Army of Two has lost its way. While it never really grew into a huge franchise, it deserves much better than this lacklustre third instalment. After two decent games, The Devil’s Cartel is a mediocre sequel that seems to have forgotten what the series is all about.
One thing Army of Two used to be about is how it brought a cheesy bro-fisting attitude to its co-op shooting. Refreshingly, it never took itself very seriously, with a brash yet rather endearing love of the stupid. For example, after surviving a firefight, brothers in arms Salem and Rios could break out the air guitars to celebrate.
But in The Devil’s Cartel those irreverent asides have gone, and to a large extent, so have Salem and Rios. The mostly enjoyable duo has been pushed into supporting roles, letting new recruits Alpha and Bravo step into the spotlight – only to promptly waste it. The change in focus may be essential to the story – and I don’t want to tread into spoiler territory – but I will say that fans of the previous games will likely feel aggrieved by the direction it takes. Alpha and Bravo have none of the bickering camaraderie that defined their predecessors. Comedic asides still punctuate firefights, but they’re frequently misjudged and poorly delivered. "Bullet cancer", seriously? There’s a very fine line between being knowingly stupid – see Bulletstorm – and just being an idiot. Alpha and Bravo are simply morons, and bland ones at that.
http://feeds.ign.com/~r/ign/all/~3/OtJCGzQAVlY/army-of-two-the-devils-cartel-review
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