Army of Two: The 40th Day is going to make you forget about the first one.  From what we were shown at EA Montreal, you won’t recognize this game beyond the kick ass masks that Salem and Rios wear.  Everything else about Army of Two: The 40th Day has been tweaked and improved so much that it makes the first seem outdated.  That my dear friends is what you want in a sequel.  Let’s begin shall we?

I had an amazing time with the EA Montreal crew.  Big, huge shout to Ron Yatco, John Brown, Matt “The Club Veteran” Turner and EA Redwood Shores’ Jon Long.  I also want to give a shout to all the community peeps that attended the event especially Peter from Gamertag Radio and David from Konsole Kingz!  We blazed to new heights in Montreal together.  There are four things you need to remember about Montreal now.  Poutine, Denim, Payless and Bullet Holes.  (especially the denim)  You can actually listen in to a roundtable on the trip featuring myself, Peter and David on Episode #190 over at Gamertag Radio.

One bit of exclusive news for you all to digest is that you might want to keep your save file from the first Army of Two.  If you haven’t played it yet, then you might want to do so before the game launches. I’m not sure about a release date so play it safe and get some Army of Two action on now to get a save file.

I’m putting the finishing touches on a new episode featuring commentary from Army of Two Producer, Matt Turner.  He did a great job walking us through the demo and explaining things.  I also have some news from Line Producer Sarah Stewart, Executive Producer Reid Schneider and Creative Director Alex Hutchinson.  What I’m using to give you my impressions is the demo that Matt Turner showed and played for the audience.  He played through several situations in Shangai, China that you’ll encounter so I got a pretty good feel for it.

I figured the best way to give you guys my impressions and answer your questions at the same time would be to mix the two together.  So what I’ll do is answer your questions and expand upon them with my impressions of what we were shown.  There were multiple questions about the same thing so I’ll just group those in together.

Have the characters changed?

Yes.  Salem and Rios have definitely changed.  They now look more human I guess you could say or rather more believable.  That’s the first thing I noticed when the demo began.  In Army of Two they really looked like some steroid induced hockey players or robots.  In The 40th Day though they look the part.  They have bandages, bruises and look the part of what you’d expect a person who has been in numerous battles to look like.  I was highly impressed with the character models. 

Gameplay improvements?

There is a new control scheme for the game.  There are now dedicated buttons to melee and toss grenades.  If you’re familiar with first person shooters, then you’ll grasp the new scheme quickly.  Those of you wanting the old controller layout need not worry because it’s there too.  So you have an option to play the game the way you feel most comfortable.

The biggest different with AOT: The 40th Day is that a new element of fighting has been established.  You no longer have to simply run & gun your way through the game.  You can opt to do a variety of different things to the enemy.  You can sneak up behind them and tie them up.  You can go guns blazing.  Or you could do the co-op snipe attack. 

There are also civilians to worry about now.  In one example during the demo, we were shown a situation with hostages.  Salem and Rios walked up on a potential hostage execution and Matt showed us a few different ways to tackle the scene.  You can do it the sneak and contain way or the old run & gun way.  You can choose to protect the civilians or kill them all.  There were a few civilian casualties that could’ve been avoided but Matt was a little evil.

I like the element of choice that has been added.  It’s always nice to have a few different options at your disposal for dealing with a situation.  I’m also pleasantly pleased with the improvement to the co-op actions (sniping in particular).  It’s no longer one of those slow-motion type moments.  You can initiate a co-op snipe at any time and you don’t have to worry about your partner shooting the wrong guy.  He’ll take the biggest threat away from the target you’ve chosen.  It was done very well.

A small but noticeable change also comes in the way cover is handled.  You’ll now do a subtle shoulder lean into a cover position to show that you’re behind cover.  It’s a nice visual enhancement that should go a long way in staying alive.  When behind cover, you can quickly change positions depending on where the threat is.  It’ll help when enemies change position on you.  Getting behind cover should be easy because now the boys can run.  That’s right I said run.  Holding down the A button allows you to sprint now.  Yay for that! 

Will the Aggro system still be present and if so how is it changing if at all?

Yes it’s still present but details about it were held.  My instinct tells me though that it will undergo a change.  The build we saw was very early but Matt did say not to expect the red glow.  I actually liked the red glow so I’m sad to see it go.

What new weapons and weapon upgrades will the game have?

Details weren’t given about either.  The demo did confirm a few things though.  You’ll now be able to pick up enemy weapons.  There is an open slot on the D-pad for enemy weapons to default to when picked up.  You can’t exchange any of your main weapons with enemy weapons.  Once you use all of the bullets in an enemy gun, it’ll be tossed and discarded.  You can’t keep it.  There’s only one type of grenade in the game again; the frag grenade. 

