Army Of Two

[Invictus]

Army Of Two

 

Developers:EA Montreal

Publishers:Microsoft

Genre:Modern First Person Shooter

Platform(s):Xbox360, PS3

Release Date:15th NOV 2007(xbox360)

 

Official Site

 

The game is set in the near future, where you take control of, as the name suggests, a two-man mercenary team doing high-risk paramilitary operations. The game is a third-person shooter that focuses very specifically on two-man team interactions. You can either play through the campaign with a friend, or issue orders to an intelligent computer-controlled teammate who may or may not obey the orders you give him.

 

The coolest example of the cooperative style of play available in Army of Two, though, is the co-op sniping. You can call out the order for "co-op sniping" into your headset and engage the mode. At this point, the screen split into three sections. The top half of the screen showed the two soldiers from a third-person perspective, while the bottom half of the screen showed the scoped view from both your own sniper rifle and your teammate's sniper rifle (in the bottom left and bottom right quarters of the screen). Using this split-screen viewpoint, you can see when your teammate has his shot lined up so you can snipe two guards simultaneously. Presumably, once both shots are lined up, you can call out "3, 2, 1, GO!" and have your teammate fire at the same time you do.

 

What's crazy is the level of customization you can apply to the guns. Swap out and swap in different stocks, red-dot sights, scopes, tactical flashlights, underslung grenade launchers, silencers, grip handles, extralarge mags, new barrels--anything you can imagine seems to be available for you to use in this game. You can even chrome your gun with gold trim if you like.

[Invictus]

Some screenshots

 

 

 

[SchizoidFreud]

Army of Two Preview

 

The first (and last) time we saw Army of Two was in a dark room over a year ago. We were shown the basics of EA's co-op shooter, a few gung-ho one-liners and the most impressive water effects we'd seen at the time.

 

The demo had our tin-masked protagonists running up the side of a massive sinking aircraft carrier, dodging jet planes as they slid off the deck. All the while, the demoing developer was barking out orders - and even bantering - with his AI partner using some super-advanced voice recognition. It was bloody impressive.

 

 

Now, over 14 months later, sitting in EA's gigantic glass-filled UK headquarters, the wow factor isn't quite as strong as it was at E3 2006. Visually, it's not looking quite as impressive as our initial behind closed doors demo, and the maps we're seeing (and later playing through ourselves) are nothing like the epic scale of the gigantic, vertically tilting aircraft carrier.

 

Two's Company

What Army of Two lacks in shininess though it now makes up for this in gameplay, something we didn't get to see an awful lot of last year. The big PR promise is that it'll "re-define co-operative games", which while we don't quite agree with from our initial playtest, it's looking very promising for gamers who like to work together.

 

You plays as employees of one of those private military companies (PMCs) that are all the rage these days, making your way through war-torn Somalia and Afghanistan offering your well-shined guns for hire, and hoarding some loot along the way. EA Montreal has convened with real life mercenaries to come up with the story and gameplay features, and at this point it's far more interesting than another 'elite military group' or 'one man super-marine' shooter.

 

Shooting, ducking behind cover and blind firing over scenery is all very reminiscent of Gears of War, although once you pick up the controller yourself you'll see Army of Two actually plays a bit differently. The cover system doesn't lock you onto the side of walls like Epic's shooter, which makes movement more fluid, though shooting is slightly more cumbersome as a result.

 

In certain sequences co-op moves - which we glimpsed briefly in our last preview of the game - are almost demanded in order to survive the 30-man attack force scattering onto your position. Manoeuvres like back-to-back shooting - which puts you into slow-motion and lets you spin around like twin ballerinas - couldn't be initiated any easier with an A-button prompting the action on screen.

 

The other move we've seen before, co-op sniping, is a bit more context sensitive than the above. In certain sequences you can activate the move and have your screen split into three, one portion showing your character and the other two displaying your crosshairs.

 

You're then required to time your shots to take out a pair of enemies or other two-shot target, which not only encourages teamwork beyond shooters like Gears or Rainbow Six: Vegas, but stops elite players tearing through the level on there own as well.

 

Voice recognition - although we're assured it's still in there - was unfortunately missing in action.

 

The third, and most worthy example of the co-op moves we played happens when one guy bites the dust. Once you're down you've got three minutes for your teammate to come a resuscitate you, which involves timed button presses between the two of you and an erm, tampon to absorb the blood (that's one of the merc advisors' tips, that one).

 

But EA Montreal has made sure it's not all canned animations. When you're down on the ground you can still fire to protect yourself, even when being dragged away by the other player. The same goes for getting a lift from your teammate. It's refreshing and certainly keeps you in the game.

 

Split in two

But we've seen the shooting and co-op moves before. What has EA been up to for the last year? One of the biggest features introduced since our aircraft carrier mischief is inspired by, of all things, World of Warcraft.

