The Rise and Fall of Army of Two

military shooters have come and gone in droves over the last two decades the genre long proving a tough area of the market to crack and even tougher to maintain a semblance of success in thus developers and publishers looking to make an impact typically push gimmicks the likes of battlefield and call of duty can't offer be it hayes's nectar enhancements the time manipulation device and singularity or the hollywood-inspired firefights of black for ea montreal's army of two the fresh new gimmick relied on something players were already well versed in cooperative gameplay but where most shooters featuring co-op embedded two-player options on top of their single-player campaigns electronic arts montreal team built army of two from the ground up with cooperative play in mind this core design decision facilitated strategic two-person gameplay that forced duos to always think and act as such regardless of the extraneous circumstances the resulting experience came in the form of a refreshing third-person shooter it's rough around the edge's qualities counterbalanced by a world of great potential which fueled ea montreal's development of the 2010 sequel the 40th day two competent installments saddled with middling reviews and appreciable sales figures could not save army of two from corporate interference though and once the much despised third entry that doubles cartel bombed critically and commercially in 2013 ea saw no reason to further invest in the struggling ip whose few redeeming qualities fell by the wayside amid a forced identity crisis this is the rise and fall of army of two [Music] [Music] a wealth of top-selling sports games predominantly fueled electronic arts rise in the 1990s several of them morphing into annualized series at the turn of the century however bigger aspirations set the publisher on a path towards bringing more original ip to bear during his decade-long tenure as chief creative officer william bing gordon led the charge for original content helping foster the development of projects like rhythm game boom boom rocket and army of two the latter endeavor took shape courtesy of ea montreal the first studio ea built from the ground up after years of acquiring pre-existing teams founded in 2003 the montreal based development house attracted incredible talent from across the industry hiring writers directors 3d animators and more to crack the mold on the next seminal gaming release a statement from senior producer reed schneider following army of two's may 2006 announcement revealed the cooperative focus gameplay stemmed from advancements in technology finally allowing for intelligent ai characters as such army of two was poised to launch exclusively on then next generation consoles expectations for its planned 2007 arrival on ps3 and xbox 360 were set high out of the gate with developers claiming the team's debut project would reinvent co-op gordon later expressed hopes of army of two gaining popularity comparable to the ea owned medal of honor franchise the publisher demonstrated these lofty ambitions in part during e3 2006 wherein games media received a behind closed doors look at army of two running on xbox 360. while co-op between two players constituted the crux of the experience the first e3 showing emphasized the viability of a lone user playing alongside what ea montreal coined as partner ai the demo shown to press reportedly featured an ai companion with a staggering level of depth capable of acting upon player commands in a fashion that truly accentuated army of two's much touted two-person team strategies journalists described the partner ai as reactionary too dynamic to a point that it remembered ineffective commands and ignored similar orders later it could apparently suggest alternative strategies as well further ensuring the single-player option provided a competent substitute in lieu of real-world companions such early coverage set the bar high for army of two's supposed capabilities and the montreal studios spent the next year doing its best to measure up between e3 2006 and the trade shows 2007 event the crew devised the mmo inspired agrometer a system that fully linked partners together as well as opened the door for creative gameplay opportunities in practice each player built up their aggro meter over time whoever filled the meter first gained a damage multiplier and began glowing red to draw enemy fire the teammate without aggro simultaneously turned nigh on invisible entering a state of stealth that made flanking foes and completing objectives far easier according to schneider's comments in a gamespot interview the agrometer offered a new way to play co-op in the shooter space ea montreal also used the 12 months between the game's first and final e3 showings to build various weapons and their respective upgrades simplifying co-op actions represented another key focus resulting in the actions being mapped to as few buttons as possible these efforts presented their fair share of challenges of course especially for the crew behind partner ai tasked with developing a computer-run system that didn't require babysitting and could execute all player functions developing co-op controls proved equally exacting given the demands of gameplay from a player's perspective as a result level designers endeavored to introduce mechanics slowly structuring the game in such a way that new skills emerged organically as users navigated the story it made the