Any improvements to AI both partner and enemy?

I noticed quite a bit of improvement in the game’s AI including both the enemy and your  partner.  No longer will your buddy just stand around getting in the way of things.  The partner AI is designed in such a way that he can do his own thing throughout the game.  You don’t have to command him all the time and he doesn’t just get in the way.

The enemy AI is also new.  Instead of simply appearing and charging you, they’ll now identify you as a threat and take different actions to kill you.  They may flank you.  They might opt to run away and get help.  They may set up and snipe you.  Each situation may be different so you’ll have to find the best strategy.  Strategy is key because one other addition I must mention is that the enemy can now do everything you can.  So if you think a high perch is safe to shoot from, then you’re wrong because they can do the step jump themselves and reach you.

Another impressive thing (and perhaps the most impressive thing) I saw was the new GPS system.  It is no longer just a way to see which direction you need to go.  It now gives you other useful information.  It is done in-game via a very cool overlay.  It includes an enemy tagging system that identifies certain aspects of the enemy when you aim the cursor at them and it also gives you various options to eliminate them.

If there’s one thing that stuck in my mind, it was thinking of how awesome this new GPS will be in months to come.  It’s already awesome but I’m hoping with more development time it will be even more amazing.  Trust me when I say that it adds an entirely new element to the game.

Details (including customization if possible) on weapons, armor, masks and maybe vehicles?

There were no details on vehicles or the customization aspect of weapons.  But I’d bet my wages that there will be further customization allowed on the weapons, armor and masks.  We also didn’t get to see how many (if at all) masks or armor variants will be available to choose from.

One cool thing about the masks now is that you’ll be allowed to see Salem and Rios’ faces.  Yes, the masks flip up now.  You aren’t given complete control of them though.  EA Montreal is spending a lot of time with the facial animations so they want to be able to show them off.  When in battle, the masks automatically come down and when the threat is clear, they come up.

Are they aware of how Ao2 online went? And how are they gonna change that this time around?  Multiplayer details.

We got some information on the online aspects but I can’t share those until May 1.  They are aware of all the feedback that came from the first game.

Are you going to make Army of Two: 40th Day’s multiplayer region locked again?

No.  This time the game will not be region locked.  (all smiles)

Will they put more effort into the environments (they were incredibly repetitive in the first game)?

What I saw looked great.  It takes place exclusively in Shangai, China so you won’t be jumping from locale to locale.  The best part about what I saw was that it was very early in development.  If it looks as good as it does now, I can only imagine greater things a year from now.  Shangai looked worn down and abused.  One of the things that Alex Hutchinson mentioned was that they had a rule that “if it doesn’t look used, torn and broken” then they weren’t using it.  And that’s exactly how the environments look.  It feels more alive and definitely real.  You see various debris floating around, buildings on fire and dust in the air.

There are also doors now that Rios and Salem can open or close.  You can kick them open or slightly push them to get a peek inside.  This comes into play of course if enemies are on the other side of the door.  You’ll also be able to interact with certain objects that can be used as riot shields etc.

Is the humor still intact?  Some of the back and forth banter made me laugh.

Unfortunately there wasn’t much dialogue shown beyond a few grunts really.  I’m sure though that the usual banter will be there.  They didn’t imply that it wouldn’t so you’re safe to assume it will.

Is there a second parachute?

No, unfortunately there are no parachutes.

Ask EA what’s up with the title?

I did ask and I didn’t get a full answer.  It will be explained though and there is a reason it was named what it was.

And that’s it ladies and gentlemen.  My trip to EA Montreal was one that I won’t soon forget and it has me really excited about the direction that Army of Two: The 40th Day is going.  I do need to mention that I saw the exclusive trailer for the game.  It’s set to debut on April 30 on Spike TV with Gametrailers and Geoff Keighley.  Mark your calendars for it.

What does this actor, actress and director have in common?  I got a chance to meet and see each of them on my trip.  I saw the infamous Kumar and Kutner, Kal Penn, at the Chicago airport.  I’m a big House fan so I was a little starstruck.  I got his autograph.  The guy was really cool.

I also ran into Silent Hill’s Radha Mitchell although I didn’t get a chance to speak to her because I was tied up with Kutner.  But she was really pretty and short.  And to round it out, I saw M. Night Shyalaman at the hotel I stayed in.  He was with a pretty hot chick too.  I guess he was there for the UFC festivities.

What say you?