Army of Two: The 40th Day

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a third-person shooter video game that is developed by EA Montreal and published by Electronic Arts for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable. It is the sequel to Army of Two. Army of Two: The 40th Day was released on January 12, 2010 in North America and January 15, 2010 in Europe.
The 40th Day focuses on two-player cooperative play and employs a cover system. It features Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem as combatant partners who, with the assistance of their handler Alice Murray, must fight to survive and prevail over invading forces that have engulfed Shanghai, China in a devastating terrorist attack. A demo of the game was released on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.
==Gameplay==
Weapons and upgrades are available, with interchangeable upgrades between weapons such as adding the barrel of one assault rifle to another. The "pimped" option returns with new camouflage schemes. Weapons can now also be obtained from downed enemies, increasing the player's arsenal to four weapons. Bullets will be able to penetrate weaker materials such as wood and sheet metal. Certain weapons can only be unlocked by morality moments. Weapon parts can be obtained in the game for free, either by searching armored boxes (which are locked as soon as the enemy guarding it detects the player's presence), rescuing hostages, or simply exploring.
New Heavy enemy types appear as bosses. They wear thick armor and often require a special method of attack to defeat, such as shooting gas canisters or grenade bags that they carry. The Heavy enemies carry weapons such as a flamethrower and a gatling gun that cannot be unlocked by the player, though they can be picked up and temporarily used after the Heavy is defeated.
===Co-op Playbook===
The 40th Day expands on and refines the cooperative play featured in the original game. Players can use co-op moves at any time. The playbook allows players to scan enemies prior to engaging them in order to set up particular team-based tactics. For example, players can mock surrender or set up simultaneous sniper shots. This is in addition to using aggro as a mechanic for tactically engaging enemies in the midst of combat.
===Aggro===
Aggro is a system that allows two players to tactically control the target of their enemy's attacks. Aggro is measured by a HUD element that displays which player the enemy characters are currently focusing on. By performing aggressive actions, such as firing one’s weapon, a player generates aggro and in turn causes enemies to focus more of their attention on that player. While one player has aggro the other is being ignored and as a result can then freely perform actions such as flanking. In The 40th Day, additional non-aggressive actions can affect aggro. For example, by performing a mock surrender the enemy combatants will focus all of their attention on the player that is surrendering.
===Morality Moments===
In The 40th Day players are forced to make moral decisions that affect the story of the game. At pre-determined points in the game players will be presented with a choice, for example whether they should steal weapons from a mall security armory or vacate the premises. The decision is not a vote between two players, but instead either player must decide while the other player is forced to accept the ramifications of that decisions regardless of what their preference was. The outcome and presentation of these morality moments takes the form of comic panels created by the popular artists Chris Bachalo, Jamie Mendoza and Jock.
===Dynamic and Variety in Gameplay===
EA Montreal has taken steps to ensure that the gameplay in The 40th Day is more dynamic than the original. This includes the environment, where some objects, such as wooden walls and crumbling mortar can now be penetrated by bullets. There are noncombatant NPCs that players will be forced to engage with. Players can simply ignore these civilian NPCs and allow them to be killed, or players can decide to rescue them. This sort of interaction can also occur in specific hostage scenarios where players must use cooperative moves to successfully overcome the situation.
===Multiplayer===
Multiplayer in The 40th Day includes region-free play, client-server connections, and an increased number of participants.
The 40th Day maintains its focus on cooperative gameplay by requiring that players play in a partnership. Partners are a source for ammunition and are able to revive their fallen team mate. There are four multiplayer game modes:
*Co-op Deathmatch pits teams of two against other partnerships.
*Control awards points to teams for capturing and defending randomly spawned points.
*Warzone has players battle over various objectives.
*Extraction is a game mode where teams of four fight waves of increasingly powerful enemies in order to clear the map for extraction.
==Plot==
The story finds Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem as self employed private contractors, who along with Alice Murray run Trans World Operations (TWO). Their second mission as the newly formed company takes them to Shanghai where they are tasked with meeting a contact named JB. Upon meeting him it is revealed that he was once an SSC Operative. JB leads them to a back alley where their gear and weapons have been stashed. They then proceed with the second part of their mission in the form of planting locator beacons throughout strategic locations in Shanghai. After planting the last of the beacons and an encounter with overzealous security guards they regroup on a rooftop of a building.
