I never played Army of Two, partly out of lack of interest, partly because I heard that it was a little silly . Somebody must have liked it, though, because they’re making a sequel, Army of Two: The 40th Day. The Great Hype is not satisfied with a mere sequel, however. There must be spectacle ! Army of Two Two is going to include moral choices, and the results of these choice sequences will be logged and analyzed by some poor guy at Electronic Arts so that we will finally know the answer to the question that has been burning in the minds of we intellectuals that have not had the opportunity to study overseas: who’s got the moral high ground? The US of America? Or Europe?
Man, the things that EA does… I sometimes wonder what they’re binging on that makes them regurgitate their common sense. Let’s start with this whole “battle of the ethics” deal. We do realize, don’t we, that when people are set up against moral choice scenarios in games, many of them choose the evil route precisely because this is a game, and they wouldn’t or couldn’t be a jerk anywhere else. Those who don’t are people like me, who play these types of adventures so that we may save something or someone, from a princess to a galaxy. Moral choice instances are just opportunities to give our consciences some exercise. I’m sure there’s a scientific term for people like me, the wannabe saviors of the kitten marooned in a tree, but the layman knows us, colloquially, as weird.
So, assuming those Euros use games for the controlled expression of bastardry as much as the Yanks do, it’s not going to be much of a competition.
Then I’m concerned about the “moral choices” Army of 2 Two is going to present me with. If you’ve read many of my reviews, you know I’m all for the inclusion of morality in a game’s presentation; it’s a case of art imitating life, and with video gaming, making the player make the tough choices is probably the ultimate expression of that. But for as much as gaming has evolved, moral choice mechanics really haven’t. Too often the choice is between something obviously good or obviously evil; no shady areas that player can get lost in and think his or her way out. The result is that we have a caricature of morality, a set-up that encourages players to let loose and play the evil Sith Lord. If you’re going to be the good Jedi Master, the route there isn’t too hard either.
Read the Kotaku article , but it doesn’t sound to me like Army of Two II’s moral choices are going to be anything revolutionary. In co-op, both players have to make the choice, so that might lead to something noteworthy, but… I don’t know. Maybe someday we’ll get past the Knights of the Old Republic mentality on morality.
Shouting at the wall to move,