controls seem less complicated in essence inviting shooter novices experts and every skill level in between to drop in on a tactical adventure that would feel at its most optimal with a buddy over xbox live or psn naturally the studio's insistence on drafting the ultimate cooperative experience informed every mechanic and design decision motions like back to back were molded by this desire positioning the two heroes together to perform synchronized circular combat attacks dual sniper rose from this same school of thought requiring partners to kill a single target in tandem on one person say so the emphasis on the buddy system further included defensive maneuvers and healing if one teammate fell during combat the healthier of the two could pull their friend to safety all while the injured laid down suppressing fire partners were additionally encouraged to uplift and diss one another anchoring levity and lighthearted banter to an otherwise grim tale about contractor-based military operations ea's montreal development crew conceived army of two during the iraq war when the moral standings of private military companies or pmcs were being called into question the leading men in army of two tyson rios and eliot salem served as operatives in the fictional security and strategy corporation a pmc much like the real and controversial blackwater that inserted itself in political conflicts and profited from warfare in universe rios and salem began as army rangers in the 1992 somalia conflict upon seeing private military contractors equipped with better guns the rangers decided they too wanted a piece of the pie army of two's main plot followed the pair in the late 2000s as they accepted high-risk contract work in america china and iraq a time period production coordinator matt turner said the studio preferred over well-worn settings like world war ii the volatility of the world at the time also attracted ea montreal to current affairs since stories derived from headline news were likely to interest players however turner told media outlet kikizo that while the temptation to broach political issues initially felt strong the team strayed from the idea for the sake of making a fun game countries associated with real world strife still furnish the title's play space propelling the friction that pervaded army of two's narrative developers applied this line of thinking when approaching discussions of morality as well private military contractors rios in salem may have been yet ea montreal avoided writing its heroes as morally reprehensible turner argued the duo would always take the ethical route when faced with difficult decisions even while walking the fine line that made them a pleasure to play and despite salem's rough upbringing and rios's decorated military background the two were depicted as morally aligned for montreal's decision to forgo good cop bad cop tropes army of two's announcement came alongside the promise of a 2007 launch window which ea later narrowed down to november of that year though production on the shooter wrapped in time for its scheduled release the montreal studio's displeasure with the late 2007 build culminated in ea extending development by a few months the extra time went to fine-tuning the game and attempted building up the co-op title to its fullest potential the results garnered a mixed response upon releasing on ps3 and xbox 360 in march 2008 army of two received middling reviews at best stunning visuals and a wealth of customization options counted among the highlights of the experience and as developers had previously admitted co-op between two players was the ideal way to play evidenced by the lackluster partner ai that had too often struggled to meet even the lowest expectations ai regularly proved just as incompetent leaving much to be desired in terms of challenging combat encounters critics and players agreed that regardless of the occasional hiccup gameplay in army of two guaranteed the title stood out as a refreshing change of pace from standard military shooter fair however the truncated story campaign severely limited user enjoyment a thought made all the more disappointing by the minimal replay value and meager four-player versus mode the region-locked restraints further limited the online suite which came courtesy of army of two's peer-to-peer networking approach and parody concerns across territories with regards to the censoring of violence ea montreal later deployed the ssc challenge and veteran map packs as post-launch dlc yet these offerings made little headway in keeping players invested long-term considered somewhat of a b-tier outing army of two boasted a potpourri of clever ideas that didn't meld together all too well it even struggled to fight its footing in tone haphazardly vacillating between serious and absurd still the third person shooter held promise that boated well for its inevitable sequel army of two stopped short of reaching medal of honor's measure of success as william gordon anticipated prior to his 2008 departure from electronic arts the montreal team's debut sold appreciably though moving over 606 000 units in the united states alone within one month of release it crossed the milestone of 2.5 million worldwide sales by late 2009 despite the commercial triumphs developers acknowledged the divisive response to army of two and spent the post-launch period quantifying qualifying and reacting to feedback in preparation for the sequel the 40th day production on the 