 

The Montral studio has taken the concept of 'aggro', which is basically a system of AI picking on a certain player, and put it into Army of Two - with interesting results. At the top of the screen now lies an aggro metre, which swings from side to side to show which of the two players is receiving the most attention from baddies.

 

As we found out in the demo, you can use the aggro system in a number of interesting ways. One player can pop out of cover, shoot wildly and receive all the attention of the enemy, while the second player, who's now being ignored by opposing forces, can sneak round the back and complete an objective.

 

EA has taken this concept even further and, rather controversially, put special powers into the game. When the aggro meter swings completely to one player (i.e. they're getting all the flack from the baddies) they go into 'Overkill' mode, a short burst of unlimited ammo, double damages and giant red flames.

 

The other player meanwhile goes partially invisible and can sneak around snapping bad guys' necks. It's an interesting idea and will at least take Army of Two out of generic shooter territory, but we're not convinced that it won't turn off those expecting a gritty, super-realistic shooter experience.

 

The enemies themselves are halfway between FPS fodder and worthy combatants, though they do a good job of keeping cover. At the moment there's three varieties of baddie - standard Grunts, cover-concious Elites and armoured-up Heavys, who seem to be at home behind a fixed turret.

 

Another significant change made over the last 12 months is how the objectives work in the game. At any time you can now hop into a Matrix-like GPS view, which provides you with clear-as-day waypoints on your objectives, as well as massive orange paths guiding your route.

 

EA obviously wants you to spend more time shooting up baddies and less time searching for your objectives, which we found made for an almost arcade-like experience progressing through missions.

 

Pimp my Famas

Though from what we've seen we're not totally convinced how much replayability will be on offer, EA's banking on it with a pretty damn flash gun editor. Basically it's like Forza 2, but with M16s and Desert Eagles. You can use your cash to buy new weapons and then customise them with new handles, clips or accessories.

 

The important part is that each of these modifications affects the statistics of the weapon. Simple sliders display the positive and negative effect a component has, including the clip size, recoil and aggro. The last one adds even more strategy because it means you can have one small silenced automatic for getting the job done, and a massive, wall-shaking machine gun for getting baddies' attention away from your team mate.

 

The pimping isn't limited to stats either. If you wish, you can pimp out your AK with chrome plating and a golden handle. This could turn out to be one of the biggest features of the game, but considering the set piece-heavy nature of the campaign we're not sure how many times we'll revisit Army of Two's missions. Gun customisation - and that massive aircraft carrier- will certainly help.

 

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=168954

[Anmolsc]

MUST BUY

[StormShadow]

gameplay-

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/79175.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

The Dogs Of War-

Who protects our top officials in Iraq? If you answered the military, you'd be wrong. We outsource this task. Why? Because it's deemed too dangerous for our troops. Instead, we contract private military soldiers -- trained killers who are paid well to put their lives on the line. And it's this sort of behavior that's changing the face of war. With over 120,000 military contractors in Iraq, there are nearly as many people working privately as there are U.S. troops on the ground. But they operate under the radar -- they don't count toward our death tolls and the notion of pulling out the troops doesn't apply to them. War is their business, and they'll remain as long as they're paid. In EA's Army of Two, you'll experience this new military first-hand. And all this week, you'll see why you'll want to. These guys use unapproved weaponry, wear armor, and totally operate above the law. No wonder our troops are envious. But when you think about it, on the battlefield, who would you rather be?

 

-Sam Kennedy,

Editor-in-Chief,1up

[StormShadow]

WEAPONS OF CHOICE

An exclusive look at Army of Two's deep weapon customization.

 

One of the coolest aspects of Army of Two is the sheer amount of guns in the game (over 30 at the moment) and the fact that you can completely customize them to a level you've never been able to in other games before. As you play, you earn cash to buy new weapon parts and other sorts of customizations in a very RPG-like fashion. "It's definitely a big, big part of the game now," senior producer Reid Schneider tells us. "As we got down the road we were like, 'Wow, this is a huge feature' -- it's a ton of work -- but I think people will be totally stoked about it."

 

The original idea for the weapon customization actually came from the private military company expert Richard Woodie Mister, who had spent a lot of time on private military company missions and saw how PMCs would treat their weapons. "He showed us these pictures of him in Afghanistan and these guys, they'd literally take one gun and duct-tape it to another. We were like, 'Wow, what's that?' And he was like, 'Oh, that's real.' And we said, 'What do you mean that's real?!' So we kind of riffed on that concept and said to ourselves, 'What if you had completely customizable weaponry in the game, wouldn't that be pretty damn cool?'" So the team started thinking about ways that they could actually pull this concept off within the game. "Obviously, we're not putting duct tape on stuff because people just would think it's too ridiculous -- we already have tampons in the game, which is kind of over the top to begin with." [Ed's note: you can stick a tampon in your partner's wound to stop the bleeding -- a real tactic used by some PMCs in the field, believe it or not].

