Army of Two (video game)

Army of Two
Developer(s)EA Montreal
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Producer(s)Reid Schneider
Designer(s)Chris Ferriera
Vander Caballero
Artist(s)Hugo Dallaire
Writer(s)Corey May
Dooma Wendschuh
Keith Arem
Composer(s)Trevor Morris
SeriesArmy of Two
EngineUnreal Engine 3
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Army of Two is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Electronic Arts and released on March 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. The game is centered upon two mercenaries fighting through war, political turmoil, and a conspiracy from 1993 to 2009. Focusing on cooperative strategies, Army of Two's main feature is the necessity to use coordinated teamwork to accomplish the game's goals. While the game is meant to be played with another human as a partner, a "Partner Artificial Intelligence" (PAI) is also included and programmed to follow the player's strategies. Dependence on a partner (whether human or PAI) is so pronounced that most objectives are impossible to complete without it.

Army of Two is one of the first games released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles that feature region-locked online play. EA claims that the region-locking is to prevent network lag caused by players from multiple regions, and to prevent the Asian region console owners from playing the U.S. and European version of the game, as the Asian version has been censored to meet certain requirements (notably, the shooting of already dead bodies in the game).[3] Electronic Arts shut down the online multiplayer servers for the game on August 11, 2011.[4]

Critics praised its cooperative gameplay but criticized its artificial intelligence and difficulty. Army of Two debuted in positive sales at release. A sequel titled Army of Two: The 40th Day was released in 2010.

  1. ^ Haynes, Jeff (February 16, 2008). "Army of Two Progress Report". IGN. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Shippin' Out March 3-7: Army of Two, God of War PSP, Bully: SE". GameSpot. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Kietzmann, Ludwig (March 12, 2008). "EA explains Army of Two's regional lockout". Engadget (Joystiq). Yahoo. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Rosenberg, Adam (July 13, 2011). "Electronic Arts To Shutdown Online Play For Army of Two, Skate And Others". G4TV. G4 Media. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2012.