Man, remember when every game didn't need to be a "live service" or a 100-hour open-world slog? I've been thinking about Army of Two The 40th Day lately. It came out in 2010, which feels like a lifetime ago in gaming years, but honestly? It still holds up better than half the shooters we get today. Developed by EA Montreal, it was this weird, gritty, bromantic experiment that doubled down on everything the first game tried to do. It didn't want to be Call of Duty. It wanted to be a buddy cop movie where the cops were private military contractors and everything was exploding.
The premise was simple. Salem and Rios, our two favorite masked mercenaries, are in Shanghai just trying to get paid. Then, out of nowhere, the entire city starts collapsing. It wasn't just a scripted set piece; it felt like the world was actually breaking. While modern games try to be subtle, Army of Two The 40th Day was about as subtle as a brick to the face. And that was the charm.
Why the Aggro System in Army of Two The 40th Day Actually Worked
Look, most "co-op" games today are just two people playing the same level at the same time. This game was different. The Aggro system was the heart of the experience. If you were playing with a buddy, one of you could purposefully draw fire—basically acting like a loud, armored idiot—while the other person turned invisible (metaphorically speaking) to flank the enemies.
It created this rhythmic gameplay loop.
You'd hunkered down behind a concrete pillar that's slowly disintegrating. Your partner, maybe playing as Rios, stands up with a gold-plated LMG and starts spraying. Suddenly, he's glowing red on the HUD. Every enemy in the district is looking at him. That’s your cue. You sneak around the side, the screen turning grey because you have zero "Aggro," and you just pick them off. It felt tactical. It felt earned.
Most games today shy away from these kinds of rigid mechanics because they want "player freedom," but the rigidity of the Aggro system forced you to actually talk to the person sitting next to you on the couch. Or, you know, over a headset with a lot of static.
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Customization That Put Modern Battle Passes to Shame
We need to talk about the weapon tuning. This wasn't just "apply a skin for $10." You could legit build a monstrosity. You want a screwdriver as a bayonet? You got it. You want a soda can as a silencer? Sure, why not. Army of Two The 40th Day allowed for an insane level of granularity in its weapon bench.
You could pimp your gun out with solid gold or diamond plating, which actually served a gameplay purpose. It increased your Aggro. It made you a bigger target because you were literally a shiny beacon of wealth and violence. That kind of ludonarrative harmony is rare. Usually, skins are just cosmetic fluff. Here, your choice to look like a tool actually changed how the AI reacted to you.
The Morality System: Not Just Black and White
During the Shanghai collapse, the game throws these "Morality Moments" at you. Usually, these are binary choices. Save the civilian or take the money. But Army of Two The 40th Day did something clever. It showed you the long-term consequences immediately through these stylized, comic-book panels.
Sometimes, doing the "right" thing resulted in something horrible happening later. It was cynical. It felt like the developers were poking fun at the idea that mercenaries could ever be true heroes. You'd save a kid, and the comic would show that kid growing up to be a warlord because of the trauma you witnessed. It was heavy, man.
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I remember one specific moment with a security guard in a zoo. You could kill him for his keycard or let him live. If you let him live, the "future" vision showed him reuniting with his family, but also a bunch of animals getting slaughtered because he wasn't there to lock the cages. There was no winning. Just varying degrees of losing.
Technical Marvels (For 2010)
EA Montreal used the Unreal Engine 3, and they pushed it hard. The destruction in Shanghai was impressive for the hardware. Skyscrapers would literally tilt and crumble in real-time as you ran through them. It wasn't the "Levolution" of Battlefield 4, but for a focused third-person shooter, it was immersive as hell.
The sound design deserves a shoutout too. The masks muffled the voices of Salem and Rios, making them sound like they were actually talking through ballistic faceplates. It’s those small details that modern AAA titles often miss in the rush to hit a release date.
What People Get Wrong About the Difficulty
A lot of reviews at the time complained that the game was too hard or the AI was "cheap." Honestly? I think people just forgot how to play cover shooters. Army of Two The 40th Day isn't Gears of War. You can't just roadie run into a pack of enemies and expect to survive. If you aren't using the "Back-to-Back" mechanic or the "Mock Surrender," you’re going to get shredded.
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The Mock Surrender was a stroke of genius. You’d drop your weapons, put your hands up, and the AI would actually hesitate. They’d walk up to you, smug and confident, and then you’d pull a hidden pistol and trigger a slow-motion breach. It was cheesy. It was glorious. It was exactly what gaming needed more of.
The Problem with the Legacy
It sucks that the series basically died after The Devil's Cartel. That game tried to be too serious. It lost the soul of Salem and Rios. Army of Two The 40th Day was the peak because it knew it was a game. It didn't try to be a cinematic masterpiece that won Oscars; it tried to be a fun co-op experience you could play with your brother or your best friend over a weekend.
Today, the servers are mostly ghost towns, and getting a copy to run smoothly on modern hardware can be a bit of a headache if you’re looking for the console experience. But if you have an old Xbox 360 or PS3 lying around, it is worth the $5 you'll pay for it at a used game store.
How to Play Army of Two The 40th Day in 2026
If you're looking to jump back in, here is the reality of the situation. You aren't going to find much of an online community. The glory days of the leaderboards are over. However, the local split-screen still works perfectly.
- Find a physical copy: Digital storefronts for older consoles are becoming increasingly unreliable. Buy a disc.
- Grab a partner: Do not play this game with the AI. The AI partner is... fine, but it misses the point. You need someone to argue with about who gets the sniper rifle.
- Focus on the customization: Spend time in the weapon menus. It’s the best part of the game.
- Ignore the "Meta": Don't look up the best guns. Build the dumbest, loudest, most gold-plated shotgun you can imagine and see if you can survive.
The game is a relic of an era where mid-budget "AA" games could take risks. It wasn't perfect, but it had personality. In a world of sanitized, corporate-approved shooters, the grit and grime of Shanghai in Army of Two The 40th Day feels like a breath of fresh air.
If you want to experience what actually made co-op gaming great before it was all about battle passes and daily logins, this is the title to revisit. It’s loud, it’s dumb, and it’s a total blast. Just remember to watch your partner's back, because the Aggro system doesn't forgive mistakes.
To get the most out of a modern playthrough, ensure your console is outputting at the correct aspect ratio for your TV, as the HUD in this game can get a bit cluttered on stretched displays. Set the difficulty to "Contractor" if you want the Aggro mechanics to actually matter—on lower settings, you can mostly ignore the strategy and just tank everything, which ruins the core hook. Once you finish the campaign, check out the "Extraction" mode if you managed to unlock it, as it offers a focused wave-based challenge that really tests how well you and your partner communicate under pressure.