Review: Army of Two: The 40th Day (360)
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: Electronic Arts
MSRP: $59.99
Release Date: 01/12/2010
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PSP
Rated: M for Mature
While online co-op has been played around with over the years, it never really seemed like the developers embraced it until late 2007/early 2008. Sure, there was a few here & there (Diablo 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, etc…), but it wasn’t until games like Gears of War hit the market that it seamed like the online co-op component played as big a role in the overall package as the single player story did. While Gears was a blast to play, for me personally, the joy of teaming up with a buddy didn’t hit it’s nexus until the Q1 2008 launch of Army of Two. It had been designed as a 2 player co-op title right from the very beginning, pairing up 2 contract mercenaries in an origin story that was infused from beginning to end with co-operative mechanics. From giving your partner a boost up over a wall to drawing enemy fire (Aggro) to co-op sniping, this was an experience that mandated two human players working together (although, you could play with an AI buddy, it just wasn’t the same). Flash forward 2 years & the sequel, Army of Two: The 40th Day, has been released. The question is, are Elliot Salem & Tyson Rios still a force to be reckoned with or should they have been sent back to boot camp?
Those who are a veteran of the first game (I did 7 tours of duty) will notice right away that EA Montreal really out did themselves in the visuals department. Everything’s much cleaner looking, from the character models (Salem & Rios’s tattoos look outstanding this time around) to the environments, nothing was left untouched. Since the game is set in a city that’s in the throws of Armageddon, there was a massive opportunity for the art team to really strut their stuff, showcasing the destruction & chaos plaguing Shanghai. Beyond the obvious explosions, burned out vehicles, & falling buildings, it’s the little details that put it all into perspective. Burning pieces of paper from tumbling buildings, dead animal carcasses & helium filled balloons in the Shanghi Zoo, & the way the bloody hand prints traced your path as you dragged your injured body to your partner for a quick revive are just a few of the small, yet crucial nuances that helped flesh out the entire experience.
The first title gave us some insight on how the duo went from contract military to mercenaries-for-hire in a romp that took them from Somalia to Florida. This time around we have a truncated itinerary. As the Two are finishing up a mission in Shanghai, all hell breaks loose. A very wealthy anti-establishment zealot by the name of Jonah leads a group of para-military contractors in a terrorist attack on the city. Instead of heading out to their next mission, Salem & Rios are now just trying to survive long enough to get the hell out of the war-torn city. While initially the boys don’t have a clue what’s going on, they (and you) are brought up to speed through the slick use of radio reports that are scattered throughout the levels. You don’t necessarily have to grab them, but it does give you a sense of what’s happening & why.
Probably my favorite changes in The 40th Day are the new & expanded co-op mechanics. Players can now pretend to surrender, providing a distraction for your partner to take advantage of & eliminate the threat. Also, both of you can mock surrender & then perform a dual quick draw move, where as the enemy’s guard is down because he thinks you’ve surrendered, you & your partner can draw your pistols for a very effective surprise attack. The GPS has been upgraded as well, allowing for you to see the ranks for each enemy. Sneak up behind the highest ranking officer in a given group of enemies & take him hostage. The remaining soldiers will surrender, giving you a moral decision: Tie them up or kill them. Of course, if you grab the wrong guy & there is another one who out ranks him in the group, expect them to start attacking you right away! The Aggro system is back & is still just as necessary as ever. The level design provides you with constant opportunities for flanking maneuvers that can only be achieved through the use of Aggro. You can jump in head first if you prefer, but you’ll make things exponentially more difficult if you do. In fact, some of the tougher soldiers require you to shoot them from the side or behind which is only possible if their attention is focused on one teammate.
Speaking of moral decisions, this is another aspect that’s new to the franchise. Beyond the physical co-operative gameplay, you’ll be faced with many choices throughout the game that have moral implications. Some of them will be pretty obvious, like whether to shoot a soldier who has surrendered to you or save a civilian who’s being held hostage. But others are not so obvious. Quite a few times I honestly thought I was making a morally correct choice only to find that I was totally wrong. The results of each of your decisions are told through rather gritty, graphic novel pages drawn by famed artists Chris Bachalo and Jock. It’s a very effective story telling mechanic, giving you insight on not only the immediate consequences of your choice, but what will happen after you move on. For example (CAUTION: MINOR SPOILER), early in the game you are offered an additional bounty if you kill a merc who helped you get your gear & complete your initial mission. If you do so, more money is added to your account, but other NPCs later in the game may not care for your choice. If you spare him, the cut scene shows he goes on with his life & ends up being killed anyway while vacationing on the beach. But, you’ll still have a positive moral standing with the afore mentioned NPCs. (END SPOILER).