40th day began shortly after its predecessor shipped evidenced by comments from ea games president frank chabot in october 2008 wherein he mentioned army of two among a list of sequels on the planning phases of development for its part ea montreal sites were set squarely on expanding upon features that users enjoyed and addressing problem areas that received the most criticism creative director alex hutchinson identified organic co-op as one of the driving principles behind the 40th day telling gamespot the idea spawned from critiques that army of two's co-op mechanics and set pieces felt to stop and go to the chagrin of many co-op moves like tactical shield and back-to-back were relegated to scripted events in the original game the sequel's organic co-op thus denoted the abandonment of predetermined cooperative interactions in favor of a co-op playbook whose gameplay offerings were always available for use producer matt turner described this all-new system as the most significant evolution from army of 2 to the 40th day given that such changes informed how users presented themselves in the in-game world ea montreal also designed enemy encounters to guarantee players could exploit this newfound freedom however some co-op moves remain better suited for specific situations while no penalties were given to those who employed co-op skills at random executing certain actions on appropriate occasions earned partners weapon or gun part rewards that were otherwise unavailable speaking with co-optimist months before release turner speculated reward functionality would resolve issues of replayability that beset the first army of two the montreal crew further refined cooperative mechanics by rethinking army of two's rudimentary partner ai for solo play companion ai in the original seemed little more than a laptop following orders to the best of its limited abilities when commanded during production on the 40th day developers tried programming the computer-driven associate with some semblance of autonomy separate from user directives by making it more aware of its surroundings the partner ai knew when to enter cover as a result tagging enemies and offering co-op related suggestions constituted other additions to the ai character's wheelhouse turner told co-optimist the suggestions ensured solo players felt as though they had an active ally a trustworthy companion capable of advising yet never badgering even enemy npcs garnered a wider array of skills thereby positioning users against foes who manipulated the environment in the same manner as returning heroes tyson rios and elliot salem the enemy ai's overhaul blossomed out of attempts to create synergy and symmetry between the 40th day's opposing sides which effectively altered conditions on the battlefield if rios or salem shot an enemy and didn't finish the job in time another foe could pull their fellow soldier to safety ea montreal hoped its efforts with ai enhancements would amplify the immersion perhaps buttress the already tense experience with an extra layer of authenticity interestingly the advent of a morality system raised the stakes further still [Music] army of two ended on rios and salem establishing their own private military company trans world operations the 40th day picked up a few years thereafter with the self-employed contractors touching down in shanghai china for what should have been a routine operation it instead turned chaotic as a catastrophe stricken shanghai collapsed in the wake of attacks from a mysterious invading force known as the 40th day initiative ea montreal's gm alan taskin called the city bigger than life citing its growing prosperity as a reason for dropping the heroes into a shanghai set destruction scenario the mayhem yielded a greater purpose in that it served as the catalyst for alex hutchinson's goal of crafting circumstances whereby rios and salem must escape the city together saving the world didn't rest at the narrative's nexus rather it was about two people surviving impossible odds and collectively determining how best to push forward hence the introduction of moral dilemmas choices involving the lesser of two evils came as a product of the studio wanting to turn his audience into more active participants in the game world hostage rescues and other precarious situations thus force difficult decisions on users who if partnered with a friend made said decisions as a team sometimes moral-based choices wore the ostensible simplicity of sparing or taking lives on their sleeves a try task in a third person military shooter starring mercs for hire but ea montreal tried adding weight to these quandaries which defined how rios and salem presented themselves by design the sequel lacked a branching plot so those who ignored the morality system didn't suffer any consequences yet saving lives meant the duo carried themselves in a heroic light whereas the constant barrage of poor choices drove a rift between them and as far as the developers were concerned co-op partners created the real drama when engaging in tension about what choices to make the hope was that the 40th days morality system though simple in its construction would promote discussion amongst friends and in so doing reinvigorate cooperative games with deeper than surface level elements notably this integration of a subtle virtue scale also helped d.a montreal address critiques against the original army of two's tonal issues hutchinson noted in a 2009 pc invasion interview