Army of Two: The 40th Day

Play Magazine

The feature-rich, action-packed gameplay—co-op and solo—is a blast, but it’s the explosive presentation, that literally sees Shanghai falling to flaming pieces all around you, that steals the show and will have you watching your—and your buddy’s—back.

GameShark

Army of Two: The 40th Day is dumb, goofy fun, but sometimes that’s just what the doctor ordered.

GameFocus

Let’s applaud the development team over at EA Montréal. They’ve made many changes and added new things to please fans as well as the non-believers without destroying the essence of what makes an Army of Two game. Still, the game could do some things better, but, so long as improvements are being made, the Army of Two franchise will be around for another go.

Kombo

TFD is so much fun to play with others that, at the end of the day, small problems or critiques with design choices won't matter. And, by all means, this is how TFD is meant to be played.

XboxAddict

This is a truly stunning sequel to a very unique game. While most of the issues from the first offering have been addressed, it’s the additions in this game that really drives it over the top.

Gamers' Temple

The 40th Day outshines the original Army of Two in just about every way, and kicks the franchise into a higher gear.

Vandal Online

It has evolved, and although maybe regular fans of the genre would wait for more new features, it is true it contributes with enough of them to catch our attention, entertain and make us enjoy.

GamesNation

Bigger, better and meaner, Army of Two: The 40th Day represents an overall improvement from its previous installment. It’s a spectacular urban guerrilla simulation, with good textures, complex scenarios, solid framerate, and… a lot of humour!

Games Master UK

Army of Two: The 40th Day has taken past criticism on the chin. Salem and Rios have evolved from disagreeable meatheads into entertaining anti-heroes while the setting is now much more befitting to the gameplay. If you're looking for an intense but concentrated gaming experience, we think the masked mercs deliver. [Jan 2010, p.68]

IGN

A disaster movie in a game package, Army of Two: The 40th Day capitalizes on its co-op play to deliver an awesome action experience that's incredibly fun to play. Co-op moments feel more natural.

Multiplayer.it

EA listened to a lot of gamers' complaints about the first Army of Two and delivered a much better effort under almost every respect. This game is a fun coop experience which has its moments even when played on your own. In this case, by the way, you may notice IA unsolved problems and that you are actually roaming one single setting, even if it's very well done.

Gamer 2.0

While slowdown plagues the game throughout, the action never stops and Rios and Salem will continually battle amidst the crumbling cityscapes of Shanghai as they battle with their own morality and try to save helpless civilians along the way.

Worth Playing

Army of Two: The 40th Day offers a very attractive package for shooter fans, particularly those looking for an experience that is first and foremost centered around a co-op mentality.

Gaming Nexus

Army of Two: The 40th Day is not going to win anyone's GOTY award. But where pure fun and entertainment are concerned--especially with a friend on your team--it doesn't get better than splashing around in this bloody giggle pool.

3DJuegos

Tactical, spectacular and atmospheric: The 40th Day is the awesome sequel for the Army of Two series. The game offers a great co-op experience and genuine gameplay with its aggro and cover mechanics.

MEGamers

Much more playable than the original game, with some welcome additions to keep your guns blazing.

Official Xbox Magazine UK

The interaction between the two main characters extends beyond the trivial buddy moves from the first game and becomes an integral part of the journey. Marry that to some satisfyingly chunky gunplay and the odd spectacular, building-levelling explosion and you have an action game that is far more fun than it has any right to be.

Official Xbox Magazine

While we can't ding EA for extra content, we wish that content had come in the form of more co-op! [Feb 2010, p.80]

Totally360

Overall, Army of Two The 40th Day is a much more polished experience than the first game and greater care was exercised in trying to address the concerns everyone had from the original title.

Cheat Code Central

A solid, not groundbreaking, action experience for its fans. If you like to shoot stuff, and your friend does too, you've got a winner.

Gamer's Hell

It may not be the most compelling shooter, but it can be an entertaining adventure with a dedicated friend.

