Army of Two: The 40th Day (Xbox 360)

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No animals were harmed in the making of this game

There's nothing quite like a day out at the zoo: going to see the elephants, watching the penguins being fed, and then a quick visit to the monkey house. Maybe you'll make a quick stop for an ice cream on the way out. Oooh, lovely! But every once in a while, something comes along to spoil your weekend treat: bad weather, perhaps, or an unexpected hike in entrance prices. Or a massive, bloody gunfight between heavily-armed mercenaries.

I've hidden behind walls before, and I've hidden behind crates before, but Army of Two: The 40th Day has the dubious honour of being the first game to let me hide behind dead zoo animals. I seem to recall that you could squat behind a deceased cow in the very first Call of Duty, but 40th Day has both expired rhinos and perished hippopotami. The unlucky ex-beasties served as useful hiding spots during my first encounter with the game last week, during a mission that followed the hard-as-nails Rios and Salem as they fought through Shanghai Zoo.

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I wasn't given much in the way of context prior to my hands-on, but suffice to say that our two anti-heroes have once again found themselves in deep trouble. Like the first Army of Two, 40th Day is a third-person shooter with a strong emphasis on co-op gunplay. Being private military contractors, Rios and Salem are pretty handy in a fight, and yet I was slightly taken aback by how tough the action proved to be in this demo stage. The basic gameplay elements are very similar to the last game: take cover, pop up to fire at the enemy, and then duck back into safety. Enemies go down relatively quickly, but so do you - so it's important to work well with your partner, whether they're controlled by the AI or by another human being.

As before, this co-operation is largely fuelled by the Aggro system - a mechanic that uses an on-screen meter to show which of our two anti-heroes is drawing the enemies' attention. If one player causes a lot of havoc - mowing guys down, chucking grenades about and generally being a nuisance - their side of the gauge will fill up. If they fill out their meter entirely, the bad guys (well badder guys) will be 100 per cent focused on trying to kill them; in the mean time they'll all but totally ignore the other player, allowing them to sneak about and perform a flanking manoeuvre or two. Fighters who completely max out their Aggro can also go into Overkill - a sort of powered-up killing frenzy. On the other hand, you can also feign death to transfer your Aggro to your partner.

This smart concept was one of the best things about the first game, and it looks as if it works equally well in this sequel. Indeed, it looks as if it'll be particularly necessary this time around, as your enemies don't pull their punches. The zoo stage is apparently taken from mid-way through the main campaign, and by this stage the game is content to throw large numbers of bullet-spewing ball-breakers in your direction. Individually they don't pose too much threat, but if you get cocky it's easy to get overwhelmed - forcing your partner to drag you to safety. However, EA Montreal has helpfully thrown in a couple of things to make your life that little bit easier.

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