that american audiences didn't seem to bat an eye at what he termed the frat tone of the initial entry on the contrary europeans made their disdain readily known finding the right tone for the 40th day proved a balancing act that developers chose to leave in the hands of players by splitting the difference the studio essentially made the quality of jokes contingent on playstyle so those who shot hostages and constantly high-five their partner mid-firefight for example for a witness to a cruder tone whereas users exercising care and caution heard more low-key jokes all in all the tweaks and enhancements only went so far in truly improving upon the army of two formula ea teased the army of two sequel in march 2009 on a web page with source code signaling the return of the so-called definitive third-person co-op shooter an official announcement for the 40th day surfaced the following week its full release scheduled for late 2009 on the ps3 xbox 360 and psp marketing materials confirm the agro system's return alongside tightened gunplay rivaling the upper echelon of third-person shooters and drastically improved visual details for characters and environments the team additionally touted new set pieces that kept players in control during action-packed events such as skyscrapers toppling over segments designed to convey the pressure of navigating chaotic situations in the absence of order ea made sure to flaunt the region free multiplayer as well indicating the online suite would feel like less of an afterthought than its predecessor for reasons unknown the publisher delayed the sequel out of october 2009 to january 2010 likely a shrewd move to avoid the fall and holiday rush that included halo 3 odst borderlands and left for dead too all of which dominated in the cooperative multiplayer space having room to breathe in the usually dry january release window allowed the 40th day to sell over 1 million units by the end of ea's fiscal year on march 31st 2010. but once again army of two enjoyed a strong market performance in spite of lukewarm review scores the general consensus suggested the 40th day offered a slightly more polished experience the disaster movie-like action and organic co-op movements doing much of the heavy lifting chemistry between the on-screen duo received plenty of praise too further separating army of two from the competition since characters in the likes of borderlands couldn't challenge each other to a game of rock-paper-scissors players also welcomed the customization enhancements and most agreed the 40th day outclassed the franchise's progenitor in terms of presentation unfortunately the needle didn't move far enough in some respects playing with a friend still constituted the preferred way to join in on the rios and salem starring escapade due in large part to the partner ai's unremitting instability enemy ai didn't improve much between games either and the agro system while fun remained as easily exploitable as ever add to that the graphical glitches occasional choppy frame rate and uninspired multiplayer and the 40th day ultimately amounted to a series of relatively incremental changes the psp build from developer buzz monkey software fared far worse instead of a paired down iteration of the console title the port studio designed a new version of the 40th day specifically for psp as a top-down arcade game reminiscent of mercs on sega genesis its simple controls and a unique art style showed promise ahead of release yet the lackluster ai and brief stages came up short the absence of camaraderie between the wisecracking leads as well as an overwhelming number of needless gameplay components all but guaranteed the portable army of two would rank among the most forgettable adventures in the psp library yet no one could have predicted forgettable to become the adjective best used to describe the series's final outing [Applause] [Music] some amongst d.a montreal leadership believed army of two as a brand would transcend gaming its concept an easy sell because of the to the point title and character-based premise general manager alan taskin thought the movie adaptation which never left the conceptual phase could potentially attract an even wider audience yet the nucleus of army of two's appeal shrank beneath the weight of organizational restructuring within the ea games label that put dead space developer visceral games on a pedestal electronic arts positioned the montreal studio's co-op shooter under said pedestal along with all of the publisher's other third-person action titles following dead space's trailblazing introduction in 2008 ea redwood shores rebranded as visceral games a reward of sorts for breaking the mold with a new ip the developer quickly garnered a reputation for high caliber products encouraging ea to emphasize the dead space group in his reorganization plan which harbored two primary objectives cost efficiency and increased game quality speaking to gama gamasutra in october 2010 ea general manager nick earl revealed the publisher had adopted a new genre structure that split the game's division into three verticals one focused on mmos a second geared towards first-person titles and the third driven by action and strategy the company internally considered the action-centric branch synonymous with third-person games and dead space represented the sector's blueprint exemplifying the types of titles ea wanted out of his action adventure category a streamlined model served as the