Certified hood classic, replaying this made me remember why i loved playing this back in 08 with my big bro.

With the chemistry between rios & salem, the dialogue which is definitely suited for the fratboy PMC soldiers thing they got going on, the animations from transitional cutscenes of having to lift a gate or door up, or the little interactions you can have with your partner by pressing X (or A on 360) with dapping him up or air guitars, or the other end where you hit him in the head for doing something stupid. (which is definitely suitable for what i had to go through with the ai bot in single player but we'll get to that in a minute)

Then there's the gameplay which definitely makes it stand out from other TPS games at the time, since you are a 2 man army wink wink, you've gotta rely on your partner on either advancing, regroup, or hold position on the dpad. and if you press the button of the command again, you can order him to cover you and take all the aggro. Now, the "aggro" system is basically where whomever plays aggressively gets all the smoke, gets all the attention from enemies while your partner sneaks around and flanks enemies. Which you would HAVE to use with certain armored enemies or guys in turrets. And once you get full aggro, You and your buddy can activate "Overkill" mode which can act as a slow mo feature where you deal 2x damage and just feel powerful.

Then there's other features like "Coop snipe" where you and your bro decide to snipe 2 people close together with the snipers you've equipped, where your buddy takes one and you take the other out simultaneously. the "back 2 back" system where whenever there's a shit ton of enemies around you, you go as it implies, back 2 back with your partner, and shooting around you from both angles and even being able to turn around and cover every base in slow motion like its an action movie. and be ready to get used to hearing "STEP JUMP BRO" a lot when you have to lift up your buddy to a ledge to climb on and you have to get lifted by him.

This game's a legit time capsule of the mid to late 2000s. From post 9/11 military shooters (well sorta, after the first mission, it goes from rangers working with a batshit PMC contractor to full on PMC adventures) with the both of you suited up with body armor and bulletproof masks that you can customize but by default, its flames for salem and a scarred skull for rios. With these, the handler Alice, whose a badass hot chick with tattoos (which artists at EA dev studios might've got a type because Mirror's edge was in the same year with a similar looking hot chick with tattoos with Faith), and a hacker named "Section 8" who speaks in "L337 Speak" the whole game which is funny as hell seeing in subtitles with NO voice speaking that which is a smart move because, good luck speaking the dialogue in that text lol
On top of being a globe trotting adventure, Going from Somalia (Prologue in 1993), Afghanistan (Post 9/11 2001), Iraq (2003), Kiev (2004), An South China aircraft carrier (2008), and China & Miami (Both set in 2009), It also has a conspiracy plot of Rios & Salem finding some real shady shit happening in the PMC during their missions and they have to find out why. The plot, cutscenes, and even the clean looking models during cutscenes and missions briefings look like they're straight out of the late 2000s. and I wouldn't have it any other way.

While its a time capsule in a positive way, AOT also aged poorly in the time capsule with 2 things: 1. The bullshit artificial difficulty at times where they just send you enemies with shotguns, rockets, etc. especially in the last mission where you storm the airport and then the HQ, which holy mother of god i died more times in this than anywhere else and that's thanks to number 2: THE FUCKING AI BOT THAT "ASSISTS" YOU IN SINGLE PLAYER. You've heard this complaint before with other reviewers which unfortunately I can confirm. On one end, its competent enough to drag you into cover and revive you and provide cover. On the other end of the spectrum, it feels like its on the lower depths of the damn spectrum riding on the short bus snorting pixie stix like its pink cocaine, in other words, its genuinely pants on head retarded. Like getting lit up and not taking cover AFTER you order it to call off providing cover fire or often getting itself killed while its trying to revive you.

These 2 issues are bad enough, but combined with the gunplay you have to master with the massive recoil/bullet spread, especially with LMGs, You'd have a catastrophic clusterfuck. and this is me playing on "contractor" which i assume is this games "medium" difficulty, imagine having to play on "professional" aka the hardest one after beating the game.

So when you play this game, you need a friend, otherwise you'd have to deal with the bipolar AI who'll sometimes help out, other times you will have to babysit. Thankfully this game is enjoyable enough to get away with a 3.5/5 in solo with the aforementioned issues and 4/5 in co-op. It would be miserable if everything else wasn't solid. Seen many people say "its much more fun with friends" as a positive when it comes down to mediocre or straight up hot garbage games but I'm afraid this is legit true when it comes down to this one.

Post Review Edit This game also got a "Veterans Map Pack" DLC that i only see listed on xbox now but here's the brief impressions on that: There's extra 2 campaign missions: Kiev where they're doing screwed up experiments and an ALT ending in the final mission in miami with a different final boss. And while Kiev is, at best, more of the same, The Alternative ending/boss is where the DLC really shines but is also a bitch to get through getting shot in all angles on contractor difficulty. It's like they saw the last mission, think it was a bit much but then cranked up the bullshit by 11. But one thing, i'll actually say, its a much more satisfying finale and level than that original final boss despite that glaring issue. While the boss kept fucking throwing grenades like its WAW on veteran, its a lot less infuriating than i first expected. and instead of going for potshots like the original game, you have to actually use what they taught you in the beginning with the aggro. which its not only fitting but also far more engaging than ducking and sniping the other final boss. On top of that, Kiev and "Alternate" Miami have the best instances of Back 2 Back in this game just by the sheer imagery that stood out vs the main game. And art design wise, they really stand out as well. Kiev with its train station then going to the seedy and screwed up underground and Miami with its vault looking like a villains lair straight out of a bond film. I don't know if it's obtainable via normal means on PSN (probably due to licensing because it was "sponsored by Pontiac", so thanks a lot Pontiac) because this only adds to the game. But if you're playing on Xbox, You should download it. Its free and gives you a better final battle than the actual game did.