game review: Army of Two (Xbox 360)

The most fun I had with Army of Two was playing air guitar. No, this isn't the next Rock Band or Guitar Hero. It's a third-person shooter much like the 2006 Xbox 360 hit Gears of War. But whereas Gears of War pitted you against grotesque aliens, Army of Two strives for a more realistic experience--kind of. So a friend and I, playing on a split-screen, were leading our characters, a couple of beefy American mercenaries, through the caves of an Afghan mountain range shortly after 9/11. We were dispatching suicide bombers and other Al-Qaeda operatives with our AK-47s and hand grenades when there came a break in the action. We looked around. It seemed as though we'd slain all the terrorists in the vicinity. Before continuing on to the next arena, my friend positioned his soldier next to mine and hit the "A" button. They exchanged high fives. He pressed it again and they gave each other a pound. "Props all around," they said casually. When he pressed it a third time, I stared in disbelief as the two bloodied combatants went into full on Bill and Ted mode, headbanging, singing power chords, and yes, playing air guitar. In the middle of a cave. In Afghanistan. My friend and I shared a good laugh over this, and then we descended further into the dark cavern with the goals, I think, of destroying warheads and rescuing a POW, but mostly just looking to shoot as many bad guys as possible.

Such is the way of Army of Two, a new game from Electronic Arts, which can be played solo, but is meant to be played with a friend online or using a split-screen. You control two soldiers of fortune working for a private military company called the Security and Strategy Corporation. The younger, prettier one is named Elliott Salem. He muses about the Wu-Tang Clan in the midst of combat, and says "bro" constantly. He is what we called in college a "douche bag" (nothing against Wu-Tang). His partner is Tyson Rios, older, grizzled and hard, though not above channeling Jack Black ala School of Rock after executing a few good kills.

Over the course of the game's six brief missions, which take you from China to Iraq ("Long live Saddam!" screams an insurgent with a Gatling gun), you uncover your employer's conspiracy to overtake the U.S. army as the country's primary military outfit. Although you play as guns for hire, it seems, at times, that there is supposed to be a message here about the risks of privatization of the military; the game even invokes President Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address warning "against the acquisition of unwarranted influence... by the military-industrial complex." However, the epilogue, in which Rios and Salem go on to found their own private military with the money of black market arms dealers, shows that Army of Two declines to advocate anything--except, perhaps, irresponsibility--in its approach to current events and the nation's military and political affairs.

I should, I suppose, be grateful not to be moralized to by a video game, especially one that allows you to "pimp" your firearms (I'm not gonna' lie, blinged-out assault rifles are kind of hilarious). Army of Two is supposed to be fun, and for the most part, it delivers in that regard. Playing by yourself (with a partner controlled by computer A.I.) doesn't make for a particularly memorable experience, but working with a friend can be a blast, as there is some strategy and teamwork required. The crux of the gameplay lies in the idea that if one player shoots a lot of bullets, he will draw the bulk of the hostile fire, rendering the other player less visible to the enemy and better able to flank and ambush them.

Comparisons to Gears of War are inevitable and Army of Two doesn't fare particularly well--it's gameplay isn't as tight and there's simply not as much action. When Gears of War 2 arrives this fall it should fairly blow this game away. Army of Two's short campaign mode and lack or replay value make it more of a rental, and actually, it's quite a good title to play with a buddy for just a few days. The most exciting moments come when one player is wounded and falls to the ground; the other player must then drag him behind cover and heal him. While the wounded player is being dragged, he can still shoot, and there's something incredibly satisfying about taking down an enemy who's about to shoot your "bro," while your "bro," in turn, is escorting you to safety. In the words of Tenacious D, that's fucking teamwork.