When it’s all said & done, the campaign will last about 6-8 hours, not long by any means. Fortunately, EA Montreal included some other things to occupy your time. First, there are the Maneki Neko cats scattered around the levels. Basically they’re small, waving cat statues & you’re tasked with shooting any you see. There-in lies the problem, because finding these cats can be a pain with the amount of destruction the city is suffering. I think I only found 2 or 3 of them during my first run through so I’m sure it’s going to take some time to collect them all. If finding the cats aren’t enough, you still have tons of weapon parts to locate (they’re lying around the levels as well). That leads me into the weapon customization, which has been opened up a bit more this time around. Instead of having a set parts list for each gun, now all parts are interchangeable with varying effects. If you want to use the silencer from your AK-47 on your SCAR, you can do so with the press of a button as now you’re not limited to only doing your shopping in between levels. You can jump in & buy new firearms & parts, change you’re load out, etc… at any time. To enhance the customization even further, players can log into the Army of Two website & create custom masks & armor, then save it for others to use or upload it to your own game. There’s a ton of costume masks already available including Darth Maul (of Star Wars fame), Skeletor from the He-Man franchise & even Santa Clause.
The 40th Day also offers a new, alternative form of co-op multiplay plus the returning Versus mode. Dubbed Extraction, the new game-type plays similarly to the Gears Horde mode or the Zombies mode in World at War. What makes it unique though is you don’t stay in one “zone” for very long. Each map has 4 different playable areas with the last being the the extraction location. You & your team will battle four waves of enemies in each area (making it a total of 16 waves overall). It’s a pretty nifty take on the Horde gameplay type that makes it fit better with the overall Army of Two universe. While it’s initially only available to those who pre-ordered, it will “unlock” for those who didn’t around the middle of February. Six maps ship with the game, all of which are playable in the 3 types of Versus modes (Co-Op Deathmatch, Control, & Warzone). But, only four of them can be played in Extraction. A word of caution though: Extraction can get pretty difficult, especially as you get to the last waves. I would highly recommend playing with a full 4 man team.
I really wanted to see this sequel get made. I mean, in early March of last year, I was getting really antsy. I literally began looking up the sales figures to see if it did well enough to even warrant the investment in a sequel. Then, as if EA was reading my mind (or maybe had a keystroke logger on my PC), a couple of days later, The 40th Day was announced. Now that I’ve had some time to play it, I must say, the team up in Montreal not only delivered a solid sequel, but they exceeded my expectations entirely. They’ve enhanced the co-op in every way, with the morality system putting a whole new interactive tint to it, making what are typically mundane decisions & giving them a measure depth. Initially, I wasn’t sure how it would play out. But almost right away I found myself actually reflecting on my choices after each one. This is especially true with the last moral choice you make. I won’t spoil it here, but seriously, I was not happy. With that said, if I really had to complain about anything, it would be that it’s too short & too linear. I would have much rather seen the game go 12 or 14 hours at least & even though the levels are designed for flanking, it’s still a straight shot to the end goal. While I kind of understand the need for a linear level design in this specific case, considering the scripted chaos that’s happening in the background, I have high hopes that should a third entry in the franchise gets made, we’ll see the levels open up a bit more. But, don’t let that dissuade you from picking this one up. The vast majority of co-op enabled titles simply provide a means for you & your friends to enjoy the story together, with little emphasis on the co-op part of the equation beyond having an extra gunman or someone to heal you when you’re down. The 40th Day kicks things up a notch, requiring you to not only watch each others back, but really work together in order to reach the objective. The visuals & especially the gameplay have been improved quite a bit over the original, taking the core mechanics they had already established & fleshing out every aspect of it. It is possible to play it alone, but honestly, the AI just can’t replace the buddy-movie feel that only a human partner can provide. That’s really where the magic’s at. The story is solid & well written with the developers utilizing more than just the great voice cast to tell it (although, I think I’m going to need Nolan North to have a role in every game). If you enjoyed the first Army of Two, then picking up this one’s a no-brainer. If you’re looking for a co-op game that offers a bit of strategy & a ton of comradery, then you owe it to your self to give Army of Two: The 40th Day a spin.
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[...] that it’s no where to be found? Well, stop stressing & go play something else (like Army of Two: The 40th Day for example) until Jan 28th. Next Thursday, Sony plans to release the single player demo on the [...]
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