Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel Review

" A bit of mindless killing, which results in mindless fun"

Video Review

Intro

Before this game came along, my only experience with the series was a demo I played for the original Army of Two when it first came out 5 years ago.  I remember thinking it was kind of cool, but for some reason I never purchased it.  After playing this newest entry, I now regret having skipped out on playing the others.  While the gameplay can become a bit repetitive, that doesn't stop it from allowing a bit of mindless killing, which results in mindless fun.

Shotgun Mayhem!

Story/Graphics

As everybody probably already knows, this game is specifically built for co-op. The name Army of Two hints at this.  In this game, you play as Alpha and Bravo, new initiates into the T.W.O (Trans World Operations).  In the beginning, they are being trained by two men by the names of Salem and Rios.  From what I've pieced together, I'm guessing Salem and Rios are the characters you play as in the past entries.  If this is true, then the developers very smartly introduced new main characters to spice up the story, while still using the previous characters in supporting roles. The plot reminds me a lot of a B-movie action film.  I don't mean that in a bad way either, because it works wonders for this game.  A lot of the time, the dialogue is cheesy, but it's funny.  This adds to the game, particularly the constant bantering that takes place between Alpha and Bravo.  The plot is fairly predictable. Normally that would bother me, but this game literally mocks it's own predictability, which is pretty awesome.  The story has everything a good not-so-serious action game should have: great characters, comedy, a memorable antagonist, high-octane action scenes, betrayal, and a well-used female character.  Unlike a lot of games, the cinematics in Devil's Cartel are used tastefully.  They are brief, enhance the story, and are very action-oriented.  People like to joke that the more recent Call of Duty games seem as if they're directed by Michael Bay, due to their constant action and excessive use of explosions. Some might say the same about this game, but I got more of a Quentin Tarantino vibe from it.

Salem and Rios Kicking ***

Graphically, I have a hard time describing this game.  Not because it has a unique art style or anything.  Simply because it doesn't really have a whole lot going for it.  I mean, it's just really average. It doesn't look bad, but it won't blow your mind in any way.  Flame effects from explosions look nice, and the amount of carnage that happens on screen after activating Overkill is pretty sick.  Thinking about it, one thing did impress me was the sheer amount of destruction that can happen to the environment.  Of course, I have always been partial to destruction in games.  I think it makes shooters feel more realistic, while looking cool at the same time.  Not everything is destructible in this game, but a vast majority of objects are.  Mainly the important things like your enemies' cover and the things that you can hide behind.  It's pretty awesome to be able to shoot the cover where you believe your enemy's head is, and to see that cover be blown away, along with the head.  Everyone should agree with this, because all of us have played a game hovering our crosshairs above cover, and having to wait for the enemy to pop his head back up.  It is so rewarding to no longer have to wait for that opportunity.

Told you Flame Effects look nice

Gameplay/Customization

Devil's Cartel, like its predecessors, is played from a third-person perspective.  I was fairly impressed with how well this game controlled.  The shooting mechanics are tight and responsive allowing for your enemies to drop like flies every time you pull the trigger.  Unlike a lot of shooting games, enemies die easily. Just a few bullets will send them to their demise.  The game has some generous aim assist, no more than Call of Duty, which makes pulling off headshots a breeze.  Shooting enemies will charge up a meter that, when filled, can be used to activate Overkill.  Overkill is very smartly implemented.  During Overkill, the player is invincible and possesses infinite ammo.  A simple activation can quickly turn the tide of battle in your favor.  Your co-op or AI controlled partner can activate their own Overkill whilst yours is active to go into what is called Double Overkill.  Double Overkill extends the duration and makes you even more powerful, which is even more awesome.  All of these things combined cause the player to truly feel like a shooting god.  Throughout the impressive 8-11 hour campaign you will easily kill 1000+ enemies.

Double Overkill can result in some ridiculous physics

Another thing I really liked about this game was how I was able to have two main weapons along with a trusty back-up pistol I always had access to via a double tap of the "Y" button.  This was extremely convenient, enabling me to quickly switch to it whenever the need arose.

