A game that i believe that is a good harmonious game would be Army of Two. It is a good third person shooter and it kind of compares to the game Gears of War when it comes to the actual game play aspect of it. The story is a good one where two military personnel Rios and Salem are put to work by a contractor as a main object or tool of war. As you progress throughout the game, the story staggers by a year or so at a time to do different missions throughout the world (Iraq, China, etc…) for profit.
For the aesthetics aspect of the game, i think it is very good. The graphics of the game are nothing outstanding but they are fun and enjoyable to look at while playing the game. There are very vibrant colors and realistic sounds in the forest scenes throughout the game also. The voices of the characters are great throughout the game. Since the two main characters are wearing masks throughout the game the sound of their voices actually sound like somebody is talking behind a mask and i found that pretty cool and realistic. While battling in game play it sounds like a battlefield (explosions, gun fire, screaming) which is always a plus.
For the mechanics piece of this game the player can customize their load out for the missions and you can choose from a variety of pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, machine guns, and more. You have to buy ammunition for each mission with your own profits or you go through the mission with nothing and you chances of surviving are slim to none.
Technology wise, Army of two was released in March of 2008 do this game is not new by any means but it is still widely played everywhere. It has a great multiplayer mode where you can play in different types of games like a team death match where two teams just try to annihilate eachother. Or there are objective based multiplayer games like capture the flag. This game can be played on any model of the playstation 3, XBox 360 and PC.
Army of Two is not revolutionary by any means but all of its elements work together so greatly and it makes it a fun game to play with your friends or just by yourself in your downtime and i highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys third person shooters with a good story behind it and a little bit of humor.
By Nick Dove
I would be interested to hear more about Army of Two as a harmonious game. This example interests me partly because the game got such mixed reviews when it came out. I had the sense that most critics thought it was an okay game, somewhat fun, but not a particularly great one. So, I was intrigued when you suggested that it’s a very harmonious game–one where all the elements are working together to deliver a solid gameplay experience.
Could you give a specific example of a moment in the game where its story, mechanics, and aesthetic really reinforce one another? I have to admit that I don’t play a lot of third person shooters. So, this comparison isn’t ideal. But the comparison I’d make is Left for Dead. I think of it as being a really harmonious shooter. It did something unique by getting people to think of multiplayer shooters as being cooperative rather than competitive, something which Army of Two may be doing as well, inasmuch as its designed for two players who help each other out. But with Left for Dead I can see how the game’s mechanics and storyline combine to reinforce this gameplay. Story-wise, its reinforced by the zombie setting, the fact that the characters are a ragtag group of survivors, etc. Mechanics-wise, the way the game ramped up challenges in response to players’ successes, the way that players were incentivized to help each other in order to prevent less skilled member of the team from becoming zombies, hence threats….
Could you give a specific example from Army of Two which shows how the elements reinforce each other?