Army of Two: The 40th Day
The infamous Mercenary Duo are back to take names and kick ass in Shanghai!!!!!!
Hopefully you watched the trailer video on this, 'cause it's a chock-full of an action game. I think this is a game I have been waiting for since I was younger. When chilling with my friends playing video games, we were always wanting a really interactive co-op game setup. My thoughts and ideas have been answered, for once in my life. Now after watching that video, all I can say is that this better be a movie in the next couple years or otherwise I have lost all hope for Hollywood. With other articles that I have been looking up there has been some chatter, but this was back in 2008 about maybe making a movie off it. But going on IMDB.com they have kind of a thing that shows in 2011, but I'm not sure if that's for a new game or maybe a movie. It has barely any information on everything and anything. Hell when I went to look up Kayne and Lynch as a movie, they at least have a good amount for the of information of the movie. Bruce Willis is going to be playing Kane in the movie, and that's suppose to come out in 2011 as well. So I kind of want to get my hopes up, but I'm not sure quite yet. I mean there was an article that I found that said something about Universal buying up the rights to having the movie for Army of Two, along with a bunch of other ones. Yet still I can only imagine them putting this one on the back burner too.
Solo Play
With Army of Two: The 40th Day, solo play works actually pretty well. I wasn't having too many issues controlling the other guy with telling him the three simple command setups that had two parts for it. They were "regroup," "go ahead," and "stop where you are." With these commands you can do one or the other for the action, which deal with be hidden, where they would stay behind cover & not shoot or the second deal was for them to open fire. These can come to your advantage because of the special Aggro meter that was designed from the first Army of Two. If you're not understanding what I'm talking about, here is the video from the first game to explain Aggro. (That was one thing I noticed: if you didn't play the first one, then you might be a little lost on how the operation of doing a co-op type game might work.) I was definitely liking the shooting part of the game because they had the third-person mode to it, but if you had the scopes for the guns you could go into a first-person mode, making it a little bit easier to take out enemies.
When playing solo there are going to be some times where you will become a little frustrated with the character's movement on a specific part of the mission. Sometimes it's like they can move up on positions and get into and "I NEED A MEDIC" mode as I call it. The guys can get hurt, so you can grab them -- or they grab you if you're down -- to drag you to a safe point, use an adrenaline pen/needle and pop you back up into the fight. Now I remember back when the first Army of Two game was coming out they said they were going to make a part where you would've actually had to do C.P.R. on the other guy when he was down, while it showed the character that was down running away from the light. Yet they still didn't put it in this game. A little downer, but it's still okay.
The game setup for the play has you making some decisions, but they really don't affect the outcome of the story till the very end, which was maybe one of the most disappointing things in the game. The decisions you make depend on how people will live or die when/if they get out of the situation. I think this is probably one of the things they could've taken out of the game. The little artsy comic setup they did when the decisions were made were cool, yet it seem like it didn't have all that much effect. This reminded me of the old R.L. Stine (AKA Jovial BOB) books I used to read when he had a setup where you started to read the story, then you get to a part where it would say if you would like to do this or that turn to page so and so. Seeing that I played Army of Two: The 40th Day twice, I was able to pick both options to see what they were, but the only thing that changed was who did the deed, and what was said in the video that moved along with the story. This is something EA Montreal needs to sit down and take a look at if they ever think about putting it in another game. If they are to do another Army of Two, they are going to have to put some more backing to this, even though the story had the seriousness of the situation of an outside group that hired them to do a job, and then try and kill them off. The thing that they needed to do was explain why the 40th Day Initiative was there in the first place. The General explained it in a destruction-type setup, but it wasn't enough of a reason why they were backing it.
The other thing I wonder is how come Alice -- the computer whiz that she is -- isn't able to do full background checks on the clients. Like if I was to go into a situation, the last thing I would want is a need-to-know basis or a reason for placing stuff. What I learned from the game is to keep your head down and don't ask any questions that can definitely get you killed. Another thing that made me wonder was why the character Phillip Clyde (AKA Smiley) didn't show up in this game. I know that he got shot at and fell out a window, but you never saw his dead body. It made me wonder when the hell he's going to pop up and give you problems, but he never did. Also one thing that I felt they needed to add is more of the back story of these guys, (i.e. why they really do this). They don't have families so to say. They just like going into war-zones and pick up cash. That's cool and all, I loved the idea, but sometimes the situations that they got into could have been foreseen if they had the family or someone saying to not do this anymore because they got enough money.
