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Game Review: ‘Frontlines: Fuel of War’ and ‘Army of Two’

Here’s a look at two of early spring’s most-hyped first-person shooters, “Frontlines: Fuel of War” and “Army of Two.” Both are competent, enjoyable games worth checking out, but unless you’re able to look past some irksome quirks, don’t worry about getting addicted.

‘FRONTLINES: FUEL OF WAR’

So, I had just gotten home from another wearying day as a member of the elite Washington press corps, eager to put aside all thoughts of controversy and discord. I cracked open a frosty libation, dropped in the disc of “Frontlines: Fuel of War” and — yearning for diversion — got a lecture about the geopolitical implications of a nearsighted energy policy. Fortunately, after the game’s introductory movie ended, I got to start shooting stuff.

In “Frontlines,” the world has almost run out of energy, and the allied forces of the West are fighting the allied forces of China and Russia to seize control of the world’s last oil fields. But apart from cinematic scenes interspersed with the single-player missions, the doom-and-gloom narrative doesn’t interrupt the game play (you don’t have to worry about your helicopter running out of gas, for example).

This is a by-the-numbers first-person shooter. You shoot bad guys, seize objectives and occasionally get to pilot vehicles. The enemies and maps are highly detailed, and there are multiple ways to accomplish your objectives. Beyond that, your opinion of “Frontlines” will depend entirely on what type of game you prefer. Game play is frantic, fast and loud, with a lot of shooting, running forward and shooting some more. The levels go quickly, with plenty of action. If you’re into more strategy-oriented shooters where you spend most of your game play concealed, setting up an attack or trying to kill enemies from a distance, “Frontlines” will get old fast.

In a typical “Ghost Recon” stage, for example, you can spend five minutes getting into position, hearing only ambient noise and radio chatter from your squad, before firing your first shot. “Frontlines” drops you into battle immediately, with a chargin’ rock soundtrack and bad guys blazing away.

Some follow-up digressions:

• As in almost all of today’s shooters, your squad is useless, and their stock dialogue (British soldier: “They moost be ‘avin a coop o’ tea!”) makes you yearn for solo missions.

• The game’s combat physics is designed for fast-paced action and will not reward attempts to attack stealthily. I found it almost impossible to get head-shot kills even lying down with the sniper rifle; after taking two or three shots to finish off a sentry, each of his nearby associates immediately started firing at my exact position.

Other than being forced into a “spray-and-pray” mind-set, I liked the arsenal you get in “Frontlines.” The armored vehicles and aircraft were easy and fun to pilot and, just as though it had been sponsored by General Atomics, the infantry game play included plenty of unmanned combat vehicles.

‘ARMY OF TWO’

In “Army of Two,” on the other hand, you do your killing with only your guns and, occasionally, your bare hands.

The game is about a “bro-mance” (to borrow the tabloids’ parlance) between two ex-Army Rangers who have gone to work for a Blackwater-style private military contractor. You and your partner take on the jobs with which the full-time Rangers can’t be bothered and, like Butch and Sundance or Bush and Cheney, you crack wise while laying waste to evildoers.

“Army” sets you up with a variety of novel tactics to help capture objectives and shoot the bad guys. You can order your partner to advance and draw enemies’ fire, then hold position while you sneak around and outflank them. You can drag each other out of the line of fire and administer first aid. You share the same parachute. You help each other over obstacles. And in the cinematic cut-scenes, you and Broseph are usually chillin’ in the cut, watchin’ some tube when, conveniently, news reports break in to keep you up on the intervening story line.

The dual-attacker game play is awkward at first, especially if you aren’t playing with your own real-life shipmate sitting next to you, but after a few tries, the two-against-the-world tactics become intuitive.

Game play in “Army of Two” gets a little monotonous, though, as you and your pal are forced repeatedly into the exact same firefight. You crouch behind crates or sandbags, firing at bad guys also crouched behind sandbags or crates, until you can get a lucky kill shot or you have to run forward and hose ‘em down. This, in turn, leads to my biggest gripe with the game: It was really difficult to charge bad guys and hit them in close quarters, which forces you into the crouching-popping-up-to-fire-and-crouching-again formula. That may be more realistic, but it made for irksome game play.

“Army of Two’s” online mode tries to replicate the feel of the single-player version, only setting you up with an Internet buddy. The game’s tactics are designed around using your partner as a bullet sop and medic — but when it’s you and a stranger in the online multiplayer mode, nobody wants to be the guy who boosts the other over a wall or stops his killing spree to administer first aid.

In online game play, you can’t just die and respawn — you have to lie there and wait for your life partner to come rescue you. It’d all be so much easier without that kind of commitment.