With EA's Reid Schneider & Alex Hutchinson
Written by Matt Cabral, 5/26/2009
Long before Resident Evil 5, Resistance 2, and Call of Duty: World at War offered dedicated co-op experiences, the masked duo of 2008's Army of Two had already proven there was strength in numbers. And while the title only scored middling reviews and received plenty of backlash, mostly for its lame fist-pumping humor, it still moved enough copies to warrant a sequel. With Army of Two: The 40th Day, the team at EA Montreal hope to retain what worked in the original while excising the aspects that left a bad taste in gamer's mouths. Atomic Gamer recently sat with the game's behind-the-scenes ass-kicking duo Creative Director Alex Hutchinson and Executive Producer Reid Schneider, to find out where the series is headed, and how their masked menaces can remain relevant co-op badasses in a gaming landscape recently changed by Chris Redfield's and Sheva Alomar's zombie-slaughtering tag team.
AtomicGamer: Please tell us a bit about the storyline and gameplay in the Army of Two sequel?
Reid Schneider: Our approach in AO2:TFD is to focus on a much more organic approach to COOP. That being said the game’s focus remains 100% pure COOP, with Two-Man tactics/strategies. We really want people to be able to use the COOP moves anywhere in the game. In the original game we had some big ideas, and we were able to execute on some of them, but the pacing of the game was not as smooth as we would have liked. In this game we’re really thinking about consistent rhythm and a pace to the experience.
On the story side we really want to put people in the middle of a disaster scenario. We have not really seen that conveyed in a believable way in a game previously, and that’s our goal. Finally, and this is probably the MOST important thing; we really take our customer’s feedback to heart, and we want to deliver them the game they want to play. We actively look at forums and talk to people who played the first game to find out what they liked/disliked. This helps inform our decision making as we go forward.
AG: How does it relate to the original game, if at all?
RS: In the original game our challenge was to create interesting/iconic characters. Obviously Rios and Salem are coming back, and Alice Murray will be in the game as well. Basically AO2:TFD takes place a few years after the events of the original game. Rios and Salem have set up their own company called T.W.O.
Alex Hutchinson: We wanted to link it loosely to the first game but we want new players to get into it easily. We don’t want massive back story hanging around. We want new players to have a complete, self-contained story and old fans to catch some references and characters from previous titles.
AG: What was the most significant feedback--both negative and positive--you received from fans about the original game?
AH: I think tone was an issue. People didn’t always realize the first game was slightly tongue in cheek – for me it was kind of like a modern day Contra, but I don’t think that was clear, especially to European audiences. But we’re taking steps to address that without turning the characters into cardboard cut-outs. We want the characters to tell an occasional joke without becoming jokes, so that’s a fun line to tread.
I think the fact that it was really co-op focused and it was easy to pick up and play was a huge positive and something we’re continuing to polish – we want the through-the-gun experience to be a cut above the previous game and be really competitive with other modern shooters. We also know weapon customization was a big positive in the first game so that will be making a return.
AG: What are the biggest changes you've made to the sequel?
RS: Again, really focusing on an organic/systemic approach to COOP and putting people in a disaster scenario. Also, we have been really fortunate to bring top talent into the team. We added people from Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, Rainbow Six, Battlefield 2, Force Unleashed, and even Spore. All these new people are really helping to push the game in new directions.
AH: Yeah, the additions to the team are a big change. My last game was Spore on PC, so it’s fun to be back in an action genre and back on consoles. And it’s really exciting to be working with a bunch of new talent from other projects. The level of experience in the shooter space is really fun to collaborate with, and I think you’ll really see it in the final game. I also think we’re focusing more on a holistic experience this time round, so trying to make sure you feel the evolution of your mechanics, the story, the relationship between the characters over the course of the whole game. Great games are no longer judged on a single mechanic replicated for X hours, they’re judged on the entire experience, so we’re really trying to make that obvious and satisfying for the player. I really want players to put the controller down at the end and feel as though they lived through a complete experience.
AG: Anything you felt worked so well in the first game that you didn't want to change it at all for the sequel?
RS: Again, the focus on pure COOP is really what worked, and the feeling of you and your buddy against the world.
AH: The core fantasy was really strong in the first game – it’s an exciting idea that it’s just you and your buddy versus the world which is something we want to keep and heighten in the sequel. Now not only are you in heavy combat but the whole world is collapsing around you and we want you to feel like your buddy is the only reliable element remaining in your universe.
AG: Is it difficult to stay relevant as THE co-op game, when so many other titles are adding this feature? If so, how are you tackling this challenge?
RS: I think our approach to COOP is still different then the other games. In many other titles COOP is a mode in the experience, rather then the focus of the experience. In our game everything we do is built for COOP from the ground up. The major difference is the way we design levels, and that you need your partner to be successful. In other COOP experiences having your partner there just equals more/smarter firepower.
