Review: Army Of Two: The Devil's Cartel

G'day there folks!

***WARNING: Some minor plotlines are revealed. Read at your own caution!***

With the world being in crisis, heroes will step forward to save the damsel in distress and defeat the bad guy once more. With Army Of Two, the story has always followed the tale of Rios and Salem, one of the best T.W.O. teams the company has to offer. But in time, all men age and grow weary of the fight, with this it leads to the next and possibly last game in the series. The Devil's Cartel follows the story of T.W.O. recruits Alpha and Bravo who are under the guidance of Rios and Salem. After the tutorial, the game begins with the four men heading off on a hostage mission, and of course as cliché as it is, the plan eventually goes horribly wrong. With only one hostage still alive, Salem abandons the mission as near hundreds of enemies surround them. After fleeing in a car he dies in a fiery crash, the other men and hostage Fiona barely escaping themselves after a failed attempt to save Salem from his burning wreck. Five years later, T.W.O. agents are hired by Mayor Cordova, a Mexican politian who wants to rid his town of La Guadana (The Scythe) and their leader, to which you find out his reasons for this later. As the convoy rolls on and the sharp commentary continues, Alpha and Bravo (quite like Rios and Salem), continue the witty banter about how nothing can go wrong. As if just like out of a cliché Shoot-Em-Up Hollywood movie, the convoy is thoroughly attacked, leaving many T.W.O. agents dead and Alpha and Bravo stranded in the heart of Mexico.
It's no secret that the game has always supported Co-Op and The Devil's Cartel is no different. What is different is the gameplay even in single player mode. The predecessor, The 40th Day, was hounded by critics about it's buggy AI system during single player but DC has greatly improved from this with a more smooth system. Speaking of which, Gameplay is still as fun as ever, even more so with the more diverse and different enemies to fight. While Shield-Hogs (As I like to think of them) and Heavys make a reappearance, Melee fighters, snipers and other variants make an appearance and can truly spice up a more dull area in the game. What truly makes it more as fun is the customisation.
EA has truly gone all out on customisation; in the predecessor, players were able to customise masks through their website. DC allows in-game mask creation, changing a characters clothes and even tattoos. Weapon customisation also returns to a greater degree, with more options and colour pigments and even down to shading. Speaking of shading, the game's graphics were of top notch quality; the mission placement was truly clever and enjoyable to look at. From missions in dark and damp basements to night time skies with flames all around you, this add truly needed atmosphere to the game.
The storyline itself is a decent and amusing one, but doesn't carry much other than that. While there are a few jaw dropping moments in the game, there isn't much there to keep you glued to your seat the entire time as the storyline drops harshly often, especially so when you'd like to customise your gear (Which forced you back to the main menu) or do anything in that regard. Other than personal choices however, that can be avoided.
Sound effects and musical score are of decent quality but don't add much into the storyline. While the music swells around large fights, bosses and cutscenes, the game is generally quiet when travelling even down to the sound effects. If Alpha and Bravo are not creating some witty banter, this can be extremely dull and downright boring.
Joe Flanagan and David Sobolov bring in new light with Salem and Rios while Zack Ward (Alpha) who makes his first video game role here and Emerson Brooks (Bravo) joins along side him do create quite a good duo during the gameplay. It's hard to warm up to the pair until late into the game - as the characters seem cold and uncaring during most of the gameplay. Until they truly start opening up to each other about their fears and dreams, it's hard to form a bond with these two like Rios and Salem.

The Devil's Cartel is a game with fun gameplay, decent acting and a bearable storyline and even without the game's glitches (such as the Ending glitch with told me over and over that Bravo had died midway during the ending cutscene), it's still a decent game with customising your character to your heart's content, playing together with a friend and so much more. While the game is a decent addition to the Army Of Two world, there are just too many places it lacks to ignore them.
Out of 10, I give Army Of Two: The Devil's Cartel a 6/10

+ Fun Gameplay/Enchanting graphic-work 
+ Storyline was decent
+ Customisation = LOVE
+ Waaaay better AI and NPC characters/movements
- Sound Effects too standard/lacking musical score
- Solo/Co-op gameplay tends to glitch
- Loading screens are frustratingly long
- Many points in the storyline are too cliché
- Not a lot of replay value...
- Ending, while meaningfuly, is rushed and forced

Army Of Two The Devil's Cartel is out now for the standard price of $60