So when I bought this game I had the feeling that it would be a bad purchase. I had read a lot of reviews and most of them complained about the AI. Just coming off of R6V2, I really wasn?t looking forward to dealing with more shoddy AI partners. But, I looked past those other reviews and gave Army of Two a chance. And I?m glad I did. The AI is fine for the most part. There were a few little glitches but none that made me want to throw my controller. EA tried some new things with this shooter, some work, some don?t, but overall this game is pretty good. Short, but good. Click below for the audio review.

Music:
There actually didn?t seem to be a lot of music in this game, which is good in a way. The music that is there is relevant to your surroundings, themed with Middle Eastern influences. But it?s very brief, and not up in your face. It?s really just there long enough to add to the atmosphere and then it?s gone. It doesn?t increase or decrease based on the action like a lot of games these days, which I found very pleasing. It also doesn?t pull the usual EA habit of having needle drop songs blaring in your face at all times. I liked the music that was there and I also liked its absence. It really helps establish the atmosphere when you?re relying on ambience and effects alone for the soundtrack to your game.

Dialogue:
Though not the greatest script of all time, the voices are acted rather well. The recordings sound top notch and fit well with the game. Some of the little aside comments by you and your enemies are quite funny. Didn?t really have any major sync issues since the bulk of the characters in the game are wearing masks. Nothing spectacular, but nothing annoying either.

Ambience:
Though not the most up front of ambiences, it is there. I do understand the concept of ambience, that it shouldn?t be heard but if it?s not there you miss it. Well, this is there, but not enough. What you can hear does sound as it should, but I really wish it were just a hair louder in the mix.

Sound Effects:
Oh the gun sounds. I have to say, the guns sound very weak in this game. Perhaps as a player we?ve grown used to the idea of a hyper-realistic sounding gun in our hands. I enjoy having every gun I touch sounding like it could rip through bank vaults. These guns just simply do not accomplish that. Positioning wise the gunfire is impressive though. When you go into Back-to-Back mode you can hear each other?s gunshots clearly panning through the speakers. It really creates a cool effect. Footsteps sound almost perfect in this game, reacting accordingly to any changes in surface. All of the other effects in the game sound pretty good as well. One area that stood out was towards the end when you?re on an airboat for a while and then proceed on to a monorail. Quite a difference in surroundings yet these are in the same area. The overall blanket of effects in this area really are impressive.

Final Note:
Don?t get me wrong, game wise, Ao2 is incredibly fun and well paced. It is a very short and fairly easy game to complete, but perhaps it?s done that way so you don?t get tired of its new and somewhat odd mechanics. I just really wish it sounded bigger. A game like this sort of needed to sound way over the top and I don?t feel that it accomplished that, which is a bit disappointing.

Music: 4/5
Dialogue: 4/5
AMB: 2/5
SFX: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

posted by Juan Baez III on 04.04.08 @ 1:00 pm

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