Army of Two (video game)

Army of Two
Developer(s)	EA Montreal
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, PS3
Release	2007
Genre(s)	third person shooter
Mode(s)	single player or two-player co-op

Army of Two is a video game developed by Electronic Arts, coming out on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.

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Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem engaged in co-op strategy in Army of Two.

Info

Army of Two is an action game with a focus on cooperative and coordinated strategies. The video game is labeled a co-op third-person shooter. Players will join up with either the game's lifelike built-in Partner Artificial Intelligence (PAI) or other players "to fight through war, political turmoil and a conspiracy so vast it threatens the entire world." Story details are vague at the moment, but the game involves conflicts with private military corporations. You play as Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem, two "contractors" in a private military corporation (PMC), a company hired as security or to supplement government military forces. You choose one character at the start of each mission; the computer or a second human player controls the other character. The game will feature a unique weapon upgrading system, where just about any part of any gun can be combined. Details on the characters themselves are vague, but between the two, Salem is the younger and wilder of the pair, whilst Rios is the more controlled leader. Both players wear ballistic facemasks, which protect them from bullets, gun-fire and debris. Salem's facemask bears skull-like teeth, and Rio's mask possesses large flames. One of the major gameplay angles, which sets AoT apart from most others, is that nearly every aspect of the game is co-operative. Even such activities as parachuting, rapelling and even death are all played co-operatively. When characters get shot by enemies too much, they fall down, and the injured player has to rapid-tap buttons to keep the character from a heavenly glow (an unproven sympton of a near-death experience), while the other player cooperatively moves the analogue stick to apply CPR. The characters can give each other ammo when they are low, stand back to back while covering enemies in a 360-degree arc, help each other rappel down buildings, work together to knock over heavy tables and move them as portable cover, and carry each other if one is shot, the man being carried can still shoot while on the shoulder of his teammate. Everything in Army of Two, from the environments and their loads of phisics-based obstacles to its small army of enemies (up to 50 on screen at once) has been designed to force you to work with your partner. All the game's actions are contextual, displaying on a pop-up menu when conditions are right.

Developer Interview

Army of Two was ranked #1 in Electronic Gaming Monthly's special feature, "Top 50 new games", in issue #206 (August 2006). A six page exclusive developer interview including exclusive screenshots and information on the game is the main feature in the issue, with a screenshot on the cover page. The main reason the game earned the best ranking is because of its co-op combat. Senior Producer Reid Schneider said, "In Army of Two, co-op is the game. For us, we need to make people think about how to play games differently. It's the core for what Army of Two is all about."

Previews

• Gamestyle: Army of Two Preview

References

• Electronic Gaming Monthly