The other concern of mine was what the fuck happened to all the guns from the first game. I had so many guns from that setup and was happy, but this one had it setup so you had a shit-load of regular guns, three secondary pistols that weren't impressive at all, and an interchangeable special setup so you can get the sniper rifles and all that good shit. Yet you could also change it to a secondary of the regular guns. It was cool, but yet again it was disappointing about the guns. Not going to complain since you can upgrade them too, because I know I have made some sexy guns myself on that game. (Man, do I love gun porn!) Also one that disappointed me was a gun that I saved up for didn't have any upgrades on it, but it's an all right set up. It made me think it was a bad-ass assault rifle, but it seemed to be a bad-ass SMG (Small/Sub Machine Gun).
The other thing that was awesome is they made a setup where you sign up on there website and create the masks that your characters can wear. Some of the people's mask that they created had me laughing. (Some guy made Robocop!) I'll hopefully sign up and make my own very soon, and put it up on the site for all of you to see.
Characters
Tyson Rios
Profile (From the actual website): "An honorable soldier, level-headed and trustworthy.
Rios served in the Army Rangers in Mogadishu, seeing the horrors of war at the hands of the Somali people. Eventually he took an offer to move into the private military sector, where he believed he could do more good without being handcuffed by politics. After being betrayed by the SSC, he and his best friend, Elliot Salem, formed their own PMC which has been operating around the world ever since.
Over time, Rios has lost focus from his original ideological goals. While he first went to the private sector so he could be more hands-on in changing the world, he’s since started to doubt he can make a difference. He’s become weary of a lifetime of bad decisions. He says it’s because of all the risks and the travel, but the reality is that if Rios actually had to answer to a loved one about why he does what he does, he wouldn’t know what to say anymore."
Elliot Salem
Profile (From website): "Rios’s buddy from the Army Rangers. He too was attracted to the private sector after years of public service, but for Salem it was really about the thrill of being a mercenary, of making money traveling to the world’s hotspots and neutralizing their problems.
He’s been known to go trigger-happy from time to time, and both his mouth and his temper are on a hair trigger. Never one to question his actions, Salem has become angered by the way PMC’s have declined in public opinion in recent years. He feels they’re the ones on the front lines, doing the real good, while the public merely thinks they’re a bunch of trigger-happy combat junkies. He sees himself as a foot soldier standing on the thin line between right and wrong, and it’s his job to arbitrate that truth."
Alice Murray
Profile (from website): "Salem and Rios’ handler.
While Rios’s and Salem’s relationship with Alice has always been about flirtation and witty banter, over recent years Alice has grown weary of what they’ve been doing. The money isn’t as good as it used to be and while as a younger woman she was attracted to hanging out with big guys with guns, those big guys have begun to irritate her lately. They’re cynical meat heads, and she’s beginning to sense that cynicism isn’t enough for the world they now encounter.
She’s been planning on taking an early retirement and returning to her mother’s family in Shanghai --- a plan that may not work out as she originally planned."
The reason why I made that little banner (isn't it sexy?!) for Alice character is because she's wicked hot, but they did change her. (From left to right) The first photo of her is from the first Army of Two game, the second one is her from the 40th day, and the third one is the very hot Lucy Liu. (I put her up there because I was thinking she looked so much like her, so i put her as a candidate if they create a movie for her to play that part.)
Co-op Mode
This is where Anvil and I played for what seemed to be hours on end, which was great because I'm never used to hearing Anvil say "Hey lets play video games!" Never really thought I would hear him say that, but it's definitely a good thing. We had some serious fun playing it in Co-op. However I seriously suggest that if you have a big-screen TV, have you friend come over and play it on the same TV. It makes it better because you and your friend can communicate right there and then. We were talking with a fellow gamer that worked at the Game Stop, and he said that he and his friend were playing online with each other, but sometimes the connection was crappy (He said he has Comcast, so i blame it on that. I have Verizon Fios, which works great. No product placement intended.) If you have a great connection then you better hope that your friend has both an Xbox 360 with the Live account and the game.
