File Size: 611 MB
File Type: CSO
The danger in bringing a game from a console to a portable is that key features get lost in translation. Some features may be limited, while others are changed or completely eliminated to fit on smaller systems. The most important question is: how do those changes affect the overall game? In the case of Army of Two: The 40th Day for the PSP, these changes are not for the better. Virtually abandoning the franchise's co-op focus, the portable version degenerates into a sub-par action title.
The 40th Day takes place in Shanghai over the course of a few days as Rios and Salem run missions for their own private military corporation, TransWorld Operations. They accept a simple contract for a huge payday and don't expect much difficulty in accomplishing their tasks. As they finish their mission, Shanghai comes under attack. Salem and Rios have to stay alive long enough to figure out who's behind it. The PSP version follows the console plot faithfully and even repurposes much of the dialogue. However, the sense of chaos is completely lost on the small screen; the streets still seem populated and the destruction you witness seems minor. As a result, it doesn't feel like the city is falling down around you, and there's no adrenaline rush from surviving the battles.
The 40th Day takes place in Shanghai over the course of a few days as Rios and Salem run missions for their own private military corporation, TransWorld Operations. They accept a simple contract for a huge payday and don't expect much difficulty in accomplishing their tasks. As they finish their mission, Shanghai comes under attack. Salem and Rios have to stay alive long enough to figure out who's behind it. The PSP version follows the console plot faithfully and even repurposes much of the dialogue. However, the sense of chaos is completely lost on the small screen; the streets still seem populated and the destruction you witness seems minor. As a result, it doesn't feel like the city is falling down around you, and there's no adrenaline rush from surviving the battles.
The locked, top-down perspective of the game is a big part of the problem. It restricts your view of the environment so you can't see where enemies or hazards are. This unpredictability doesn't add any tension; rather, it's a cheap attempt to make sections harder. This sentiment is only reinforced as you go further along into the game and are stuck facing off against waves of enemies that prefer to rush you instead of using any battlefield tactics. The primary challenge comes from constantly fending off these hordes while avoiding bombs randomly dropped from the skies, making the shallow gameplay obvious.
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