A slightly linear game but if you prefer shooters with a buddy by your side thats simply fun to play, pick this up.
As always with EA, Army Of Two in terms of graphical eye candy is superb, wether were talking about its gorgeously rendered cut scenes or character models and locations. When first seeing the two playable characters, instantly noticable is the pain staking attention to detail the developers have put in to the character models and this ranges from the scuffs and battle worn look of their body armor to the way their kit and weapons will bounce as you move through the lush and nicely lit environments available. In sticking with the characters, the dialogue is witty and sharp, and sometimes plain amusing. Someone at EA clearly spent some good man hours scripting the interactions between the characters, even fitting in some swearing to reinforce the realistic sense without just tacking it on to the point of being needless and downright ridiculous in an attempt to make the company look hip like so many games i could but won't mention. The environments in the game are extremely well designed both graphically and purposefully in fitting with the fix 'em and flank 'em style of gameplay with multiple routes to your enemies backs (on most occasions) and plenty of places to hide from the withering amount of hot lead that will inevitably come your way. The enemy A.I is on the smart side of the scale and do a very good job of making sure their rounds hit the mark and yours don't. They will very rarely deviate from cover and will when possible, fire their weapons with just an arm visible which will leave fans of run and gun style gameplay out in the wind because it simply can't be played that way unless you enjoy kissing the tarmac and having your own blood sprayed over the screen over and over again. The AGGRO system works well in the game, very rarely failing to live up to its specific function where one player lays down cover fire while the other moves in to a more favourable position in order to decimate the enemy. If your playing alone, the A.I of your buddy is more than up to the task of both moving up under your cover of fire, or providing it thanks to an easily available command system situated on the D-pad. Although the list looks limited at a maximum of 3 movement commands consisting of 'move up, hold position and return to me' you will soon find that they are more than enough to get the job done without over complicating things or cluttering up your HUD. With sandbox style games becoming increasingly popular, this game definently does'nt try to follow the trend. it's a stricly linear affair which is annoying at times because you want to go out and explore those amazing landscapes but you can rest assured that you won't get bored in the space that your in because a small army of smart enemies (who are also nicely designed) will keep you occupied at every turn. As far as the online goes, this is where the game stumbles slightly. You will want to make sure that your teaming up with someone you actually know because relying on a stranger to fight your battles with you will quickly see the game degenerate in to nothing short of chaos. Players will rarely comply with tactical solutions you voice for the good of the team and most will simply attempt to run and gun through the scenario resulting in any player who is playing the game properly having to drag the downed player to cover and heal them only having to repeat the process again 30 seconds later which brings me to my first real problem with the game. No system link. This makes it actually impossible to team up with anyone in the immediate area that lacks xbox live unless you want to play split-screen, but half a screen to yourself is very annoying even when playing it on a 42" HD television, which makes me think that the link between who develops the game and the inability to play the game as it should be played, without an xbox live subscription is no coincidence seeing as EA are one of Microsofts biggest contributors of titles for the Xbox 360. It just reeks of a scam to up the number of people subscribing to Live. Although i'v been on Live for a number of years now, people like my brother that work unsociable hours simply don't find the time to game, which defeats the purpose of having Live. probably the most well done part of the game is the weapons dealer function which gives you a huge selection of arms to fill your primary, secondary and special weapon slots. The money earned by completing objectives in the game is spent here buying and upgrading weapons which is expansive and not just tacked on, which actually makes a huge difference on your performance on the battle field with custom barrels to improve accuracy and even a shield mounted on the end of the weapon to protect the user, although the ability to 'Pimp' your weapon,which turns the weapon in to a gold plated, jewel studded gangsta wall decoration is ridiculous and slightly childish, not to mention a waste of ten grand. All in all, its a fun, fast paced, albeit linear and slightly short shooter which im confident will give any shooter fan a nice week of diversion that they will enjoy and have you coming back for more.