The long awaited sequel to Army of Two has arrived and it’s all here at E3! EA was kind enough to give us a look at the new game and one thing is for sure: this game looks AMAZING!
Set in a crumbling Shanghai, the Rios and Salem are tossed into the chaos as they must fight through the falling city to find out the secret of the 40th day. The graphics look just as great as they did in the original, and with the newly improved AI it’s sure to drop some jaws. Now there are sections in the game where you are able to separate from your partner and cooperatively take down groups of enemies from multiple angles or your partner is able to mark the the targets that are on the other side of a fence, ensuring that you can take down the bad guys without killing the civilians.
And no, you can’t just shoot the civilians for the heck of it. Well…ok so you can, but it will have small affects on the story. One big angle that EA seems to be playing in its big hitters this year is how a player’s choice affects the story and the game. In one scene, Salem and Rios find a storage locker of guns and are confronted by a security guard who asks them to put the guns back. The player is given a choice to either take the guns or not, but when you decide to take the guns, you end up killing the security guard. Apparently these moral decisions will affect how the story goes to some degree, so choose wisely.
Another interesting choice that a player can make is what to do in a hostage situation. Rios and Salem can now take hostages to use as a shield and make the enemy group surrender. You can have the choice of wasting the poor fellow as he’s on the ground or tie him up and chuck him to the side.
One of the big fun features that was in the first game was the customization of weapons (who wouldn’t want a pimped out gold and diamond encrusted machine gun?). In 40th day the feature is back, but even better! Now you’re able to mix and match the guns in any form you want, making it the Mr. Potato head of guns. You can once again customize your gun and your partners gun to create complements to help you get through a level. There are even accessories that you can create from things that you can find in the streets, like the classic coke can silencer.
40th day looks GREAT! I’m looking forward to this winter, and I will say that his is defiantly going on a christmas wish list!