 

 

But beyond the practical applications, Woodie also told the team of how PMCs would personalize their weapons to crazy degrees. "You may have 16 to 44 guys in a group that you're utilizing; each one of those guys may have the same weapon, but the weapon looks completely different because it's been personalized so much," Woodie tells us. "And I'm not talking about tying beads and putting tape on it. Some guys paint it this way, other guys paint it that way, some guys have special types of laser requirements on there, other guys have IR lights, and other guys will have a scope. Everybody carries different types of ammo, usually as lethal as possible. There are just a million different variations of one simple weapon."

 

 

So as the team began to build the weapons in the game, the artist had to completely change the way they think about guns. "Basically, they had to build guns as pieces," says Schneider. "So guns in Army of Two are almost like Legos. We don't actually build a whole gun, we build pieces of guns that can be put together." But what that allows for is complete flexibility in terms of what you can do to the guns in the game. "It's just a stupid amount of combinations," admits Schneider. And the neat part is that almost every change you make to the guns will actually affect your gameplay. If you put a shield on your gun, for example, you'll likely lose fewer health points in battle. Even just pimping your gun out in gold -- if that's your thing -- will affect how you build Aggro in the game.

 

 

Considering weapons were such a focus in Army of Two, one cool thing that EA Montreal did was to actually hold a contest for people to submit weapon designs to the official Army of Two website -- with the chance to have their designs actually appear in the game. "Obviously, some of the stuff was way over the top," admits Schneider. "The gun that shoots small animals probably isn't going to be in the game. Small animals as ammunition: probably not right for Army of Two, but maybe another product."

 

But a lot of the weapon submissions were very good, and the team ultimately picked two for inclusion in the game. "We looked at ones that really could offer something kind of cool and innovative in the game," explains Schneider. "The first one we settled on was a long range sniper rifle that shoots grenades. I mean, that's just really cool -- I wish we had thought of that. The second we chose was this submachine gun that has a shield on it and a Semag cartridge so it can carry just a stupid amount of ammo, and it has this kind of cool shield on top of it. It worked well because we wanted to use it as a secondary weapon. So with the combination of those two weapons, we were like, 'Yeah, those two are pretty interesting and different.'" The team was thoroughly impressed with the level of detail on the submissions, though. "With the submachine gun, the guy actually modeled it in 3D. And the guy who made the grenade sniper rifle, he included, like, actual full weapon specs. It was drawn on paper, but you could tell he put some serious thought into it." Likely the coolest part is that the players got to name these guns as well. "One guy named his gun the Sal-86 because his name is Sal," says Schneider.

 

 

Of course, the whole element of powering up your weapons adds a lot of strategy and potential replay value to Army of Two. Do you want to spend your money on weapon upgrades right away to make your life easier now or do you want to save up your money for a bit so you can buy an extra powerful gun for a later stage? Do you want to spend your money all on one specific weapon or try to power up a few different ones? Do you want to upgrade your gun to build Aggro faster so you'll be more balanced with one of your friends? Or, do you want to spend some of your dough on pimping out your guns to show off to others online? Admit it: you'll probably blow your dough on the gold AK-47.

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

LICENSED TO KILL:An interview with a private military company expert about Army of Two's realistic depictions.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3160703

 

In Army of Two, heroes Salem and Rios are outfitted with cutting edge weaponry, sport armor plating, and use battle tactics not sanctioned by the military. They're private military company (PMC) soldiers, and they're from a world few know about. To lend authenticity to the game, EA turned to Richard Woodie Mister, an ex-Navy Seal who's been living in the world of the private military companies, including Blackwater, for the past few years and now consults on projects like this through his studio Atlantica Group (he's also worked on the Splinter Cell series and SWAT 4). Having experienced combat in Panama, Albania, Africa, and Kosovo, and having contracted for various private and government agencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, Woodie, as he likes to be called, knows this stuff better than anyone. We recently spoke with him to get the full scoop on the game and the world of the PMC soldier. Do PMCs really have access to better weapons? Do they actually wear armor helmets like in the game? Are they really above the law? We got some fascinating incite into a world you don't usually get to hear about.................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

Preview: Army of Two

Exclusive hands-on impressions, and first details on the Aggrometer.

 

Let's Attack Aggressively:

 

One of the ways the team set out to accomplish this is what we can exclusively reveal today: the Aggrometer. Sitting at the top of your screen, this meter ties the two characters together at all times by displaying which character has more 'Aggro' at any given time, something that's also indicated by a red hue on the character with more and a slight transparency on the character with less. As you play, it's a constant back-and-forth in terms of where the Aggrometer rests, but this is used for far more than just bragging rights. Aggro actually comes into play in almost every aspect of the gameplay.............

