Today, EA Montreal announced the return of the weapon design contest for Army of Two: The 40th day. From June 23, 2009 to July 12 2009, participants can submit their ultimate weapon at the game’s official website for a chance to have it included in a future EA Game.

To enter the contest, gamers will need to submit an image of their weapon and a brief 200-word description. Please click on the game’s official website to view the contest rules. Once gamers submit their designs, the images will be posted to the site for the community to vote on. Starting on July 20, 2009 the top weapons will be reviewed by the development team who will then pick the two best designs.

That’s right people. After god knows how long, it seems that we finally get to see the sequel in action, but in the form of a trailer.

The Army of Two: The 40th Day trailer shows a more serious and intense side of the game by showing what has happen to the city of Shanghai.

However, the trailer does show one of the games newest features, mock surrender, which is basically when you, or your partner, hinds and one of you go out and fakes a surrender and you should know how it goes from there. 

Though the original Army of Two happened to sell over two million copies, it didn’t go without catching some heat. Gamers found things to complain about, whether it was from the “bromance” exhibited through corny exchanges between Salem and Rios, wonky co-operative gameplay, or various other unsavory facets. However, EA hopes to turn all those notions on their head with the release of the upcoming Army of Two: The 40th Day, the sequel to the original game.

Salem and Rios make an explosive return, though now the focus of the game has shifted to the simple goal of getting out of Shanghai with their limbs – and lives – intact. Information that has surfaced about the upcoming sequel has set the stage for the game to lie in a sort of moral limbo. While little details are currently known about the definite storyline, it’s fact that there will be both obvious baddies and obvious civilians that you can protect or leave to fend for themselves – your choice.

The disaster plaguing Shanghai has something to do with the “40th Day Initiative” (now you know what the title is for!), though devs are currently mum about the entire ordeal . Interviews with 40th Day bigwigs indicate that the storyline will revolve solely around Salem and Rios getting out alive, with major plot points unraveling throughout the game, not just during the obligatory cut scenes.

While the core co-operative gameplay remains the same,  change is most certainly coming. A bevy of differences will be introduced in this installment. Sources such as Joystiq and Destructoid confirm the implementation of a new mechanic allowing players to negotiate prices for assassinations. For instance, a fee could be charged, which enters into a dialogue with certain NPCs. These small scenes are said to play a major part in the the flow of the gameplay, adding a truly organic feel to the action rather than faceless carnage. Controlling your partner will allow for some creative use of war tactics.

Salem and Rios can now perform such feats as faking surrenders, taking hostages, or as always, blowing straight through any opposition. The introduction of a tactial overlay will be something to take in as well, giving gamers the ability to label enemies and friendlies with a certain color to distinguish who to harm from who to keep safe. This seems like an extremely handy addition, as after a while enemies begin to look way too similar.

In addition, The 40th Day promises to buck the stereotype of placing gamers in lame, typical locations like docks, warehouses, or urban locations as we saw in Gears of War. Instead, combat is said to take place in everywhere a “real” city has, such as malls and other locations dotting the landscape.

Since the sequel was so recently announced, there is scant information currently available. Until more details are leaked, we’ll have to wait patiently to see how much Army of Two: The 40th Day can improve over the original. Hopefully quite vastly, as good co-op games have been difficult to come by lately. Here’s hoping for the best!

UbiSoft has confirmed that the sequel to Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood, will be headed towards stores sometime in June, which was stated via a release schedule.

UbiSoft’s release schedule doesn’t give specific dates for each versions, so as of right now the game looks like it will release on PS3, 360, and PC on the same day. It is stated that the game will be a, “bigger and better adventure to fans of shooters and the lawless Wild West.” Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood will release on the PS3, 360 and PC.

Mentioned in numerous occasions in the rumor section, it now seems that EA Montreal have announced today, officially, the developement of Army of Two: The 40th day. In were the ultimate two-man private military team -Salem and Rios - return in where they must survive and prevail in a city under siege.

“With Army of Two: The 40th day, we’re pushing the tactical two-man military team into new battlegrounds offering a completely organic and rich co-op experience to deliver an action-packed co-op shooter this winter,” says Reid Schneider, Executive Producer, EA Montreal. ”As chaos blankets Shanghai, China, you must rely on your partner to survive as you weave through a broken city left devastated in a mysterious wake.”