Following a sequence in which JB's fate is decided, a cut scene triggers showing the city of Shanghai under attack as buildings are bombarded and chaos reigns down below. Rios and Salem escape the rooftop and ascend the building encountering groups of mercenaries that have specifically targeted them. They manage to contact Alice who informs them that she is alive and is trapped in the South African Consulate. They set course for the consulate, dispatching waves of mercenaries through toppled and burning buildings as well as encountering civilian hostages. Rios and Salem discover Alice being held hostage in an office. After freeing her, they fight their way to the main hall of the consulate where a cutscene triggers a helicopter crashing through the building and subsequently creating a hole on the floor for them to escape.
They flee through the hole and wind up on the outside of the building where Alice instructs them to get on an elevated platform as she lowers them via a crane. They eliminate countless waves of mercenaries as Alice lowers them to the bottom of the building. A quick exit is created as a bus crashes through a wall. Rios and Salem exit through the hole in the wall and encounter more mercenaries as they traverse a highway. After eliminating the last of them, they escape through a utility door beneath a tunnel. Rios and Salem push forward through the streets of Shanghai encountering more mercenaries and civilian hostages. They make their way to the entrance of the Shanghai Zoo where they encounter a zoo employee who guides them via television monitors and speakers.
Rios and Salem rescue a trapped zoo worker who leads them to an exit. After departing the zoo, Rios and Salem are contacted by Alice, who has found safe haven, and informs them to locate a communications tower to hopefully signal for help. Rios and Salem march forward, traversing rooftops as they eliminate enemy waves. They finally reach the communication tower only to discover an empty room. They decide to continue forward and jump to an adjacent balcony. The balcony suddenly gives way and Salem plummets down to the ground and is knocked unconscious. Salem awakens 24 hours later in a hospital. They are met by Dr. Wu who asks for their help in evacuating the patients. After restarting the generator, Rios and Salem encounter more mercenaries. They fight past them and meet up with a small boy named Chin who guides them through the hospital.
Rios and Salem proceed through the halls of the hospital eliminating mercenaries as they go, and eventually meet up with Dr. Wu. They reach the reception room and defend it from waves of invading mercenaries. Once the opposition was eliminated, they exit the hospital and take a shortcut heading toward the mall. Rios and Salem fight their way through countless waves of mercenaries as they head for the mall. They fight off as many enemies as they can, but are overwhelmed and captured. Rios and Salem awake in the mall, stripped of their gear and weapons and separated in custom holding cells. They are freed by a mercenary named Breznev who leads them to their gear and weapons. Breznev informs them that he has secured three bombs that, if placed in strategically marked locations on the upper floor, will destroy the communications center down below.
Rios and Salem plant the bombs as they encounter more mercenaries, and ultimately destroy the communications center. Breznev leads them to an exit, and they go their separate ways. After exiting the mall, Alice once again communicates with Rios and Salem and informs them that she managed to convince a pilot to fly them out of Shanghai, but they must reach the extraction point quickly because of the heavy enemy presence. Rios and Salem fight their way through the Bunds, encountering heavy waves of mercs. As they near the extraction point, Alice informs them that the pilot will not land the chopper until they destroy two anti-aircraft guns. After doing so, they reach the extraction point only to have the chopper shot down and destroyed. Alice is presumed dead at this point.
Rios and Salem bunker down to rest, and, realizing that there is no escape, decide to exact revenge on the man responsible for this nightmare; They decide to kill the leader of the 40th Day Initiative, Jonah Wade. They track him to a Chinese temple that is heavily fortified. If the player saved all of the civilian hostages, they will appear armed and ready to back up Rios and Salem. If the player fail to save all the civilians, then Rios and Salem must take on the enemies alone. The pair infiltrate the temple and eliminate wave after wave of mercenaries until they reach the inner sanctum. Rios and Salem blast their way through a large door, and finally come face to face with Jonah. Jonah delivers a monologue justifying his actions as a violent social experiment to force the world to turn back from the moral decay that is destroying it. Jonah is holding a device which he claims is the trigger for a nuclear bomb located in the heart of the city.