As you may already know, Army of Two is meant to play primarily as a cover-based shooter, like most third-person shooting games.  One thing that breaks this game apart from other similarly themed games, is how well its cover-to-cover system functions.  When in cover, the player has the ability to quickly highlight a new piece of cover near them; it can even be behind the player.  After highlighting it, the player can select that cover and their character will quickly sprint over and take cover behind the selected object.  This feature has been implemented in other games.  However, this is the most refined, helpful, and easy-to-use version of it I've seen.

Cover Time

Pretty much everything I've said about this game so far has been positive.  Sadly, yet expected, the game has a few flaws that can't be overlooked.  Most of these flaws could have been revised with further polishing.  The one flaw that couldn't really, though, is the monotony that begins to set in towards the end of its lengthy campaign.  During my first playthrough, I never really got bored with it.  However, when it comes to gaming, my attention span is very high.  Even I can't argue the fact that some people will find the gameplay too repetitive. This is mostly because there isn't really any change to the gameplay throughout the campaign.  That's not to say that the developers didn't add in a few segments to change up the pace a little.  These segments consist of alternate paths the player can choose to take, some turret-based shooting, and a mostly lackluster driving bit.  While these segments help, they don't happen often enough to make much of a difference.  Another issue that further adds to the repetition, is the obvious, and frequently poor, enemy spawn layouts.  It won't take long before you begin to realize the gameplay is very wave-based, opposed to the enemy location being strategically placed.  Too many times I came across the exact location where the enemies were spawning.  Enemy spawning is supposed to seem hidden, not obvious.  Another flaw was that the enemy AI definitely could have used a bit of work.  I am happy to say my AI controlled partner was fairly smart, helpful, and only frustrated me a few times.  One time because he failed to help me do the objective he was supposed to, and the other times because, at the last minute he took the cover I was trying to get behind.  The only other issue is just some little glitchiness I would occasionally encounter.  The glitch I ran across more than once was, for some reason, my character wouldn't latch all the way into cover. Instead, he would appear as if he was stuck, while flickering back and forth.  Luckily, these technical flaws were fairly rare, and none of them were game-breaking. They just showcased the need of another coat of polish.  One more thing (this can't be classified as a flaw more of a wish): I really wish that the developers would have added in another mode, aside from the campaign. I could see some sort of horde mode working wonders.  I think that this game would have benefited from it, seeing as this installment has no competitive multiplayer.  The addition of an extra mode would have helped justify the $60 price tag, for a lot of people.  As it is now, I could only really see myself getting 20 hours of entertainment from it, which in my books, would cause me to wait for a price drop to $40 before I could see myself actually purchasing it.

Honey you may have a wedgie

In between the levels, the player is able to spend their hard-earned cash on new weapons, upgrades for said weapons, and some cosmetic items.  I've never actually played a shooter that had such an in-depth and vast customization option.  Each weapon can be tailored however the player wants them to be.  It's not just enhancements that can be bought, but also a ton of different weapon skins.  I really felt like each weapon I owned was unique to my own identity.  Before starting each level, the player is able to switch out their weapon load-out, which actually helped the game the most when it comes to repetition.  If I ever felt tedium kicking in, I'd just switch up my load-out and mess around with some of my other toys.  As I said, cosmetic items for your character can also be purchased.  The player is able to change their character's outfit, add different tattoo layouts, and swap out signature masks.  If the hundreds of different options weren't enough you even have the ability to create your own custom mask.  You are able to put tons of different graphics on your mask, then scale, position, and color them.  There are a total of 12 different layers to add to the mask, which is more than enough to create something unique.  Actually, I almost thought 12 was too much, because my mask started to look a little too crowded.  Your custom mask can be equipped after completion, and will be seen on your character at all times, even during cinematics.

