There are a lot of gamers who will tell you they’re fed up with war games. Many believe that no matter which era you’re playing in; whether it is WW II or a Gulf conflict, it’s all the same. EA obviously knows that the market is flooded with carbon copy war-themed shooters. Maybe they learned this after they released the last Medal of Honor. Who knows? But one thing is for sure, Army of Two is not your typical war themed game. Hopefully younger gamers know this since the story woven is completely fictional and plays out more like summer action flick than your typical 360 game. And that’s exactly what we were looking for.

Army of Two has it all. There’s killing, action, and a conspiracy that goes “higher than you can imagine”. Alright, maybe it doesn’t go that high, but the story is solid. Anyone who walks into this game should do so with a sense of humor. It’s almost certain that some will complain about the way in which real-life events have been joked about or not taken seriously enough. It is a game. And if you remember that, you might even laugh along with it as it mocks some serious historical events.

Graphically, this game looks polished and sets the mood perfectly. The environments look great and most importantly, the stars of the game look great. That is to say they look as good as you can if you’ve been through several lifetimes’ worth of war. These guys look like they’ve seen it all. And that’s the point. Once you see these guys, you get a little more confidence that you can take on anything the game has to offer. But back to the environments for a moment, which look great. With so much destructible content, Army of Two pulls off stunning looking back drops even when everything is getting blown to bits.

The sound however, doesn’t quite reach the same level of quality as the visuals. Famed action movie composer - Trevor Morris brings his patented style of action driven music to this game. It’s just a shame that the voice actors didn’t have the same level of dedication to the final product. The voice acting never really expresses any emotion you can take seriously. And even though the game itself can be viewed as somewhat tongue-in-cheek at times, you can tell the dialogue wasn’t meant to be. The great soundtrack only makes the rest of the audio seem that much worse.

When it comes to the gameplay, you should already have a pretty good idea of what the point is based on the title alone. You are part of an “Army of Two”. Are you blown away by this? There is a single-player campaign, but since there’s TWO of you; you’ll be teamed up with an AI partner. But this AI is lacking on the “I” and is clearly “Artificial”. You see what I did there? Pretty smooth, right? So do yourself a favor. If you are going to play this game, make sure you have a buddy to enjoy it with. Because if you don’t, you may not enjoy it at all. Just in case you’re a lonely gamer, EA has included online co-op. So you’re set in the game, but you may want to get out and meet some people anyways. That’s just a personal tip.

Now that you have a partner to help “bring the pain”, you’re in for some great co-op fun. Everything about Army of Two is designed from the ground up for two players who are working together. This becomes apparent as you come to hurdles that you just can’t overcome alone. You’ll need to work together, which may sound annoying if you think about previous titles that required cooperation, but this game does it right. Despite being forced to work together, the obstacles don’t feel too linear. Credit has to be given to the developer for that.

What Army of Two comes down to is a fun co-op title. It’s not the deepest game on the market. As a matter of fact, it is pretty thin on content, but the cooperative fun makes up for the lack of depth. If you thought Halo 3’s campaign was short, be warned that Army of Two feels shorter. And just like the Assassin’s Creed story, it feels cut short due to an already planned sequel. But once you’re done laying down the law on your AI enemies, there’s plenty more fun to be had online with the co-op battles. This will allow you and a friend to show other would-be mercs who’s the best.

Army of Two didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it did add some tread to the tire. In a market where most have to rely on Lego games for co-op amusement, Army of Two is a shining star that fills the large hole of local and online co-op. If you’re the type who “plays well with others”, then you’ll have fun tearing this game up online and off. But remember, this title isn’t for the lone rangers out there.