TFD takes place sometime after the events of the first Army of Two. Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios, two self-employed mercenaries, are tasked with setting beacons around Shanghai. Before they know what is happening, all hell breaks loose, and Salem and Rios are trying everything they can to escape a city on fire.
Unlike its predecessor, which took Rios and Salem all over the world (e.g. Afghanistan, Iraq, China), TFD is based strictly in Shanghai. Players must navigate half-destroyed buildings, an abandoned mall, and even a ransacked zoo in order to reach an extraction point. Along the way, Rios and Salem encounter hundreds of enemy mercenaries, all of whom want them dead. My friend Rob, with whom I played Army of Two and its sequel, lamented TFD’s one-city premise in place of the globe-trotting adventure in the first game. I’m inclined to agree. It’s not that a single location will always become tedious – just think of Rapture in BioShock or Shadow Moses Island in Metal Gear Solid – but in TFD, Shanghai is just not that interesting.
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| Rios holds a human shield while Salem ties up an enemy. |
Equally uninteresting is the story. The game’s writers didn’t do much to captivate an audience, explain the enemy forces and their motives, or make players root for Salem and Rios. In fact, Salem and Rios, who are basically contract killers, are two of the more unlikable video game heroes or, more appropriately, anti-heroes.
Where TFD does shine is in its gameplay. Stripped of its lackluster setting, uninteresting story, and unlikable characters, the game still plays well, especially with a friend. Salem and Rios can each equip three weapons – primary, secondary, and special – with which to take on wave after wave of mercenaries. TFD uses a cover system, not unlike Gears of War, whereby players run from cover to cover while engaging with enemy targets. They can either peek out and accurately target the enemy or fire blindly from behind cover. Rios and Salem can also perform co-op maneuvers, like simultaneous sniper shots or mock surrenders, to outwit and outperform opponents.
The weapon customization which made the original Army of Two so much fun returns in TFD. Players can purchase or unlock new weapons and then completely customize them by exchanging gun barrels, stocks, clips, sights, silencers, and appearance. There are more combinations in TFD than in Army of Two, in large part because weapon parts from one gun can be fitted onto others. For example, an AK-47 barrel can be attached to the body of a FN SCAR. It makes for some particularly ugly but effective weapons.
Two major additions to TFD include the ability to interact with hostages, and morality moments. The former I think works, the latter seems oddly out of place. At certain points in the game, Salem and Rios will come across some very frightened hostages held at gunpoint. Players can choose either to leave them to their fate or rescue them. Hostages can be rescued by killing armed guards or by disarming them, usually by capturing an officer. These encounters add much-needed diversity to TFD.
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| Choose carefully. |
Morality moments, conversely, don’t exactly work. These are moments that appear at pre-determined points in the game, and ask players to make a moral decision, e.g. whether or not to steal guns from a weapons locker. Whichever player chooses first chooses for the team. After the choice is made, players are shown the consequences, good and bad, of their actions through graphic novel panels. Some of the consequences are unexpected. Morality moments are an interesting idea, and certainly give TFD more replay value (players can experience the campaign again but make completely different choices), but they seem out of place in a third-person shooter, especially one that stars two mercenaries and that is already very dark.
Although not as good as the original, TFD offers enough fun with friends to recommend. The story, characters, and atmosphere may not make much sense, but the gameplay works. And, in the end, that’s more important.
Score: 7.5
Not surprisingly I agree with Evan's assessment of the game. When we first started the game I thought maybe we could do a Point/Counter Point when we were done. However as the game wore on I realized it would just be Point/More Point. In order to avoid repetition I'll just add a little of my own thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI had previously described to Evan how Army of Two: The 40th Day was sort of the bizarro form of Left 4 Dead 2. Whereas that sequel took what worked from the original and added even better bells and whistles, AOT: TFD is definitely less than the original. They stripped it down and what they added did not make up for the losses. With a singular city, no vehicles, less co-operative moves (joint sniping, the back-to-back defense, a signature of the original), it all seemed rushed and a wasted opportunity to build off the original the way most sequels do.
It is a diverting time, assuming you have a friend to play with rather than an AI. I could see the game becoming monotonous and repetitive if you didn’t have someone “real” to pass the time with. I was disappointed with Army of Two: The 40th Day and I hope that the developers spend a little more time on the third chapter to make it more like the original or, dare I hope, even better.