My Custom Mask

Conclusion

Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is a strong entry into the series.  I would even go as far as to say that this game can compete with some of the more triple-A shooting games.  The story is enjoyable, especially when compared to stories typically accompanied with shooters.  The robust cast of characters are comical and intriguing, which further adds to the story.  Devil's Cartel is a blast to play, especially if you've got a friend.  Even if you don't, the campaign plays well with the AI-controlled partner.  Customization options are so vast, that it is actually kind of daunting.  There are some technical flaws, along with a bit of repetitive gameplay.  The game doesn't offer anything beyond the campaign in terms of different modes.  Due to the lack of a competitive multiplayer, this game could have used some type of extra mode, possibly something similar to horde.  I'm not complaining, though. I'm glad the developers put all their work into the campaign, but it needs something more to justify a $60 price tag for me.  If you're looking for a good third-person shooter or co-operative game to play with your friends, I would highly recommend this game.  Actually, I would definitely recommend this game over the new Gears of War Judgment which ended up being a bit of a mess.

Pros

+ Fun mindless killing
+ Lengthy campaign
+ Comical characters
+ Interesting story, as far as military shooters go
+ Really fun, great co-operative experience
+ Overkill is awesome!
+ Cover to cover is very refined
+ Great shooting mechanics
+ Tons upon tons of customization and weapons

Cons

- Some technical flaws
- Gameplay can become repetitive
- Enemy AI issues
- Poor enemy spawn layouts
- No modes besides campaign

The Walking Dead Survival Instinct Review

Video Review

Intro

After the brilliance of The Walking Dead episodic series, which made its debut first as an arcade game and later on a disk format, I couldn't help but start getting my hopes up when I heard that a First Person Shooter acting as a prequel to the TV show was announced. It took all of about 10 minutes after putting Survival Instinct in to realize any hope I had that this game would be good, or possibly even decent, was destroyed. The game is nothing more than a cash-in on The Walking Dead name. This is shown by it being quickly thrown together and obviously supported by a low budget.

Graphics/Story

For the most part, Survival Instinct doesn't look good. You can tell that the developers didn't put much work into the game's graphics. Aside from its HD quality, nothing here couldn't have been accomplished on the previous generation of consoles. Objects in this game seem very basic in their architecture, appearing as if the developers just threw a halfway decent texture on them and called it good. This lack of detail and effort hurt the game's overall look. Actually, I think the best-looking thing in this game is the black blood spatter that appears on walls after blowing off a Walker's head.

Clear.Clear.Clear.Clear

You take control of everybody's favorite crossbow-wielding Daryl Dixon from the ever-popular TV show. His A-hole of a brother Merle also makes an appearance, and the dynamic between the brothers, as expected, is entertaining. Both Daryl and Merle are voiced by their respective actors from the show, which is pretty awesome. Now, if only the rest of the game were. It's too bad that the acting is never properly showcased due to the lack of cut-scenes. The majority of the story is told during loading screens when transitioning between new areas. Even during the rare cut-scenes, the acting was never able to come to life, seeing as the characters appear so utterly lifeless. As I mentioned, the events of this game act as a prequel to the show. An origin story for Daryl and Merle was a brilliant idea; it's really a shame that instead of being interesting it came across as cheesy. Certain characters, events, and locations from the show are mentioned during the game, which is nice fan service, along with allowing the game and show to feel further connected. It's just too bad that even the most die-hard fans of the show will have a hard time convincing themselves that this extra back-story is essential content. Especially because of the frustrations accompanied with gaining this extra bit of story.

If only you knew what would happen next time you're on a rooftop.  Just enjoy that arm while you still can  hehehe

Gameplay/Design/Structure

The moment you take control of your character you will realize that this is not a very good game. Movements are clunky and animations are annoyingly slow, leaving you to feel quite helpless against the hordes of Walkers. To make matters worse, this game has a thing for continually spawning more enemies to replace the horde you just killed. Now, I understand that this virus has probably overtaken four-fifths (if not more) of the world's population, so infinitely spawning enemies is reasonable, simply because it shows the sheer magnitude of a zombie apocalypse. At the same time, it can cause the gameplay in these instances to feel slightly pointless. Pointless, because ammunitions are so scarce that I questioned whether I would be better off just running away from every enemy as opposed to killing them, knowing that if I did take the time to kill them, more would just take their place. Unsurprisingly, more often than not, I did find myself running. A game that involves running from combat more than engaging in it loses vast amounts of fun. I mean, come on, it's fun to kill zombies, not to feel pressured into running from them to conserve what little ammo you have. I just think that the game lacks a certain balance to it. A balance between fleeing and fighting when relating it to scavenging. If you think about it, the amount of supplies you possess greatly affects your decision to flee or fight. This balance flaw could have been corrected if scavenging was more rewarding, and if more areas could have been cleared out instead of being continuously overrun by these infinitely spawning enemies. When I say scavenging lacks reward, I mean that the work put into scavenging for supplies greatly outweighs your findings. When you waste more than you gain, you begin to realize how the gameplay can feel pointless. Although, I suppose this design choice will be loved by anyone who wants to spend a lot of time exploring every nook and cranny for little to nothing constantly running from enemies, while debating whether they can spare a bullet to blow off that zombies head, knowing that more than likely another will just take his place.