BigPond GameArena

It may be strange to say, but part of me wants to live in the Shanghai portrayed in Army of Two: The 40th Day. Not the world crumbling around you part, or the millions of civilians dying part either, more so the absolute black or white dividing line between good and evil, without even the slightest shade of gray.

D+PAD Magazine

While it’s not pushing the boat and the game’s selling point of a ‘moral choices’ system isn’t half as deep as it wishes it was, it’s still an enjoyable 8-hour romp that improves upon the original in every department

Da Gameboyz

Overall, Army of Two: The 40th Day is certainly an upgrade over its predecessor.

Game Over Online

Overall, The 40th Day, which is an awful name by the way, is actually a great game. Is it as much of an improvement over the original as we might’ve hoped? Not really, but there is a ton more content including a hefty arsenal of weaponry for you to pimp out and an expanded multiplayer that makes this game well worth playing.

Armchair Empire

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a fun experience, with some really awesome set pieces -- the zoo level in particular -- and if you have a buddy handy, I'd recommend it.

Play.tm

Anyone who found themselves enjoying the original, or any pair of gamers who fancy another fairly entertaining co-op shooter to get them through the first half of 2010, will find themselves suitably smitten by EA Montreal's competent return to the franchise: it's far more than an ersatz Gears of War, but is hardly an essential purchase.

Planet Xbox 360

A constant barrage of bullets and bloodshed from beginning to end, and the perfect excuse for a fist-bumping night of big explosions and even bigger guns.

MondoXbox

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a missed great game, mainly due to the extremely short play experience, while the whole game appears as very solid and improved in many areas. If you liked the first game, this sequel will surely win your hearts, even if for a short time.

SpazioGames

Despite the new (and better) A.I., a good level design and customization possibilities, Army of Two: The 40th Day falls short on some of its expectations. The moral system isn't well implemented, controls feel often clumsy and graphics are not up to the standard. It's still a game to consider if you like action games and cooperative, but not a must have. It's a shame, especially considering the fact that some more care for details could've made it a very good game.

Pelit (Finland)

Tries very hard to be edgy and gritty but much of that effort ends up feeling forced. After the destructive spectacle of the first couple of levels is over, the game sort of winds down and you're left with five hours of rather forgettable scenes and mediocre action. Fortunately, Army of Two does have a saving grace and that's the co-operative play. [Jan 2010]

XGN

Co-op at its best. Army of Two: The 40th Day is great co-op game. Unfortunately, the game fails at other aspects, therefore it hasn’t become an absolute must-have title.

GameTrailers

Fun but short, and lacking enemies more substantial than guys with grenade launchers. The series definitely still has quite a bit of potential to live up to, but if you have a friend to partner up with, it’s definitely worth taking a couple trips to witness the destruction of Shanghai.

Xbox360Achievements

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a huge improvement over its predecessor and EA Montreal should be commended for the work they’ve done. Unfortunately the praise will be short lived as you’re constantly bombarded with bugs and minor annoyances that are with you from start to finish. Not enough to break the game, but enough to hamper the experience. The 40th Day is a fun co-op shooter with a great cover mechanic, but it’s as frustrating as it is fun. So just be warned.

1UP

Even though I think they ultimately contributed to the Army of Two's inconsistent tone, which moves from "flippant" to "serious business about how messed up people can get," the morality moments are what I'll remember most about The 40th Day. Not the solid cooperative play, nor the snazzy graphics where buildings fall apart, nor even the little flaws that still annoy me at times; but whether or not I chose to look the other way when that one guy closes the door in that one place.

TeamXbox

While the gameplay and level design is improved and it's a good looking game, the unsatisfying narrative, boring characters, and overly gimmicky morality system combine with forgettable multiplayer and strange mechanics decisions to deliver a sequel that succeeds more than its forebear, but fails to be more than a pretty good third person shooter during a lean time for the sub-genre.

GameSpot

The 40th Day has the same shallow appeal as a summer blockbuster. It provides brash, satisfying action when you're in the mood for something loud and fun.

WonderwallWeb

If you have anyone to play it with, either online or at home then Army of Two: The 40th Day is a great purchase but if you only play single player you won't get the most out of it.

