Army of Two Message Board

Ballistic facemasks aren't new. We've seen them in movies, comic books, video games like Army of Two. And we've seen them in real life, where they are utterly intimidating.Read more...

Visceral Montreal and IGN play a mission and chat.

Just how much property damage can two guys cause, anyway?

Nowadays, it seems like all sorts of beefed-up characters in shooter games can sling taunts and emotes. But back in 2008, Army of Two won a crucial bros’-rights battle when the two leads—whose names, c’mon, no one even remembers—were able to express their bro-love for each other in a series of team-based mechanics. With elements like drawing fire from hostiles to give the other guy a chance to mow them down or cradling your fingers together to enable a crucial step-jump, Army of Two exemplified what true bro-dude-ness feels like.  Now, Army of Two did have slight aspirations of political commentary, which were focused on what it would look like private military corporations ran amok. Amidst all the co-op shooting and fist-bumping, you got the sense that someone in there wanted to say something about organizations like Blackwater being active in geopolitical hotspots. But mostly it was about saving your bro from dying a lot. That game’s sequel Army of Two: The 40th Day was set in a Shanghai laid low by an cataclysmic earthquake also had some subtext about the behaviors that bubble up when society crumbles. But, whatever, it also let you do a sweet air-guitar gesture after shooting out a guy’s kneecaps.  When a third game in the Army of Two series was announced earlier this year, homeslices everywhere wondered what kind of bro-hemian rapture (that’s the name of the tune from Wayne’s World, right?) was in the works. I got a brief hands-on with Devil’s Cartel a few weeks ago and I swear my baseball cap turned itself around on my head. (Note: I don’t even wear baseball caps!) Devil’s Cartel aims its pair of protagonists at the bloody drug trade that’s wreaking havoc in Mexico. Tequila-based power-ups? Noiiiiice. (Those aren’t in the game. But they should be.) The bro-mance started right off as my character was shot in the dome—which I assume wasn’t lethal thanks to a bitchin’ faceplate—and had to help my partner fend off a bunch of jerks until he could come get me back on my feet. From there, the level I jumped in on had the two mercs storming a villa filled with bad guys. I didn’t hear any of the sausage party bickering that charactized the previous Ao2 games (no one calls it AoT, aight, guy?). These badasses were getting along? S’all good. Homies can get along. Bros contain multitudes, too, y’know? Speaking of multitudes, the art style in Devil’s Cartel—done up in the Frostbite 2 engine—seemed more high contrast than in previous Ao2 games. And the violence seemed more amped up. The EA rep on hand said that the Visceral Montreal dev studio was aiming for more of an action movie feel, and the gameplay certainly felt like it would be at home in a Jason Statham movie. (Can Brit dudes be bros? Must research.) Cover-chaining lets the player move from safe spot to safe spot quickly and an assortment of pistols, assault rifles and grenade launchers were on hand to blast enemies with. Every kill and co-op move built up an Overkill meter, which feeds a power-up that gives you unlimited ammo and basically turns you invulnerable for a short time. In other words, it turns you into Bruce Willis, blessed be his name. Lots of environmental destruction was in evidence as we blasted our way through the level, especially when a helicopter gunship—hey, those are NOT cliché—tried to perforate the two main characters. Pumping round after round into the hovering aircraft was kind of mindless but enjoyable fun. And it crashed under our assault, because that’s what’s supposed to happen. Kicking butt not only earns Overkill but also banks points that you can use to upgrade guns and gear, too. The plot details of Army of Two: Devil’s Cartel aren’t being discussed now but whatevs to that. You know what the story’s about: you and your bro—back-to-back—against the world.

Let Visceral Montreal walk you through the new mechanics and characters in the debut demo of The Devils Cartel.

#armyoftwo Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel might be the most unnecessary sequel of this console generation. Who asked for this? Did you? You? What about you? It sure as hell wasn't me. More »

#armyoftwo Army of Two is a polarizing franchise. It had the one thing the original developer EA Montreal set out to create: exceptional cooperative gameplay. Everything else, with the exception of the over-the-top bromance comedy between the two private military contractors, fell to the wayside. Now with Dead Space developer Visceral Games at the helm, the franchise is being fine-tuned with a gold and chrome toolkit. More »

Game Informer's upcoming cover image. Yep, that looks about right for an Army of Two game.

Oh Army of Two. Has there been a franchise in recent memory more incapable of making good on its potential than this one? The first game, while not a disaster, never quite managed to pull off its attempts at irreverence amid cooperative mercenary combat. The second one...well, let's just pretend that game never happened. Now EA has announced a third Army of Two game, and it will be the "more intense, mature, and gritty" reboot of the series that I'm not sure anyone was actually asking for.

The game, titled The Devil's Cartel, is in development at Visceral Games' Montreal studio, and will employ DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. The game stars Alpha and Bravo, two mercenaries under the employ of Tactical Worldwide Operations who find themselves in the middle of Mexico's unfortunate war between drug cartels. This may rightfully give you some really bad flashbacks to the painfully unfortunate tone of Call of Juarez: The Cartel, but according to the press release, as well as this cover teaser posted on Game Informer's website, The Devil's Cartel will attempt to take its setting a good bit more seriously than its predecessors did.

My question is, does anyone want that? I always wanted to enjoy the Army of Two games, but my problem with them wasn't that they weren't gritty or serious enough. My problem was that save for a few moments of legitimately creative levity, most of the series' limp attempts at comedy fell flat. This one seems like it's targeting those who were more focused on the co-op shooting than the story, so maybe this'll work just fine for them. I can't say I would be terribly excited for a jocular take on the Mexican drug wars, anyway. Fist bumping over the bodies of innocent victims of drug violence just feels, I don't know, slightly inappropriate.

You tell me. Does the idea of a more serious business Army of Two sound like something you'd want to play?

#armyoftwo EA's co-op paramilitary shooter will be beck with a new game from Visceral Games. Excerpts from today's press release follows: More »

#armyoftwo Late last year, we told you EA had begun work on a new Army of Two game, only this time it was called Army of Four. More »

#rumor Army of Two is a 2008 co-op third-person shooter that allowed one player to control one of the mercenaries, while the other player controlled the second. A sequel followed—Army of Two: The 40th Day—in 2010, and it was more of the same. The next game could be different. More »

Cosplay enthusiasts will tell you: making costumes based on your favorite fictional characters can be expensive. Depending on how accurate a recreation you're going for, you can drop some serious duckets on materials. Not to mention the trouble of explaining to your parents who Marcus Phoenix is and why you would want to dress up like him.

That's why we'd like to inform you of the latest Avatar Marketplace update, a cheaper alternative for your fixation with dress-up. Two new game styles are available: A World of Keflings and Army of Two. You can find a plethora of branded hats and shirts from each title, as well as some full body costumes -- you can see the Ninja Bee outfit above.

Source - Army of Two Avatar items
Source - A World of Keflings Avatar collection

Experience 2010's first blockbuster videogame before release.