culmination of this restructuring and since ea aimed to replicate dead space's success the visceral games label expanded to include a globalized effort led by earl the redwood city headquartered group thus began sharing resources with ea los angeles ea montreal the shanghai studio and the newly formed melbourne australia office between army of two second and third installments ea montreal merged into visceral montreal shedding much of the old talent for new blood and a fresh direction army of two faithful would later discover the once quirky co-op shooter had lost its spirit in the process initial rumblings about the third army of jew bubbled to the surface via postings on an ea job board in april 2011. the listings called for a senior producer and lead environment artist to join the visceral games team in montreal providing the public with its first hint that army of two was under new management inside sources speaking with kotaku in december 2011 painted a clear albeit grimmer picture of the project's status sources claimed the game allegedly titled army of four at the time featured four-player co-op and ran on the frostbite 2 engine that powered battlefield 3. oddly enough because army of force production was supposedly struggling to gain momentum insiders assumed select battlefield developers would join the montreal label ea never corroborated these reports although the army of four name resurfaced months later when stargate atlantis alum joe flanagan posted a tweet celebrating his voiceover role in the new a04 game for electronic arts flanagan who did indeed appear in the devil's cartel as the voice of salem soon thereafter feigned confusion and retracted his statement still his words gave credence to parts of kotaku's 2011 report executive producer julian beek more or less filled in the blanks two years later on linkedin in the january 2014 write-up beak divulged that he joined the doubles cartel late in development in order to deliver a struggling product in very little time the producer described a situation in which low team morale had significantly affected development he reversed the negative trajectory to an extent yet such efforts only made a marginal impact by beak's estimation visceral montreal's newly implemented high standard of proficiency entered the fold far too late predictably resulting in an underwhelming production producer zach mumbach said visceral accepted the army of true project because of its interest in cooperative gameplay the producers subsequently moved to montreal to see development through to completion helping helmet team build from the ground up for the third title at the outset leadership predominantly filled the devil's cartel crew with series newcomers then assign them the herculean task of soft rebooting and honoring a property whose history they took no part in establishing studios in california sweden and china led to hand as well all working to build upon army of two's previously laid foundations visceral montreal had no interest in treading old ground however in game informer's cover story on the devil's cartel mamba characterized the previous two entries as good but not great and argued that while high fiving and quipping resonated with players the dead space developer preferred producing games with a serious tenor army of two's new home wanted to ensure it too adopted a similar tone by embracing mature themes the pursuit of such a goal sidelined franchise protagonist rios and salem as secondary characters who recruited their successors alpha and bravo for tactical worldwide operations the new name of the two private military company these changes serviced visceral's established brand of immersive narrative-driven adventures in turn the revamped two accepted higher profile contracts and positioned itself as an organization built around offering aid where needed visceral's commitment to player immersion additionally manifested in the exclusive use of code names for alpha and bravo allowing users to project themselves into the mercenaries gone were the days of army of choose perceived dude bro shooter status though developers insisted their efforts weren't completely rebooting the series co-op remained integral as did customization in a robust arsenal but visceral made a play at elevating the franchise beyond the levity and mindless fun well aware that people would assume ea attached the dead space studio's name to increase sales mumbach believed the difference in quality would speak for itself [Music] army of two status quo most notably shifted through storytelling it's pivoted to maturity necessitating a serious subject matter ripped from the headlines that deployed alpha and bravo and mexico amidst a drug war with the cartels visceral montreal approached the project respectfully given the topical nature of the narrative hoping to avoid stepping in the mess left behind by tech lands immensely controversial call of juarez the cartel the 2011 title drew ire from all sides critics lambasted its insensitivity towards minorities community leaders and government officials in mexico accused the shooter of glorifying and trivializing violence and residents on both sides of the border expressed fears about its influence on young impressionable minds in many respects techland's blunder provided visceral developers with a frame of reference while crafting their own mexican cartel centric story julian b claimed the team viewed their critically panned call of juarez entry as army