Army of Muffins: The 40th Day

So I just finished playing through Army of Two: The 40th Day, and despite it being an incredibly short game, it was very enjoyable. It isn't a game that you would play for the plot, seeing as how it's almost nonexistant, but rather for the co-op play. That's right, this game is only really good for co-op, as the single player AI partner is dumber than a candy necklace.

In retrospect, there's a lot of things that could have been done differently throughout the game. There are points along the story where you have to decide between two options, usually between killing someone or letting them live. These choices do little to alter how the game turns out, it mainly just affects your "morality" meter, which only really changed one thing. If your morality is high enough, you can access the weapons locker on the one level. Woohoo. Big deal. You won't really be using weapons other than the ones you already have access to buy anyway.

You get to customize your weapons, and you have slots for three different types. You have your main weapon, normally a machine gun but it can be switched to a shotgun, then you have your pistol, not used very often unless you're forced to, and the sniper rifle, also exchangeable for a shotgun. You get to put silencers, new barrels, bayonets, and other such accessories on each weapon to make it more suitable for what you want it to do. The one thing that is really noticeable is the noise level, called aggro in this game. They tie it in to the partner system quite wonderfully. If your partner is using a gun with high aggro, the attention of the enemy will be drawn mostly to them, leaving you free to sneak up closer or snipe without worry of getting killed.

This brings me to team strategy, something that Army of Two actually does really well. There are parts everywhere that you wouldn't be able to get past if it were just you - walls you have to help your partner over, doors that need to be opened from the other side, etc. - and they play elegantly into the game. Another aspect of the team strategy is when you get hurt. If you fall, your partner can come over and more or less revive you, after dragging you around like a piece of unlovedd luggage. This makes you able to drag your buddy behind cover before healing him, so you don't get dropped just like he did.

The enemies in the game leave something to be desired, despite the changing character classes throughout the pointless story. The shotgun carrier, the heavy minigun wielder, the grenadier, and the flamethrower dude. Each has a different weakn- oh wait, no they don't. The shotgun carrier is the only one who has a different weakness. The others you just have to shoot at the various packs they have on their backs to blow them up. Creative? No. Difficult? At times.

So in conclusion, this was an incredibly short game, and it fell short of my expectations in that regard. The controls were pretty easy and functional enough to keep gameplay smooth, though certain parts were difficult to figure out. The story is useless, despite the NPC's being quite interesting. Not a bad play, with some replay value as well. Don't get shot by the RPG's.

>Ryft