second opinion on Army of Two at 7/10, and I suggest that EA improve on a few factors and give us a sequel. (Hey, if it's good, and they can do another good one, why not have it?)