of two's anti-hero telling ign the decision for the mexico locale didn't come lightly the studio also labored to avoid the white savior trope carefully navigating delicate issues that if properly implemented would engender empathy among players even with a renewed focus on linearity that has chewed the moral choice options introduced in the 40th day due to the interactivity of video games at least part of the montreal group's storytelling success depended on how effectively gameplay bridged the gap between moment-to-moment action and plot though the emphasis on co-op never wavered gameplay became another aspect of the franchise to receive a visceral patented makeover complete with an overkill system that rendered both players unstoppable for a limited time when activated the new mechanic encouraged collaboration above all else as team-based actions awarded more overkill points and aggro returned sans a visual meter but with a few choice enhancements chief among them being the ability to hear its effects thanks to sound design boost made possible by frostbite 2 technology the dice created game engine additionally heightened destructibility letting alpha and bravo wreak havoc by dismantling cover and dismembering enemy npcs cinematics fully leveraged frostbite 2's destructive capabilities as well mostly evident in scenes that depicted explosive action from two separate points of view based on the location of the leading characters visual effects lead marco diamico thought the sophistication of frostbite provided the devil's cartel an edge over the competition its future-proofed technology ostensibly supplying 7th gen hardware with a taste of the next generation's power in an unexpected turn of events neither visceral's efforts nor the frostbite engine were harnessed for army of two's online suite according to julian beak the studio poured all of its resources into the campaign foregoing competitive multiplayer so as not to dilute the experience by spreading the team too thin no one considered past versus modes among a series of strong suits therefore the lack of competitive online offerings mattered little in the grand scheme of things the myriad other alterations to the brand's identity took a toll though [Music] army of two the doubles cartel formally entered the spotlight in august 2012 a march 2013 release window attached for ps3 and xbox 360. following a months-long promotional campaign in which previews ranged from skeptical to generally favorable the co-op shooter launched on schedule to tepid reception reviewers by and large deemed it forgettable lacking any semblance of depth and far removed from the irreverent charm that set its predecessor apart from comparable action titles co-op interactions like back to back were cast aside to pick up the pace yet their absence fueled much of the criticism visceral's gameplay innovations similarly garnered minimal fanfare thus failing to raise the bar as promised but the key missing ingredients all revolved around the essence of the dude bro shooter ea so desperately wanted the property to abandon the obnoxious banter the clever but ill-timed comedic assigns the wisecracking and meatheaded protagonists each provided a piece to the messy hole that millions of players grew to love with army of two and the 40th day ea's greed for higher metacritic scores and stronger sales ironically resulted in the doubles cartel not even debuting in the top 10 on the u.s sales charts for march 2013. as such the dead specification of army of two failed miserably yet another irony considering dead space's collapse also followed in the aftermath of its unforced identity crisis unfortunately neither of army of two's creative teams received a chance to redeem the ip weeks before the release of the doubles cartel reports circulated that ea had shuttered the visceral montreal office while the publisher wouldn't confirm or deny as much ea's frank chabot noted in a statement that tough decisions such as layoffs only occurred when it was impossible to redeploy teams former staff quickly corroborated the layoff claims to game informer revealing everyone in the studio lost their jobs after production on the co-op shooter wrapped army of two felled by an unnecessary soft reboot crumbled under the weight of its publishers on reasonable expectations sure this series struggled to gain its footing early on by the second entry however it stood on somewhat firmer ground taking risks with the morality system to better balance rios and salem's facetiousness with a hint of gravitas evidently no good came from dialing up the tone to 11 and stripping the property of its more unique qualities there exists a bit of tragedy to army of jews fall then in that it did so unceremoniously and without ever rising to its fullest potential [Music] thank you for watching we'd like to take this time to think by name the generous patrons who have pledged to our hall of fame rewards year fernando lopez ojeda and those currently subscribed to our producer rewards here daria zone get getrekt.com lame game man milkshake schizo lingbo if you enjoy our content please consider subscribing to our channel and backing us on patreon [Music] [Music] you

Channel: GVMERS

Views: 762,245

Keywords: Army of Two, Army of Two The 40th Day, Army of Two The Devil's Cartel, Army of Four, Army of Two 4, Visceral Games, EA Montreal, Documentary

Id: Sp0-pjg1yxI

Length: 33min 38sec (2018 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022