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Battle-hardened Army Rangers turned military contractors Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios are back, and the game built around them is better than ever.
The wisecracking mercenaries helped define the co-op gaming experience in 2008’s “Army of Two” by teaming up for a series of paid missions to kill terrorists and rescue hostages from various hotspots.
In “Army of Two: The 40th Day” (Electronic Arts, $59.99 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), Salem and Rios find themselves in Shanghai just before the city’s towering skyscrapers are blasted into piles of rubble.
The pair is tasked with escaping the city with their lives, and it’s a heck of a thrilling ride.
A downed jetliner crashes into a zoo just as the two are heading through the gates. A missile blasts a helicopter hoisting a tank, sending the armored vehicle spiraling into the city streets.
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Price: $59.99
These disaster-flick quality cut scenes are sewn seamlessly into a solid third-person shooter that boasts a strong cover system, an arsenal of customizable weapons and numerous creative ways in which the two can work together.
Once again, playing “Army of Two” is far superior with another human, either online or split-screen. But if you’re forced to go it alone, the sequel improves the partner artificial intelligence that was a bit lacking in the original.
The co-op play goes far beyond the now-standard healing of an injured partner. Salem and Rios must help each other scale walls and open gates, decide moral dilemmas and provide cover fire for each other.
Like its predecessor, “Army of Two: The 40th Day” borrows from the role-playing game genre with an Aggro system that allows one player to draw enemy gunfire so the other can flank and open fire or take out a few bad guys with a sniper rifle. The character gathering all the attention appears to flame up as the meter shifts his way, while the one freed into a surreptitious role begins to glow.
Going solo and charging a group of soldiers is sure to end in death, so the game offers several ways to approach sticky situations.
Salem and Rios can enter a room full of enemies and do a mock surrender before drawing their guns to open fire.
They can tackle a hostage situation by having one sneak up and grab an officer to prompt lower-ranked soldiers to surrender, then instruct the other to tie up the minions. Or they can find a couple of hiding spots, pull out their sniper rifles and count down from three to time their takeout shots.
An injured player can even feign death and then jump back to life, but enemies also can pull off this move.
Players can now add custom designs to their masks, which are now equipped with a GPS system that will light up a green line to provide mission guidance. The device can also tag enemies and help identify enemy soldiers’ rank, but its battery can run dry so use it wisely.
Salem and Rios will face several moral decisions during the game, and the stories of resulting consequences are told through a series of hand-drawn comic-book panels. It’s a nice touch.
Mercenaries are all about making money, and there are plenty of stacks of cash to help the two “pimp out” their weapons with custom stocks, clips, scopes and silencers. Or if it’s all about the “bling,” they can splurge on a gold-plated machine gun or a $100,000 diamond-encrusted hand grenade.
Salem and Rios exchange some funny lines, but they’re infrequent enough to avoid getting in the way of the plot and action. The two can also exchange an occasional fist-pump or engage in a quick game of “rock, paper, scissors” to share some camaraderie or break up a tense moment.
With a strong plot, fun gameplay, exciting action and the occasional comic relief moments, “Army of Two: The 40th Day” pleases with more than we expect from a summer blockbuster film release.
Rating: Three-and-a-half stars out of four.
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