Army of Two

Alain Tascan of EA Montreal wasn’t too impressed with Epic’s high-octane, high-scorer Gears of War - the Vice President of the company that brings us yearly sports and Harry Potter updates felt that the vicious antics of Fenix and co. lacked innovation. Crazy words indeed, but at least he had the decency to admit that if Army of Two fails to dazzle, he will be guzzling Milk of Magnesia in an attempt to digest those words.

But with each passing new scrap of info on this wise-cracking, gimmick-filled buddy-shooter, Al seems to be on firmer ground. We’ve already filled you in on the innovations/gimmicks before - the all-encompassing reliance on your partner throughout every mercenary mission; the CPR-based resuscitation mini-game you face when your energy meter crashes; the design-a-weapon feature - but one thing we haven’t quite emphasized is just how take-out-your-eyes-and-polish-them gorgeous it’s looking - nearly every scrap of footage so far released has been in-game, and EA has nailed the photo-realistic look better than most games have on the 360.

The latest trailer, released by EA just a few weeks ago, once again underlines the huge importance of co-op in Army of Two (and, as a result of that, the superiority of your partner’s AI in the single-player version). We see renegade mercs Salem and Rios giving each other a leg up to fire over a wall, wiping out a whole line of foes; we see them driving a fork-lift truck so the other can sit on top and deal out the pain on the move... and we see them falling asleep during a pep talk back at HQ, presumably thanks to their blood-spilling exertions in the field.

We’re hoping the humor doesn’t render the whole enterprise too annoying to endure when it’s released this autumn - otherwise, this looks lots of fun.