Army Of Two Review - Xbox 360

6

Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 7
Audio: 8
Multiplayer: 8
Innovation: 5

Introduction

Large corporations are now starting to control the battlefields and troublespots of the world as private militia begin to replace regular soldiers in key conflicts. Highly trained, well funded, and ready to go into any situation, they are becoming the army of the future. Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios are soldiers highly trained in this world, who end up working for private corporation "The SSC", ready to go undercover on solo and two-man missions for the highest price. Where official Government armies are unable to tread, the SSC has no such problem.

While this is the main spiel of Army of Two, it is not too far from reality, especially with the most recent Iraq conflict where private contractors filling the void between official troops and anarchy.

Gameplay

To start the game you begin in Somalia in the early 90's, which takes place as a half-training, half live-action exercise. Here you learn all the basic moves, and once completed, you are helicoptered straight into Mogadishu to fight against warlords and their cohorts in tough urban battles.

As the name of the game indicates, you play as a three man.. er.. two man army as you visit key troublespots throughout the world. There is your rough and ready Rios, with your partner, the pretty-boy Salem. While Rios fits in great as the stereotypical tough guy, Salem seems well, a tad girly. It's possible to play as either character, with the AI handling the part of the other.

The storyline is a little simplistic, and even a little tad derivative, and evolves into a bit of a conspiracy style plot as you get to the bottom of private armies and some sinister political motives. The game's locations and enemies are also loosely based on real terrorists and groups such as Al Queda and the Iraqi resistance (with name changes) rather than an imagined enemy.

Gameplay is fairly similar to most recent third person shooters.. cut scene at the start of each level, and then into the action. Once the level is completed, a cut scene further advances the storyline, and leads into the next. In each level there are a number of key objectives to be met, however in essence, most of the game involves shooting apart wave after wave of enemy soldiers. Objectives may be planting explosives, assassinating an enemy leader, picking up intelligence reports, or others, all of which won't have you stretching your cranium. There are a few hidden or optional objectives in each level as well if you really want to get ever little bit out of the game. Completion of each objective gives you cash, which can be used to purchase extra weaponry, and weapon upgrades from underground weapon dealers. You are fighting in a private army after all.

Weapons used are your standard weapons, such as grenades, various machine guns, mini guns, and rocket launchers for some real kick. Nearly all of ...