MS Xbox World

The action in Army of Two: The 40th Day, whilst it can drag its heels somewhat to begin with, it soon picks up, and to avoid repetition on multiple playthroughs there's always different weapons and attachments to experiment with to give different results.

ZTGameDomain

This is a beefed-up version of the original game, and still stands as one of the most impressive co-op shooters available. If you have a friend to play with this is one of the best experiences you can have with this type of game. But if you intend to fly solo this is definitely not the game for you. The campaign is short, the helper AI seriously has some faults and the game just wasn't designed to be played alone.

GamerNode

The same game I've played over and over again, just in Shanghai. Technically sound, but too generic to be considered elite among shooters.

ActionTrip

Players looking for a captivating story will be sorely disappointed. There were some honest efforts to integrate an interesting narrative through comic-book inspired cut-scenes. The results, sadly, brought about nothing more than an unclear storyline with a weak and confusing moral structure.

InsideGamer.nl

Army of Two: The 40th Day is an enjoyable game, but the co-op action shooter misses a strong story. Nonetheless, the game is definitely fun to play with a good friend.

Gamervision

It has some issues that at this point in a generation are pretty much unforgivable, but if you are willing to look past them, you’ll find there’s a decent cooperative shooter there.

Absolute Games

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a wild mix of brilliant thoughts, violent firefights, stolen ideas, and lazy design.

Game Chronicles

At the end of the day…the 40th Day, Army of Two offers enough fun and action and cinematic set pieces to earn a solid recommendation as a rental.

X360 Magazine UK

If your idea of a good time is pissing ammo from your blinged-up gun while relentlessly high-fiving with your free hand, you're in luck. [Issue#55, p.88]

Edge Magazine

As adequate an expression of the genre as it is, it somehow can't quite conjure those high notes of enthusiasm - akin to the way in which a whiteboard diagram of demographics and key features fails to inspire heart palpitations. [Feb 2010, p.84]

PALGN

If the thought of you and a friend going Chuck Norris on the bad guys sounds like a fun time, you might find pleasure in bunkering down with this game for a few hours.

Extreme Gamer

Army of Two: The 40th Day has improved, although it feels a little rushed as a number of glitches become unavoidable. The design also feels a little lazy with little all around variation.

RealGamer

If you enjoyed the no nonsense co-op shooter action of the original game than Army of Two: The 40th Day with its enhancements and extra polish maybe a worthwhile addition to your games collection.

Strategy Informer

The 40th Day is just far too inexcusably frustrating to heartily recommend, but if what you're looking for is a hefty serving of disposable, bombastic fare, then this will be right up your street.

Boomtown

The real saving grace though for The 40th day is the multiplayer options.

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Straight shooter maybe doesn’t excel in visuals but its main appeal lies in great online cooperation. Yes, it is strictly a corridor game but it does not mean it isn’t fun. [Issue#187]

GameDaily

The new morality system isn't as effective as we had hoped. There are times when you'll make a choice, such as killing a precious white tiger or calling upon a young boy to help you in a firefight. No matter what your decision, they usually end up costing you.

Gameplanet

Many of the issues with the original title have been addressed, but the brevity and lack of replayability make this co-op third person shooter a strictly-for-hire title.

Total Video Games

Although the Agro system underpins the overall co-op gameplay sufficiently, the lack of imagination prevents the game from pushing forwards the co-op experience. Instead there's more satisfaction gained by the subtlety that EA Montreal has brought to the series; something we never imagined ourselves to say about the antics of Rios and Salem.

Gamer.nl

Army of Two: The 40th Day doesn’t hide that it's all about the cooperative game mode. But for a purely cooperative game, it is quite low on content. The other game modes might be decent, but have been done better by other games many times before. Army of Two: The 40th Day could have been the ultimate cooperative game, but failed because it wanted to be everything else as well.

Eurogamer Spain

Rios and Salem certainly don't lack charisma, but this saga won't fulfill all of its potential until it stops gathering ideas from other games.

