What do you do when a game is hyped, but broken ? and you really, really want to make a sequel?

If you're most game developers, you just fix it cosmetically, trusting that gamers will once more exhibit the kind of sheep mentality that made them buy the original in the first place.

What you really should do is rethink the whole thing and make a proper game ? one that doesn't merely have skin-deep changes.

With 'Army of Two' we had a game that looked like a co-op player's dream. But the reality was a half-baked, retch-inducing failure. It's a good thing then that 'Army of Two: The 40th Day' for the most part doesn't follow the same miserable path.

It's not perfect ? for example, the cover and control systems get very sticky at times ? but it's so much better than the original that one can forgive its sins. More importantly, however, 'The 40th Day' is an excessive amount of fun in co-op mode.

The first title also didn't look that great ? in fact, it was actually quite a bit last-gen. Characters looked stocky and two-dimensional, and the environments leaned towards being under-textured.

'The 40th Day' looks a lot better ? the characters and environments are detailed and movements are smooth. The cutscenes still look jagged and unimpressive, but when it comes to the actual gunfightin', there's not much to complain about in terms of visuals.

Speaking of the firefights ? the action is rock hard and visceral. If anything the game is a tad too difficult, especially when you play on your own. Of course, when you slap down a mate next to you and tackle it together, the difficulty level becomes less of a problem. Still, it would have been nice if the game adapted itself according to your prowess.

It's not really a gripe though ? most gamers welcome the superhuman feeling of success after finally busting a cap in a particularly troublesome baddy's skull.

What is worth griping about, however, is the control system. Very few third-person shooters manages to get movement right ? 'Mass Effect 2' being the one who gets it right the best in my book (review coming soon!) ? and 'The 40th Day' is unfortunately no different.

It's especially annoying getting your character into cover. No matter how hard I tried I just never seemed to be able to get my character to crouch behind cover when I wanted him too. By the time I got the bloke onto his knees and his head out of the line of fire, said head already looked like a spilled can of baked beans.

Shooting from cover is also a hit-and-miss affair, especially when using a sniper rifle. The first time you use zoomed aim after switching to the sniper rifle, your scope for some reason always points in a completely different direction to the one you just had your crosshairs pointed in. It's not a game-breaker, but quite irritating.

Mediocre sound action ? the banter between characters is only funny every now and then ? further detracts from the game, but at the end of the day this game is all about playing co-op, and here it really gets into its stride.

As mentioned before, the difficulty level is quite high in single-player, but when you have a mate joining you in the fight, the game becomes much more manageable ? and much more entertaining.

All-in-all this is a marked improvement over the first title, although it still doesn't quite meet the standards that we've come to expect on the current generation of consoles. But if you're looking for a fairly violent, exhilarating co-op shooter, 'Army of Two: The 40th Day' is certainly not the worst choice you can make.

8.1/10

Buy this game: PS3 | Xbox 360 | PSP