Army Of Two: The 40th Day Review

In a gaming world dominated by blockbuster, balls-out blasters, there are a lot of niggling frustrations in the latest Army Of Two.

For starters, there’s little in the way of plot or explanation for the all-pervasive bloodshed, making for a strangely detached experience that feels awkward beside the rich storytelling and engaging characters in a game like Modern Warfare 2. The clunky controls are also a source of irritation as many actions are unleashed using the same button, meaning that you’ll often bumble into the middle of a firefight or roll into a blaze of bullets until you’ve mastered the tricky cover system. And while the gumption of your computer-controlled comrade when playing solo has been dramatically improved since the first AoT, there are still moments when your AI partner will continue to target a particular enemy and try to pin them down, seemingly oblivious to the other aggressor mercilessly pounding their back with gunfire.

But even with these frustrations, there’s still a lot to enjoy in The 40th Day, particularly when you get to grips with the game’s deep customisation options that allow you to pimp your weapons beyond recognition, both in terms of their performance and paintjob. The presence of civilians on the battlefields also adds an extra layer of strategy to the hardcore action, presenting you with moral choices that don’t necessarily affect the outcome of the game, but nonetheless add variety to the slaughter. And while there’s no shortage of online blasters to choose from these days, AoT’s co-operative, two-man approach to the skirmishes is fun and refreshing, forcing you to work in a close-knit unit and hatch daring strikes to demolish your rivals.