With all the complex new methods of interactivity and storytelling we
saw out on the show floor, we desperately longed for something a bit
less groundbreaking -- a palette cleanser, if you will. Our unique
thirst was quenched during our EA booth tour, in which we got our hands
on Army of Two: The 40th Day for PSP.
The portable version of the bullet-riddled buddy flick doffs the third-person shooter gameplay of the first Army of Two in favor of a top-down multi-directional shooter format, ala Smash TV.
Two players can take their mercenarial show on the road through the
locales of the console version of the game, blasting foes, using cover
and managing aggro as they move from point A to point B. EA Montreal
has taken a lot of care to port as much as they could of the console
experience to the PSP version, and from what we saw, most of it worked
really well.
Is it revolutionary? No -- but with two players,
a lengthy enough campaign and low enough price tag, it could prove to
be a welcome portable distraction in what's shaping up to be an intense
holiday gaming season.
