EA games
Army of 2 the 40th day

"Army of Two: The 40th Day", for those unaware, is a war video game, featuring two mercenaries named Rios and Salem. Both clad in heavy armor complete with iron masks reminiscent of hockey masks and their immensely powerful customizable weapons, they battle classic terrorists and other villains of various ethnicities, managing to match the might of a regular army all by themselves. Rios is a big and seemingly simple guy, but in the game, we'll see that he's more reflective (sometimes perhaps too paranoid) than his impulsive and brash partner Salem, who is smaller in stature but more aggressive. 

This is the sequel to the unfortunately little-regarded "Army of Two". What's changed in this version? Let's start with the setting... China. The two protagonists are tasked with meeting another mercenary who will help them place markers in various locations on behalf of someone, but just when the job seems finished, a general bombardment starts on Shanghai. The goal is to escape and survive the enemy hordes attacking us, making our way through rubble and devastated skyscrapers. But that's not all; we'll find ourselves in situations where we have to save civilians threatened by these mysterious armed individuals (of course, we're not obliged to do so). Hence, the action takes place only in Shanghai, instead of roaming around the world like in the previous version of the game. The game will offer us choices, and depending on what we choose, we'll see what the future holds for that person or situation.

Other changes to the game compared to its predecessor include, of course, the graphics; the characters and their details are very well done, though some environmental details are a bit lacking, appearing somewhat plasticky at certain points. The soundtracks are somewhat anonymous, but the rest is more than sufficient. Controls have been changed, and it takes some getting used to if you're familiar with the old Army of Two, but they make the game more dynamic and intuitive. The gameplay remains more or less the same. We have a bar called the Aggrometer, which measures the character's aggression. In simple terms, with high aggression, one tends to attract enemy attention by continually firing. In this case, your partner becomes virtually invisible to the enemy, enabling him to advance and eliminate enemies more easily—a perfect teamwork tactic.

The big innovation in the game is the small scenarios where we can act stealthily. For example, if we have to free hostages from a group of threatening enemies, one of the protagonists must take a soldier in the rear hostage. By doing so, his comrades will automatically surrender, raising their hands and kneeling. At that moment, your partner has the task of tying them up... or killing them. But it's not just about saving civilians; we also need to think about our wallets and equipment. There will be similar situations; by acting stealthily, we can raid enemy supplies and unlock additional money, weapons, or equipment. If we mess up, one of the soldiers will close the crate, and we can't do anything about it. There's another new feature, the fake surrender. The name says it all: when we find ourselves kneeling, there will be a moment where we have to quickly draw the gun at the same time as our partner.

There are plenty of weapons, especially the primary ones, which are the most used. There are only a few pistols, just 3, while the specials are about 5 or 6, including sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and grenade launchers. But that's not all. I mentioned money earlier, and you may have wondered: what's the use of money in a war zone? Well, with money, we can modify our weapons, giving them different characteristics to make them more powerful, manageable, accurate, silent, or noisy (in case we want to have high aggression). We have the old M4, the AK47, the P90 (my favorite), the brand new SCAR L, and we can modify them completely; stocks, barrels, various sights, larger or smaller magazines, extra slots, silencers, or flash suppressors. We can create true weapon hybrids as we see fit in a given situation. Example? We can combine the M4's body with the AK47's barrel and the SCAR L's stock, etc. Another novelty is the customization of the masks, almost a symbol of this game. We start with about twenty different pre-made masks, but here's the twist: by visiting the Army of Two website, we can create them as we want with symbols, colors, and more. Or, if you're not very creative, you can "steal" ready-made models from others, and it's astonishing what can be found. Some creations left me speechless and incredulous at the creative possibilities we have with that very simple program. And, of course, the online mode couldn't be missing, where we can showcase our skills acquired during the game against other players. Naturally, there are various modes here too, classic team deathmatch or the game's specific mode, which is a team deathmatch of two— you and a random person against other groups of two. There are plenty of items, weapons, costumes, and even videos, and certainly, to unlock everything, you'll need to play more than once. 

This game has taken a giant step forward and has perfected and completed the cooperative gaming experience. The only flaws of this game are the following: the difficulty in playing single-player, as the AI of the partner is a bit lacking. I would recommend playing with a brother, cousin, or friend (also because the game is meant for two :-), but this, too, has its downside, especially if you play on a shared screen. Unfortunately, the screen is split vertically instead of horizontally and it takes a long time to get used to such a setup. If one really can't get the hang of it, I recommend playing online with a friend using headsets. Now, I'm not sure about this because my partner (my brother) and I finished it in a short time, about three days. It's true that we got quite involved in this game and played for hours, but I think they could've added a few more hours of gameplay even if the elevated difficulty of the game makes it quite enduring, especially for less experienced players. I am passionate about video game plots, and they hold significant weight in the game for me. Here, I must say I didn't quite understand why and how everything happened, but I've read sources that this is just a prologue for something more substantial. Of course, this game doesn't lack theatricality, with breathtaking scenes worthy of a Bruce Willis film.

Final consideration: this game certainly deserves a place in your video game collection if you're a shooting game enthusiast and have a little brother who can lend a hand. It's a good title, not very long-lived but engaging, dynamic, and theatrical.