System: PS3, X360
Dev: EA Montreal
Pub: EA
Release: Q4 2007
Players: 1 - 2
Preview by Patrick Evans

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Double your pleasure, double your fun with EA's next all-out 2 man war. by Patrick Evans

July 20, 2006 - In the armed forces, you are taught that you are a piece of a very huge organization that must work together to function properly. Confusingly, the Army used to advertise in the states by saying "become an army of one." EA Montreal has its own idea for military efficiency with the Army of Two.

The so-called Army of Two, Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios, are a buddy team that offers its services to those with cash. When the regular army can't cut it in whatever situation, the Armed Forces calls in contracted mercenary soldiers to fill in the gaps. Clad in intimidating skull-helmets and full military gear, the pair proves that two guns are indeed better than one.

All of Army of Two's gameplay is centered on cooperation. Salem and Rios are inseparable on the battlefield, providing cover fire and watching each other's back. EA Montreal is going three steps further by introducing a bevy of new ideas on cooperative gameplay, whether it be in how issues are ordered or how a fallen soldier is revived on the battlefield.

Using a dynamic A.I. script, the computer counterpart will respond to commands and requests with candid realism. Ordering your partner to go back-to-back in preparation for a rush will be rewarded with a wise-crack remark, while in certain situations your partner will insist that things go on his order and not yours. The A.I. will also sport an impressive memory during gameplay as well. If an order issued in the past netted a death or bodily injury, the computer will make sure you remember previous mistakes in an attempt to avoid future failures. Repeat failures will cause your buddy to reject just about everything, so keeping him alive and talking is ultimately in your best interest.
Conversation will continue from your partner long after the area is secure as well, esuring that the player is fully engaged in the gameplay while the action comes down from the combat. There will even be scenes of chest-bumping and high-fiving throughout to round out the experience.

Working as a pair, you and your buddy will even snipe together. Demos illustrating the lone art of sniping being carried out as a tandem are fun to watch. When entering co-op sniping mode, the camera splits to show both shooters in one screen and each target in its own separate window. As you line up your shot, you will have to synchronize your kill with his in order to keep either guard from hitting the panic button or alerting fellow guards in the next room.

As death is an inevitability of war, EA Montreal has ensured that their unique game gets a unique revival mini-game. When one player bites it, the other player must revive him by using CPR. As CPR is being administrated, a mini-game pops up with the downed character running from a white light and the "medic" hitting the controller in rhythm with his heart beat. The catch you say? If the fallen soldier buys it, it's game over. Think that through before you send him guns-blazing into a room next time buddy. If your partner was only wounded in the shootout and he can limp the rest of the way, you can put him on your shoulder to help him out while he covers you with a machine gun in his good hand.

EA Montreal is working tirelessly to provide an excellent A.I. system that will act as closely to a real person as possible, but it is obviously no substitute for the real deal. Gamers sitting across the country for one another can join together to take on the world, using their headsets to coordinate strikes and covering fire. While most games would keep only the one screen for your own character in an online game, Army of Two will split the screen as if your partner was sitting right next to you. This way, keeping tabs on what he is doing is as simple as looking down on your TV instead of asking him during the heat of a shootout.

Electronic Arts, notorious for its annual reissue of Madden and nearly annual release of Need for Speed, is taking strides towards innovation with Army of Two. Building personality into a computer-controlled partner should be impressive enough, but the gameplay mechanics that force you to think cooperatively at all times should be what makes this game appealing. Doing anything on your own will simply be futile as it not only leaves you a man down, but takes you out of some of the most impressive aspects of the package. With an A.I. buddy that high-fives you for a job well done to what could potentially be the most rewarding online cooperative game in recent history, Army of Two is certainly looking like an almost guaranteed knockout this early in its development. Check back for more news as this buddy-action title advances to its as-of-yet unannounced 2007 release.

Features:

• “Two Man” Gameplay – Co-op is no longer a mode, it’s the game. Players must undertake TWO man mission using TWO man strategies and tactics to ultimately create a TWO man advantage that no enemy can withstand.
  
• Partner AI – ARMY OF TWO delivers intelligent partner AI (PAI) that will interact, adapt, collaborate and learn from their human partner. The PAI will also react and adjust to the gamer’s ability and how they play the game by taking the lead or following, driving strategy or taking orders. It is the dream of the human machine.
  
• Customizable Weapons – Customize and upgrade dozens of deadly weapons and share them with your partner off or online.
  
• Dynamic Environments – EA’s Montreal game studio is working to deliver realistic character and environmental effects including fluid dynamics that showcase an open-ocean water-wave simulation as well as physics based animations.
  
• Contemporary Storyline Ripped from the Headlines – ARMY OF TWO will captivate gamers with a politically charged storyline, centering on the impact and ethical issues of
• Private Military Corporations.
  
• Online Gameplay – ARMY OF TWO redefines TWO MAN online gameplay with players seamlessly moving from PAI to live players as they make their way through the game.

By Patrick Evans
CCC Former Staff Writer