Telegraph

An all out co-op shooter that does exactly what it says on the tin. What it sets out to achieve it succeeds with style, even if these ambitions are firmly rooted in B-movie territory. Whilst this stunted ambition and some minor gameplay niggles hold it back from being truly great, this is a full throttle, adrenalin fuelled, macho-fest which is dumb, fun and full of guns.

Eurogamer

There's little doubt that anyone who fell in love with the first game's slender charms will be enthused by the prospect of more of the same delivered with a higher degree of HD polish. With its A-list production still held back by B-list ambition, though, there's ultimately not enough of substance to lure players away from the multitude of other co-op gaming experiences for more than a few days.

VideoGamer

A solid, entertaining third-person shooter, best played with a friend, but it's not quite the big advancement over the original it could have been. It's a more cohesive game, thanks to its location and more believable main characters, but the AI still disappoints at times and the new morality system misses far more than it hits. It's also incredibly short, and without a top-tier multiplayer component to turn to, your fun will likely be over very quickly.

HellBored

While Army of Two: The 40th Day is presented well, the reasonably impressive imagery is propped up on a bristling pillar of small problems, oversights, and clumsiness. The biggest problem though remains that as a co-op game - in a world which is paying more and more attention to that buddy mechanic - it’s often easier to get enjoyment out of the single player.

Gaming Age

To quote some great song titles when suggesting Army of Two: The 40th Day, all I can say is that "One is the loneliest number", and "It's takes two, baby."

Game Revolution

The game itself is mostly forgettable, but the fluttery feeling you’ll get when the two of you bump virtual chests isn’t.

Console Monster

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a significant improvement on the first title, developing some of the original’s best techniques and features further. Unfortunately, the lack of anything particularly unique within the gameplay is disappointing, and isn’t helped by the poor EA servers – a crucial factor for a co-operative title.

Game Informer

With so many great co-op experiences available to gamers, it’s tough to recommend The 40th Day. Lacking a cohesive story, solid controls, key multiplayer features, and polish, this sequel fails to close the gap of mediocrity running through its core game design.

GameSpy

Take away the armored masks and you'd have a hard time telling Army of Two: The 40th Day from a glut of other third-person shooters. It's not bad enough to be especially memorable, and it's not good enough that people will talk about it for very long.

GamePro

But as a whole, while The 40th Day has its moments, it just isn't consistent enough to keep my attention.

Giant Bomb

It's a technically competent shooter with co-operative play. For some, that's plenty. But if you're more discerning about your shooters, you'll probably get bored of this one before you've seen the end credits.

Kikizo

The potential is there for a third game to capitalise on the series’ positive features, but until that day, the 40th Day stands as a perfectly competent but ultimately disposable title.

Teletext GameCentral

The original was obnoxious and insensitive but this new shooter lacks even that much personality.

GameZone

Although it was mostly a bore, the combat was ‘stupid’ enough for two players to take pleasure from watching the train-wreck.

DarkZero

To play The 40th Day in single player exposes a multitude of flaws the core game has, with AI mistakes particularly running rampant throughout. Co-op does a lot to mask these annoyances, but it is still not enough to push the game into the realm of a ‘must buy.’

Hardcore Gamer Magazine

When you take all of the flaws and advancements with the game, The 40th Day really just balances out to be equal to if not slightly behind where the first one started.

games(TM)

Ultimately it's a dull, dated experience that needed to change a lot more than it actually did. [Feb 2010, p.116]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Yet these [moral choice] moments, and not the dull firefights, are the most memorable things about The 40th Day. They stir the mind and wake players, if only briefly, from what otherwise is a banal, trigger-happy, brain-deadening experience.

GamingExcellence

Pass on this title and save your money for the better games coming out this year. There will be no lack of them.

Gameplayer Sweden

Army of Two: The 40th Day is a big disappointment in so many ways. The first game had it's flaws, but was a good game for it's time. These days we expect more from a game, and this just doesn't cut it. An all to short campaign still feels repetitive, an multi player-component that lacks a distinctive feel. But worst of all is the controls, which will give you headache for a very long time. A swing and a miss, EA Montreal.