When disaster in strikes Shanghai, China, Rios and Salem find themselves right in the middle of it all – the wrong place, the wrong time, but they have the right team. A carefully orchestrated series of mysterious catastrophes is dragging Shanghai to the brink of ruin, and now the Army of Two must fight their way through ravaged city districts as they try to beat the odds and uncover the secret of the 40th Day.

The game features a bigger playbook of new co-op moves that either player can use at any time, opening up new strategies and countless choices for both players. The result is a bigger, better, more organic and immersive co-op experience that lets gamers put their best two-man tactics to use whenever and wherever they want. It will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC  this winter.

As rumoring reports mandated yesterday, it now seems that the games developers are now hinting at the return of the popular co-op game, Army of Two.

According to PlayStation LifeStyle, when you visit the Army of Two website you’ll find on the Army of Two Homepage an advertisement for the Army of Two sequel, which is  just a big old red ‘Submit’ banner. To add, there were some details given through the banners source code;

Game Name – “Army of Two: TFD”
Description – “Army to Two. The definitive third person co-op shooter is back.” [sic]
Studio Name – “EAM” (which is mostly EA Montreal)/em>

According to Variety, EA is planning on producing sequels to recent hits Army of Two and Battlefield: Bad Company. This news comes from EA boss, Frank Gibeau, who loosely confirmed EA’s plans for some new franchise iterations in an interview with Variety.

“If you look at the year “Gears of War” shipped the first time, it was one of the best sellers. “Bad Company” has come out and done very well. “Army of Two” sold very well. We’ve got sequel ideas planned for those.” -Frank Gibeau

There was also some talk about there being some new toys for their recently released game, Dead Space because EA is talking to some partners about it. There’s was also talk about there being a Dead Space movie in the making and EA Redwood Shores general manager, Glenn Schofield, also revealed that there is a “Dead Space” sequel is already in the works.

[Army of Two sequel, Dead Space movie talks, and more on EA's new approach to original properties via Variety]

After putting the pack SSC Challenge on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 last month, Electronic Arts continues to fuel Army of Two with a new Map Pack. The DLC will include two new campaigns modes, the first send Salem and Rios in a subway station where they must put an end to the activities of a mafia group, while the second puts players in the headquarters of the SSC Miami, where you are tasked with the job of dispatching Dalton.

Unscripted 360 spoke with EA Montreal earlier this week and told them that fans should expect new campaign maps for Army of Two very soon. They also where told that the demo will be coming at a good price, FREE. There wasn’t many other details giving about the games DLC so just keep an eye out for more information.

[Army of Two DLC maps coming & will be FREE! via Unscripted 360]

Calling all private military contractors! Electronic Arts announced today that its 3rd person co-op shooter, Army of Two, is expanding its two-man combat experience by releasing the new Security and Strategy Corporation Challenge mode and maps. The unique SSC Challenge mode has two teams of two competing in an intense obstacle course for the chance to join the SSC, the Private Military Corporation in Army of Two. The new maps will be available on April 24 in North America and Europe on Xbox Live Marketplace. The download pack will also come to the PlayStation Store on April 24 in North America and May 2008 in Europe.

"We want to support our fans with new content that delivers on the two-man gameplay but with a unique twist," says Alain Tascan, VP and General Manager of EA Montreal and Executive Producer of Army of Two. "The SSC Challenge gives players a chance to test their skills in a different setting while retaining the action packed co-op intensity that gamers have come to expect in Army of Two."

Intertwined with over-the-top combat, feverish action and challenging obstacle courses, players will work as a team to race to the finish in the four new co-op maps. The team that completes the course with the most cash will be crowned the ultimate two-man military outfit. The SSC Challenge mode and maps will be available for $7.50 in North America and €4.75 and £3.80 in Europe.

Source

Great news Army of Two Fanboys, EA has revealed the downloadable content for Army Of Two plus they also revealed the details for the upcoming demo for the game. According to a post on the EA forums Matt Turner, Assistant Producer of Army of Two, revealed some new details for the demo and the DLC for the game. In the post it states that the demo will be coming out on April 1st. Here’s what he had to say about the DLC:

“……. So there is 1 new multiplayer map arriving as well as 2 new campaign maps in the not too distant future. As well as SSC Challenge- that’s the obstacle course for mercs that I mentioned in my previous post…..”