Before talking about this downloadable add-on, it would probably be worth reading our review for the retail release Army of Two: The 40th Day. For those that would rather skip all that, here is a brief summary: taking place in Shanghai, Army of Two: The 40th Day revolves around homoerotic-mercenaries-for-hire Salem and Rios shooting an army of nameless foes. In the opening of the game the duo have been hired to plant beacons all around Shanghai. Once they complete their assignment, a barrage of missiles hit the city as a paramilitary force descends on the street. Suspecting that they may have unwittingly had a hand in Shanghai’s destruction, Salem and Rios try to clean up the town.

Utilising a morality system, much like every game seems to do these days, you could choose to be a good mercenary (saving as many people as you can, tying up your enemies, and so on) or being an utter bastard, shooting your way through not only the enemy forces, but any hapless sap that got in the way of your bullets. However, where this morality system got interesting was in the cut scenes. During certain cut scenes you could decide to help someone or not.

For instance, you come across an elderly guard looking after a cache of weapons; you can choose to take the weapons for yourself, or leave the underpowered man with this huge arsenal. So far nothing particularly note worthy. However, making the good choice would reveal that later on this helpless old man would go on to sell the weapons he was guarding to your enemies. Likewise, if you chose to take the weapons for yourself, during the struggle the guard winds up accidentally being shot dead.

Cover based shooting is the name of the game in The 40th Day

With that being said, this first piece of downloadable content for The 40th Day, Chapters of Deceit, pretty much ignores the moral choice system with the exception of one instance. Instead, it focuses on throwing hundreds of enemies at you to stop you from reaching your objectives. Occasionally you will be asked to try to rescue hostages, but there is no real need to. Even if you kill the hostages yourself the only penalty is that people will think you are a “prick” (the game’s words, not mine). Every now and then you will fight larger, tougher, enemies such as the Gatling Gun solider, and have to defend unarmed allies, but for the most part it is a simple shoot fest.

Chapters of Deceit adds two new story chapters, which is roughly one third of the original game. It is not entirely clear when these two new chapters are supposed to have taken place, thanks mainly to some garbled storytelling. Playing as Salem and Rios you discover some information that might lead to you taking down Jonah, the man behind the terrorist attack on Shanghai. In the opening Chapter (called Chapter 8, despite these events seemingly taking part before chapter 6) Salem and Rios have split up in an office complex while searching for a wounded ally.

While you can choose to save the hostages, you aren't penalised if you kill them

The most interesting part of this chapter is that at the start of the level Salem has to act as a spy, running ahead and tagging targets for Rios to shoot from the opposite side of the destroyed building. It’s not clear why, but Salem can’t shoot anyone himself as his guns have been taken away. All Salem can do is mark targets for execution and hope that Rios is good enough to take the enemy out before they realise where he is.

Salem marks targets for Rios to take out

The rest of the chapter is standard Army of Two fare; Salem and Rios regroup with all of their weapons intact and stomp around through floor after floor of the ruined building, looking for their ally. Once he is found, the two are tasked with defending him against dozens of enemies. As with the main game, the focus on cover and building aggro to divert enemy attention is key to survival. The aggro system worked well in the main game, and continues to do so in this expansion.

The second chapter revolves around hunting down a traitor to the resistance. What you decide to do with her is your choice, but there does not seem to be any real consequence behind any of the choices that you make. Once the traitor is out of the way, the resistance needs you to blow up some support pillars on a bridge in order to flatten the invaders. Completing this mission will complete the expansion, with some predictably unintended consequences.

Review Round-Up

Graphics: 2/5 Exactly the same as the main game. The level design is competent considering each level is supposed to be a generic office, or ruined street.

Sound: 3/5 Am I the only one that is fed up of Nolan North voicing a character in every game? Other than that the voice work, sound effects and music are perfectly adequate, if a little generic.

Gameplay 3/5 Aside from the fairly interesting opening segment in which Salem and Rios are separated, which requires Salem to stealthily mark targets for his partner to kill, this plays exactly the same way as the rest of the game. Hundreds of enemies will attempt to stop you from reaching your objectives by running head first into your bullets. It is perfectly playable in single player mode, but there is more fun to be had in co-op with a live human partner; preferably one you know.

Longevity 2/5 There are two missions, each lasting from 30 to 45 minutes. Essentially you are getting a third of the main game again, but once you beat it there is little motivation to play again.

Overall: 3 Bromantic Gestures out of 5. If you liked Army of Two: The 40th Day and fancy the prospect of adding two more missions to the game, then perhaps this is for you. After a fairly interesting opening, Chapters of Deceit quickly descends into more generic Army of Two gameplay. However, considering the price: 800 MS Points (about £6.80) and £7.99 on Playstation Network, some may question how much bang they will get for their digital buck.