Murder -- It's Awesome, Bro!

I have a lot to say about video games, this is obvious, especially about how I do believe it is a still burgeoning art form, to be taken as seriously as films, books and music. Great strides have been made in a relatively short amount of time, with advances in emergent gameplay mechanics, immersive storytelling and emotional resonance. Grand Theft Auto IV, Portal and BioShock are very recent and clear examples of this, of how the medium is advancing.
Army of Two, however, is not one of these games, and makes it very clear that if this is a still-growing art form, it is clearly in the adolescent phase.

Mechanically (There's that word again) it is a sound third-person shooter, quite a bit like Gears of War, with an emphasis on two-player co-op play. There are some neat moves you can do with your partner, and an "aggro meter" which draws enemy attention to one player whilst the other can move about quietly, but none of these would be very effective or entertaining had I not been playing with another live human being.
Where the game really falters, though, is in the presentation. The two central characters which you control are basically two overgrown manchildren, wrapped up in a juvenile adoration of violence that should not be applied to real-world conflicts. What I'm saying, Electronic Arts, is that when your game features a button with the exclusive purpose to engage in a jubilant expression of enthusiasm (The button is actually labeled "Show enthusiasm," and when pressed the characters high-five each other or mimic guitars with their guns) in regard to the amount of wholesale slaughter the players have served up, perhaps it is best to leave out footage of the smoking World Trade Center from your cut-scenes.
It really makes me wonder what kind of audience this game was made for, because the level of violence and vulgarity meant they were going for a hard M-rating, but by the same token the only audience I can see truly getting maximum enjoyment out of this would be adolescent boys, or idiots that watch Spike TV, though the only thing separating those two groups is age. With a game like this it's not hard to see why ancient relics like Roger Ebert look upon the format with derision. I'm not saying every game has to swing for the fences and try to push the envelope, but you are not helping, EA.

-K.