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Army of Two: The 40th Day at Pax - Final Recap

The 6^th Annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) has come to a close and it has resulted in nothing but a great time for everyone involved. I had the opportunity to simply hang out at the Army of Two: The 40th Day booth talking with existing fans of Army of Two as well newcomers who were finally getting a chance to see exactly what The 40th Day is all about.  Considering that the chairs were never empty for more than a few seconds the entire time it's safe to say that virtually everyone had a blast playing through Shanghai's devastated zoo.   There were also many very eager players who easily spent upwards of 30 minutes testing their coop skills-dying didn't deter them in the slightest from trying to finish the demo, even if they had to start from the beginning.

It was fantastic to be able to watch the reactions of players as they sat down to play. A huge number of the people who did sit down were clearly fans of the original Army of Two, but despite the demanding expectations that come with being a fan I don't think they knew just how much the game has changed. This is because the 40th Day is filled with a huge number of tiny details that make even simple maneuvers exciting. I can't count how many wide-eyed and very satisfied smiles I saw when helmets popped off enemies or sniper shots decapitated foes. Even simple changes, like gruesome blood trails from injured players as they crawled around were greeted with many positive reactions.  It's just fun to vault over a dead hippopotamus as bullet contrails streak across the screen.

Additionally, the fans that I had the opportunity to talk to over the duration of PAX were all exceptionally excited to hear about all of the changes. We didn't demo weapon customization outside of our community day, but nevertheless it's an obvious focus of attention for Army of Two fans. The variety and novelty that The 40th Day offers is unparalleled (where else will you be able to decide between using a kitchen knife and a screwdriver as a bayonet), but it was obvious that many fans were excited to learn how all of the changes to your weapon directly impact gameplay. Choosing to build a set of heavily silenced sniper rifles means that a player will be able to effectively play very passively and take down enemies before their comrades know what's going on. One big question that recurred frequently was whether or not The 40th Day's multiplayer is being improved. While we aren't going into the details of the team's multiplayer plans just yet it is very reassuring for players to know that multiplayer is being greatly revised in The 40th Day.

Hopefully everyone who wanted to play Army of Two: The 40^th Day managed to get some solid time at our booth, and a big thank you goes out to everyone for making PAX such a great event for Army of Two: The 40th Day!

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