If you ever wanted to take a ride on a 80s movie train, Army of Two Devil’s Cartel is it. Third in the franchise, I hated the second one…40th day. Gameplay was slow, co-op was too rigid and graphics was generally very PS2. Now this is one of the games that was purpose made for co-op play, online or offline. This is probably an important consideration if you are going to be playing this with someone as the single player option isn’t all that hot. You have very little control over your partner and for some reason, it just doesn’t play that well.
So EA took over the reigns and installed the Frostbite Engine. Devil’s Cartel started to look better since then but not much. Graphics is only one aspect of the game, the rest is positively gameplay.
This new installment has two new guys as Rios and Saleem are semi-retired, well sort of, until Saleem becomes the bad guy, hired by the drug cartel. The two new heros are simply known as Alpha and Bravo and with Rios as back up, time to kick ass.
Faster and Better
Going back to 40th Day—which in my book bombed bigger than a constipated water buffalo. But this one plays much better and faster. The controls are slicker and the play environment is far less rigid. Sure the usual controls are still there. Taking cover, breaching and tag teaming to take out a single badie. But it’s different. You find yourself fighting the controls less and there isn’t much resistance to the controls.Getting in and out of cover was a pain the last one as the controls stuck, this one doesn’t.
Overkill mode is back too, allowing you to become invincible during those precious seconds when you most need it. In this mode, you have unlimited health and ammo. Both players can access this power up at the same time but I never found the need to.
Stage by Stage
One of the problems with shooting games in local co-op mode is that when you play as a single player, some missions become questionable. For example in one mission where you need to provide cover for each other while you are up in the air in a chopper and your partner is down below. Your chopper can take on multiple hits from rocket fire from below without flinching because your partner [AI] needs to take out the rocket launchers from below. It is silly but there is no need to do this since you can’t possibly have control over two players while playing alone so for these challenges, you sort of become invincible. I remember the chopper taking multiple hits. Not a scratch on my health score or the chopper’s damage.
This changes when two players are at the helm. You need to back up your partner or he gets killed. This two tier system is most fun as you separate from your partner to take a different route. This makes for better gameplay as you have to battle alone and if you die, your partner can’t reach you to revive you. Revival is fast too, that is a bonus.
The weapons are pretty stoic affairs. You get to choose your loadout, SMGs, Assault Rifles, Sniper rifles, Machine guns, etc. You get through each stage and get rewarded with cash to buy these great little weapons. But there is a limit to the amount of accessories. Like an iPhone, you can choose a different camo paint, install better sights, silencers and blast shields. The side arm is less inspiring. You get standard issue pistols with no customization available unless all you’re looking for is a camo paint job.
There are no RPGs, heat seekers or the odd AVIS rent-a-tank. You get to shoot people with Gatling guns and a grenade launcher on some missions but it’s not part of the standard load out. That coz you need to take on these heavies, similar to the Juggernauts from Call of Duty series. Heavily armored and carrying a machine gun or a shotgun, they do heavy damage but you can counter that with some well placed shots to the head or use your Overkill ticket.
Gone are weapon exchanges. You can’t swap weapons with your partner but you can pick one up from a dead enemy. There are no ammo dumps to ante up but with more than enough dead enemies lying after the mayhem, getting reloaded isn’t a problem.
The much advertised shoot-the-turkey-after-you-shoot-its-hiding-place is misstated. Not everything will go to dust if you fire at it long enough. Some hiding places are not that difficult to take down but that applies to your hiding places as well. The aiming isn’t spot on either. There have been times when I aimed for the head and the shot just didn’t register because of some bug.
Bug wise, I only found one. I was floating in mid-air for no apparent reason and could not shoot back. It was only after my hiding place got got blown up that I found myself being let down to earth again.
Conclusion
It’s fun, it’s not fantastic but as a two player co-op, it’s better than expected. Like an 80s action movie. Lots of shooting, killing and mayhem. There is very little variation to the gameplay and you can’t possibly expect this game to be such a hit that it somehow eclipses Call or Duty. What this game offers you is a tag-team play that is a pleasant surprise.
There are no big time enemies to take out, no puzzles, no struggling with high places or gameplay on rails where you have to push different buttons to execute a kill. The melee option looks positive. If you are up close, you just slaughter them, if they come after you with a knife, you wrestle them to the ground and do unto him what he wanted to do unto you. Play time is roughly six hours, but I was taking my time.
It’s simple. Light hearted at times and easy to get into. The story and cut scenes are reminiscent of a typical 80s action movie. No depth, lots of getting even. That said, blind violence is not a bad thing.
Army of Two: Devil's Cartel
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