Army of Two Sequel

I'm sure most of you heard of Army of Two when it came out last year. It sold quite well, over 2.5 million copies. But while sales were great, reviews were only average (Metacritic score for 360 is 72). So with only mediocre reviews, and a lot of more lauded material on the market, I passed on the game.

But details and screens are coming out now about the sequel, called Army of Two: The 40th Day. It looks great, and it sounds better.

The developer, EA Montreal, has promised to address a lot of the problems of the first game, and the changes and results seem very promising. This time the game is set in Shanghai, which looks like a perfect choice for a shooter. The locale is exotic, colorful, and diverse, all of which should result in stunning-looking and fun-to-explore levels. Just hearing the location alone had my interest piqued, then I found out that Shanghai is also in the middle of a major disaster. I'm imagining a wartorn city, a lawless populace and a lot of tasty chaos.

The story that goes along with the location also sounds interesting, with competing mercenary forces and the ability to work for various factions and employers. The game also is going to include a lot of civilian NPC's, creating some moral choices you can make, whether its taking hostages and killing ruthlessly or saving the poor saps. The game will also have a good bit of humor worked into the characters and dialogue (which the team promises will be more engaging, less annoying, than last time).

Gameplay also seems to be receiving an upgrade. The co-op campaign is going to be more organic, so that the co-op parts don't feel obviously orchestrated or stiff, which should make it a blast to play with friends. And if you don't have friends, the team-ate AI has reportedly seen a vast improvement, including greater player control over that NPC teamate. Add in an updated cover mechanic, and destructible environments that allow you to blast through walls and cover to hit enemies, and the game has a lot of potential.

The EA Montreal team also said that they are putting a bigger focus on their multiplayer component, which is good news: good frag fests always add to the replay value.

So maybe none of this sounds ground-breaking, but does it need to? With great graphics, a cool story and humor, an awesome setting, improved tighter gameplay, and plenty of co-op and competitive multiplayer modes, what else do you need?

- Scott

(Screenshots & info are from Game Informer and IGN)