Otherwise you won't have fun trying to play split screen on a small-ass screen. This was one issue I had when I tried to play the demo before the game came out. They only had it so you could play as a co-op online or with a friend. It was definitely hard to find someone to play with, especially one that had a mic and wouldn't fucking jump off in the middle of the demo. Believe me: I was pissed about it. But I think the setup that they created comes together with making your friends feel closer while having a good time. I can also say that make sure you don't take it serious, and that this game is going to take over five hours to beat because you will get killed a couple of times. Also make sure one posts up so they can take out the upcoming guys and the other one can sneak around, just like in the second video provided.
Multiplayer
All I can say is fucking awesome! However the issue with this was I wasn't able to put my money down to reserve the game so I could get the Extraction game. If I knew that beforehand I would be playing it, but no worries. I will do a setup on that part of the game later when it unlocks for free on February 12th, 2010. The top video is Extraction, and the next video is the multi-player setup. You'll see the gun selection and some of the levels they have.
So with playing the other parts of the multi-player that are involved, I was sort of impressed with what they came out with for the games; yet the actually killing is complicated. The weapons that you can pick are limited, and there are no customizations of the weapons whatsoever. Some of the guns they put together are great, but then there are the ones I go, "What the fuck were they thinking putting those guns together?!" They have three of the main games that you can play besides the Extraction game. Those three are War-Zone, Co-Op Team Deathmatch and Control. These games have been done before, but not in the sense of having a Co-Op all the time. The Team Deathmatch is a good if you have a friend to play with, or if person you pair up with have a mic. Also make sure you have the most accurate and damage-worth guns so you two can kick ass and take names the proper way. War-Zone was kind of difficult to play. I couldn't find a proper server/host that didn't have lag, so it'll be expected. I'm hoping that the guys at EA won't just let the servers that are hosting their game collect dust. But War-Zone has a good deal like capture things or put explosives somewhere and -- like the game says -- "Run like hell." Then Control is almost like the Capture The Flag you find in Modern Warfare 2, except there is only one place to capture, and it can seem like a tug-of-war of keeping your teammates alive while holding the position. (By the way: the groups you play as are the TWO (Trans World Ordinance) and the FDI (Fortieth Day Initiative).)
While playing these online games, I was getting a sense of deja vu, as if I had played it before. Then I looked at the stack of games I have and saw Gears of War. I wasn't surprised much to say, but what would be the sickest setup is if Unreal Technology ganged up on the next game to help them work the kinks out on this multi-player. That's if there is going to be another game, as sick as this game is. I love it, but the thing about it is I always seem to find the people that have mix feelings with it. I can go up to a person who has the game and ask how they like it. They can go "Best game EVER!!!" Then ask the person next to them who has the same game, and they can go "It's complete crap!!" So if you're really wondering how you would like this game, maybe I can suggest you play the demo, or go to wherever you go to rent your games, and try it out before you invest in The 40th Day. But all in all I say it's a great game.
My ranking (from one to ten) is a 8.5 to 9.0 easily. Also I can say stick that in your pipe and smoke it with your fucking 6.5, Game Informer! I think they need to get people that have ultra-high expectations out of their writing staff, and get people like us who know how it is with the economy being crap. I think that's another part of the Game Informer is the person who gives the second opinion never gives it more points then what the other guy says because that would be too contradictory. Sometimes you just can't always trust in the people you read from. Go out, try the game and hopefully you like it.
Army of Two: The 40th day
Console/Platform: PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360
Company: Electronic Arts Montreal
Gameplay: Shooter
P.S. Here are the mask designs I did:
These are just extra videos I had to add because they always made me laugh, and they got me into this game in the first place. So sit back and enjoy.
Army of Two (Original Trailers)
Army of Two: The 40th Day
