The Army of Two Reboot What We Know So Far And What We Hope For
In case you hadn’t heard yet Army of Two is getting a reboot. While I was a huge fan of the first game I won’t lie when I say the ending of the second game left me with a sour taste in my mouth but even still I took to the news of a reboot with some trepidation. Details are still scarce about the reboot but we do know a few things. Salem and Rios will be taking a back seat this time around to make way for two new protagonists simply named Alpha and Bravo. On the surface they appear to be very similar to Rios and Salem with their use of body armor including full face masks fans should feel some what at home in their appearance. The game will take place in the same universe as the first two games and may shed some light on what has become of Salem and Rios since the last time we saw them.
On the surface Alpha and Bravo appear very similar to Rios and Salem
Still playing as mercs for hire the game will take place in Mexico in the heart of the cartel drug wars. Co Op will still play a large part of the game and will feature destructible cover thanks to running on the new Frostbite 2 engine. Visceral Studios (creators of Dead Space) has been tapped to make the game and have a new more serious vision for the game. Its hard to say if the cheesy bro tastic elements of the game will still be intact but fingers crossed they are. We also know that the talented Carlos Ferro (the voice of Dom Santiago from Gears of War) is on helm to voice Alpha. The game has a brand new website that just launched today and while it doesn’t have much info they promise to keep it updated often.
So with that covered lets discuss a little bit about what I hope to see in the game. As I mentioned I am a huge fan of the series, its one I hold very dear to my heart even if no one else does. The first game was a hit in my eyes not because of the gameplay but because of the characters in the game. I loved the dialogue between Rios and Salem. Even when under fire they were quick to make jokes about the situation and life in general. I still have fond memories of when Rios decided to ask Salem who he liked most in the Wu Tang Clan during one of the most difficult parts in the game. I also loved the cheesy bro tastic elements like being able to high five each other when things were going your way or the ability to bitch slap one another when they weren’t. The second game even added the ability to play paper rock scissors with the two characters even in co op. Sure it was a simple way of seeing who was going to be stuck running out and drawing aggro but it was also just fun to do from time to time.
Fast Forward to 1:23 to see the Wu Tang Reference and to get an idea of the kind of tone the humor set in the first game
I felt a lot of the humor and charm that made the first game so much fun was lost in the second game with its serious moral choices constantly haunting your every move and the incredibly gloom ending scenarios. It was a complete 180 from the “high fiving save the world” setting of the first game. I truly hope that Visceral understands this and keeps the humor and cheesy high fiving machismo of the first game intact here. Without those things I fear the game may slip into that “just another third person covered based shooter” group of games. While not all games in that space are, bad Spec Ops the line proved it was able to make itself stand out in that genre, there is no denying its a space filled with many lack luster titles.
There is no doubt that Visceral has the know how to make a good game and certainly has the talent on board to make this reboot one of the best the industry has seen yet I just hope they don’t loose sight of what fans enjoyed so much about the series. I feel there maybe hope for the game yet!
[Sources Gameinformer Facebook]
[...] case you somehow missed it Army of Two is getting a much needed reboot. With new characters a new story and even the new Frostbite 2 [...]