 

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3160716

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

Army of Two 'Assault' gameplay:

 

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/12915

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

Army of Two '1UP Preview':

 

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/12813

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

Army of Two Dated:

 

Electronic Arts today announced that Army of Two will be on sale at a store near you starting November 15, 2007 in North America and Europe. Launching on the PS3 and the Xbox 360, gameplay focuses on two-man missions, two-man strategies, two-man tactics and a two-man advantage to bring a new and groundbreaking gaming experience to players worldwide, online and offline. Co-op is no longer a mode, it’s the game.

 

http://n4g.com/News-54198.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

cant wait any longer to get my hands on this game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[MightySkate]

Thanks everyone,

it's really living upto its name:) i can't wait to get it also..and since it's EA it'll be available here on time

[StormShadow]

Army of Two Progress Report

Look out China and Miami -- mercenaries are coming your way...

 

Often, when you think of video games revolving around warfare, you're frequently one man against a huge force of enemy soldiers. While some of these titles feature co-operative play, that mode is often an afterthought than a primary focus of the title. Placing a different spin on the modern battlefield title, Army of Two is highlighting two man strategy and tactical maneuvers of private military corporation soldiers deployed in global hot spots. At EA's Studio Showcase 07, we got some hands on time with the latest builds of the title, which showed off a bunch of new features, levels and gameplay elements.

 

While the final game will take place across six large theaters with a grand total of 40 checkpoints, the first level that we fought through took place in China. The initial goal of the level was to raise the levels of a lock high enough so a hovercraft could then be taken farther inland. This was much harder than it sounded, as the controls for the lock doors as well as the flood controls were guarded by a ton of troops, including a heavily armored warrior. In fact, we discovered that Army of Two will feature three different classes of enemy soldiers: Blue soldiers are basic warriors that aren't particularly skilled. Red soldiers are much more experienced with weapons and tactics. Finally, Yellow soldiers are as armored as Salem and Rios, and can only be killed from behind or by headshots. This quickly required a mix of distraction and flanking to successfully kill off this dangerous opponent.

 

Hand to Hand kills are just part of your weaponry in Army of Two.

We also found that there were a few new ways to eliminate enemies, such as brand new hand to hand attacks and animations. Many of these are sensitive to where your character is, so based on whether Salem or Rios are attacking from the side or behind someone, they'll pull off new attacks. There's a large variety of these moves, so we saw choke slams, elbow drops, head butts and knee takeouts as you eliminated people in arm's reach. All of these kills raised the newly included body count meter, which was an additional stat tracker included for players to see who's pulling their weight on a mission. Another way to kill large groups of enemies was with environmental attacks, such as blowing up propane tanks or other explosive items. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the GPS device for Salem and Rios that highlighted the duo's objectives also pointed out these hazards that could be exploited in the middle of battle.

 

The other mission, which took place in Miami shortly after it had been flooded by a hurricane, required us to take one of our hovercrafts through the flooded streets while blasting away at opponents with our mounted gun turret. This mission also gave us access to a new mission checkpoint feature known as "mid-mission shopping." Depending on where you happen to be over the course of being deployed, the game will offer you chances to change your weapons, purchase new arms or pimp out your currently owned guns to increase your aggrometer. What's extremely cool about this is that if a friend jumps in while you're in the midst of a mission, both of you will have the ability to adjust your loadouts to adjust for each other's style of play. For instance, if your partner is a run and gun player, you may choose to have suppression guards for your firearms and take a stealth approach to balance their style.

 

Battles will rage in the air, across the land and on the water as well.

 

The post alpha build definitely had some newer, sharper graphics, as well as a larger amount of co-op puzzles, such as triggering breakers to access new areas or opening doors with electronic switches from a distance so your partner could track down a new piece of equipment. But the one thing that really impressed us was the increased amount of banter and dialogue that was included to show off the personalities of the two main characters. For example, Salem (the smartass of the two soldiers) suddenly broke out into a comparison of Wu-Tang albums in the midst of a firefight, which quickly prompted Rios (the straighter-edged warrior) to wonder exactly why he should care, especially with enemies trying to kill them. It was a surprising and hilarious break in the midst of a fierce battle, but it really captured the disparate mindsets of these partners who are fighting their way through the world for a paycheck.

 

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/818/818149p1.html

 

 

 

cheers.

[StormShadow]

new screens-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers.

[MarketTantrik]

This game looks soooo much better than Kane and Lynch.

[KnackChap]

it looks as good as killzone 2

[jackhammer06]

it looks as good as killzone 2

Nah...Not as GOOD as Killzone 2...

[vinitwins]

post alpha build? isnt this releasing soon??

 

 

V