He offers Rios and Salem a choice to make an "Act of Sacrifice" by having one of them shoot the other, or choose to kill him and his invading force, which will detonate the bomb, killing 7 million people. Choosing to kill one's partner will lead to Jonah revealing that the bomb was a hoax and you kill him anyway. Choosing to kill Jonah leads to the bomb still being a hoax but the invading force continues to plague the city. Killing one's partner ends the game with an epilogue where the surviving partner laments for taking the life of his friend. Killing Jonah ends the game with an epilogue where Jonah quotes the Holy Bible as his inspiration for his actions in Shanghai.
==Weaponry and Equipment==
===Weapon Customization===
A predominant feature is the ability to customize weapons using money that is earned. The official Army of Two blog describes it as "like Lego with Guns […] every part of your weapon is customizable and interchangeable with parts from other weapons.” The changes to weapons are not only for appearance, but also affect the performance and the amount of aggro that they generate. Some weapon characteristics that can be changed are handling, accuracy, ammunition capacity, and power.
===Mask Customization===
Rios and Salem wear ballistic masks as part of their combat gear. By logging into the Army of Two: The 40th Day website, the player can create custom designs that appear on their masks in both campaign and multiplayer.
===Weapon Design Contest===
A community-oriented weapons design contest was run for The 40th Day. The contest challenged fans and enthusiasts from North America, Italy, France, and the UK to submit an image and brief description of a weapon that they designed. Two weapon designs (one from the North American and one from the European entries) were chosen as winners and will appear in the game for those players who have a saved game present on their game console from the original Army of Two.
The winning entries were chosen on August 6, 2009. The winning entries were the AS-KR1 "The Ass Kicker" Rifle (submitted by Angry Joe show) and the "Grand Pinger" Sniper Launcher (submitted by Uberblargh).
==Downloadable Content==
On February 22, 2010 Electronic Arts announced DLC with the title Chapters of Deceit. It was released on April 1, 2010 for 800 Microsoft points on Xbox LIVE and $9.99 on the PlayStation Network. It features two new campaign levels - "The Assassination" and "Collateral Damage" which attempt to bridge the plot gap between Mission 004: The Hospital and 005: The Mall.
==Reception==
The game received generally positive reviews. It has received Metacritic scores of 74%, and 73% for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions respectively. IGN awarded it 8.5, saying "The morality moments could have posed larger dilemmas and the AI still stumbles at times, but overall, The 40th Day is a great game to blast through." PSM3 Magazine UK awarded it 85%, saying "It's not the most progressive or technically impressive game on PS3, but the morality system, weapon customization and online co-op elevate it, and it's one of the best cover-to-cover shooters on PS3", while PlayStation: The Official Magazine (US) awarded it 9 out of 10, saying "EA Montreal delivers a rich, over-the-top buddy experience that provides intelligent choices and a tough but fun Die Hard-like vibe that helps lighten the game's dark, gritty atmosphere." While Hardcore Gamer Magazine criticized the game's minor improvements and similarity to the original, it noted that "the 40th day is more serious, lacking in the “what the hell” moments that peppered the first game." GameZone's Dakota Grabowski gave the game a 6/10, saying "Army of Two: The 40th Day is a testosterone-fueled cooperative shooter that improved on what the original set forth at doing – delivering an experience that is 99 percent aimed at males who enjoy drinking beer and playing cooperatively with their action-oriented buddies. What about the other 1 percent? Well … let’s say they must enjoy B-action movies, full of clichés, to gain any sense of gratification out of The 40th Day.".
The PlayStation Portable version has received generally unfavorable reviews with a Metacritic score of 49%. 1UP.com gave the game a D, saying "there just really isn't much to recommend about this game."
==Links==
*Army of Two: The 40th Day official site
*"Army of Two: The 40th Day Metacritic". Metacritic.
*"Army of Two: The 40th Day Game Rankings". GameRankings.
Category:2010 video games
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