Army Of Two
Here is an idea. Instead of conscription, how about countries hire private military to do their dirty work? This is the basis of Army Of Two, where combat trained Army Ranger veterans, Salem and Rios, signed up with the SSC, a private company which offers mercenaries to the highest bidder. Instead of a squad based game, Electronic Arts' latest gem is a first-person shooter (FPS) that takes two to tango. Playing as either of the grunts, you get to infiltrate each mission as a two-man team and with the usual ability to switch weapons, assist your buddy if he's down or signal him for ackup, the one special aspect that makes this two-man show works is Aggro. Aggro is the in-game aggressive meter that allows you to pull combat manoeuvres. If you choose to raise your Aggro by constantly attacking enemies, they will focus all their attention on you and ignore your partner, thereby allowing him to flank the enemies from behind. This neat combat system does away with the guns-a-blazing, rushing in for the kill technique as with most situations. Instead, you need to consider the best method to attack and win objectives using a two-man force. A few weeks ago, I reviewed a similar FPS that focuses on a two-man force, but without the finesse of Army Of Two which shines in the two-player mode. Cooperation is the name of this game as one of you will have to stand down while the other engages the enemy, to trigger Aggro. In essence, the fact that you have a back-up is integrated into the game and making use of him during gameplay makes a lot of sense. As you progress and fulfill objectives like finding secret briefcases or saving hostages, your bank account also swells, allowing you to buy weapon and armour upgrades, that for some reason, make you look like Jason from Friday the 13th movie. With sharp graphics, realistic battle and weapon sounds mixed in with the token swear words and usual cheesy one-liners that bring humour to an otherwise dire scenario, Army Of Two is best enjoyed with a buddy.
