A Review of Army of Two: The 40th Day

Posted by John as 2d Shooter

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a third-person shooter in which your objective is simple: get out of Shanghai alive.

When you are in the mood for something loud and fun, The 40th Day is the game for you. It provides a brash, satisfying action with the same, shallow appeal as a hit.

Play the Army of Two: The 40th Day with your buddy and blast your way through enemies care of customized weapons. The gunplay and some awkward movements of the game are solid and satisfying. If you are into teamwork to complete goals then this game is for you (and your buddy)!

Release date: January 12, 2010

Good points

• Brutal, satisfying gunplay

• Engaging weapon customization

• Diverse, detailed environments

• Good implementation of light cooperative tactics

• Surprising replay value.

Bad points

• Short campaign

• Often laggy online play

• Awkwardness in movement

• Weird dabbling on morality.

A combination of superb game play, humor and action-packed game play made Army of Two an instant success. EA Montreal, its maker, knew just what its entire fan base need to satisfy their expectations.

For those who had played the first game, it is obvious that the main game play mechanics haven’t drastically changed despite some major improvements. The key to this game is the cooperative game play. The 40th day pushes the trend of weapon customization and tactical strategies at the same time exploring something new to the series, moral choices.

Army of Two: the 40th Day sees the return of a more improved and better weapon customization system. You earn new items by completing objectives in the game. Find weapon parts lying in the street or heavily guarded supply crates. Aim to kill guards nearby to gain access to crates filled with parts of weapon and cash. The fundamental part to the game play is to constantly upgrade your inventory. The game won’t dictate when you’re able to make changes. You can now access the weapon customization menu whenever you want to, given you are not in combat.

Tactical decisions made in the game must be carefully weighed since it has a direct impact on your team and long-term consequences. For an instance, a series of negative decisions can lead to a character hindering your access to a useful area. Due to the cold-hearted nature of mercenaries, you can find yourself torn between a unique piece of item and ethical choice. Every scripted decision has an animation that shows the consequences of your action either positive or negative. Aim to save civilians from the deadly hands of the enemy to reap bonus morality points as well as weapons parts and extra cash. When these civilians die, you are left with only negative points.

Teamwork

Learn how to think of decisions beneficial for you and partner. You can find a friendship status at the bottom left of the pause menu. Get to earn a friendly hero label when you free hostages, stick with right choices, and play a game of rock-paper-scissors with your partner on a frequent basis. Don’t overdo high five or hug too much or else you would be labeled as “ambiguous or uncertain heroes”. Labels can be changed if you decide to slap or punch your partner for no apparent reason at all or because of the moral choices he makes. The game is interesting thanks to the new morality system but could be limited than you might expect it to be. Watch out when the entire level or chapter resets itself at the start of the next chapter. You can make wrong choices if you want to then make it up in the next one.

See a more vigorous multiplayer feature in the new Army of Two: the 40th Day. Three modes can be played with twelve players namely Warzone (a returning mode found in the first game), Control (two groups battle it out to seize and hold control points) and Co-op death match. The fourth mode is called “extraction”, a survival mode with an emphasis on cooperative play but is only available to players who pre-ordered the game with EA but will be soon made available to everyone as DLC a month following its release.

Visual effects and sounds

The 40th Day shows an enormous improvement compared to its release. The plot is limited in Shanghai unlike the diverse locations in the first game. When you play the character of Rios and Salem in the chaotic city, you witness the transformation of Shanghai from an urban paradise into a wrecked place. Play your way through highly detailed indoor and outdoor settings. See stunning Zoo and Market levels as well as other subtle touches found in new melee attacks and the characters flipping their masks up from time to time. Visit the game’s official website to customize their facemask and armor and use them in game. The visual enhancements may seem apparent but the game suffers from camera issues evidently seen during fooling around animations and some texture pop in but is minimal.

The voice behind the characters Salem (Nolan North) and Rios (Jonathan Adams) did a brilliant job. The humor is amusing especially when the two protagonists talk but some people can find the humor irritating when it becomes repetitive. Aside from that, the sounds of the environmental build of the city are outstanding most especially the sound effects of the weapons. The better your weapon gets, the better the way your weapon sounds.

The weak points of the game include strange comments on morality during the short campaign but can be easily forgotten by the brutal action of the plot. There is a lag when you do play on the lively online game by is not enough to stop you to enjoy the brutal gunplay of The Army of Two game.

Campaign

Expect to see six chapters of the campaign. The expected time to complete the game is less than 10 hours depending on the skill level. Replayability is what makes the 40th Day different from few other shooters. It is better to play the game alone then replaying it with your buddy (human, of course). Multiplayer function sets it unique and more fun to play. You will be logging even more hours especially in the Extraction mode, available to those who pre-ordered the game. If you haven’t, check it out after a month.

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Meet the New Indie Shooter: Creed Arena

Posted by John as Shmups

The start of 2010 unveils new shooters that you should definitely check out. For starters, let’s see what Creed Arena has in store for all players out there.

Safari Studios released their Xbox Indie Arcade named Creed Arena. The game is filled with 16 arenas and unique game feature that involve winning over the fight crowds.

Play your way in arena battles set in gladiatorial fashion. You have various ways to play the game either solo, split-screen co-op, online multiplayer and even split-screen online multiplayer. Multiplayer feature is not always available for Xbox Indie titles.

Try out the demo and try out the Live Multiplayer game mode if you’re impressed enough to buy the game.

Snag this baby for 400 Microsoft point.

Read the full press release below.

Sydney, Australia – January 03, 2010 – Indie developer Safari Studios has just released Creed Arena onto XBOX Live Indie Games, a dazzling new shooter with some unique game mechanics.

In just 3 days of sales, Creed Arena has already surpassed many other games on the channel. XBOX shooter fans from around the world are hailing Creed Arena as the best indie shooter around.

Fetatures include:

• 16 unique arenas, each with a different challenge

• Solo Championship – become the most popular gladiator in the tournament

• Splitscreen Co-op – play through the game with a friend

• Online Multiplayer – try to get to the top of the global popularity chart

• Splitscreen Online Multiplayer – 2 people can play online together

About Creed Arena

Fight other gladiators infront of thousands of spectators. Become the most popular fighter in the tournament. Win enough fans to unleash your “crowd rage”, an intense rampage that makes you bigger, faster and more powerful. Unique weapons, 16 arenas, and intense action in solo, co-op and online muliplayer.

About Safari Studios

Safari Studios is a two man indie development team based in Sydney, Australia. Matthew and Laurence Rietdijk have been developing XBOX games for 2 years now, and one a top 20 position in Microsoft’s most recent Dream Build Play competition.

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Experience Killing Engine shooter on the 25th!

Posted by John as Shmups

Fans of 2d shooter games will finally get a taste of Killing Engine as its estimated release day draws near. The free multiplayer shooter is set to be released on 25th of January 2010.

Killing Engine is a free multiplayer shooter where you team up with your friends to beat the opposing team. It takes place in an imaginary universe where Finland and Russia are at war with each other. The game features:

• Support for up to 64 players

• Large battlegrounds that take place in forests, wastelands, villages and cities

• 18 different weapons

• Easy to use Level editor

• Destructible environment

• Three different game modes

You can download the Beta 0.92 from the DOWNLOADS page.

Technorati Tags: download, january 25 2010 release date, killing engine shooter, multiplayer shooter, shmup