Don't Shoot!

One thing the developers did do right, that partially corrects the extreme scarcity of supplies, is the addition of survivors. Survivors are, as their name suggests, people who have thus far "survived" the zombie infection. These survivors are NPC's found in different areas, who join you on your journey; generally only after you help them out. Obtaining most of these survivors is completely optional, with a few exceptions of certain people relating to the story who have to accompany you. Anyway, the reason I said they help correct the scavenging flaw, is because prior to entering an area, these survivors can be assigned to scavenge for a specific category: ammunition, food, or gas. I found myself almost always making them find ammunition for me, because I for one, enjoy actually shooting zombies. To clear things up, I'll get into the purpose behind food and gas, even though they're basically self-explanatory. Food is used to heal yourself and your fellow survivors, who have a nasty habit of taking damage during their scavenging expeditions. I usually didn't bother healing my survivors. Instead, I'd let them die off and then find a new one to replace the old. Normally I'm not so cold-hearted when it comes to companions, but these are just so boring. They really have no redeeming qualities when it comes to personality. I failed to like them, so I let them die-no biggie.

Gas, as I'm sure you've pieced together, is consumed when traveling. This is perhaps the stupidest feature this game has. To explain why, I first must delve into the structure of the game.

Survivor!

For some reason, going into this game I sort of assumed, or maybe hoped, that it was open-world. Oh, how wrong I was. The game is overwhelmingly linear, and not in a good way. The game is level-based, although I prefer to refer to them as areas instead. Each area is very small. This is odd, seeing as one would think a game that insists on exploration would offer a larger area for the player to run around in. This is further worsened by some of the worst level boundaries I have seen in recent years. If you don't understand what I mean by level boundaries, I'm referring to how the developers block the level off from the rest of the world. Linear games must give the illusion that the area the player is currently restricted to is actually part of a larger world. Surely by now you understand what I'm getting at, but if not, picture drawing a rectangle on a piece of paper. Now pretend that you are in the rectangle. You're trapped because the edges of the rectangle prevent you from leaving. These edges would be the level boundaries. Ideally, the player should never or rarely notice that these boundaries exist. This is accomplished by distracting the player with objectives, so they don't wander too far and making the boundaries appear reasonably impassable, while still making them not look out of place. This game does an awful job on both accounts. I often had a hard time distinguishing places I wasn't allowed to go, from places I was allowed to go. For example, the game used a line of cars as a level boundary, even though there are tons of cars within the area that I could jump on and over. Yet, the ones acting as a level boundary I am magically incapable of jumping over, causing me to idiotically attempt to jump over them, to no avail.

After completing an area, the player is taken to a map where they have the option of choosing to take either back roads, streets, or highways to get to their next destination. Each choice has its own advantages and disadvantages. Highways waste the least amount of gasm but scavenge opportunities are rare; back-roads are the opposite, and streets act as the middle ground. Therefore, the choice really depends on how much gas you have.

Good thing these walkers are incapable of ever getting on top this car

My personal opinion is that these scavenge opportunities are a complete waste of time. Basically, when traveling, if you come across an unmarked location (meaning one that isn't where you need to be) you have the option of stopping and searching for possible supplies. Perhaps if handled better, this feature could have been cool. Instead, it comes across as a fill-in. The area you can scavenge for supplies in is ridiculously small. The most pathetic thing about them is that they are recycled areas. I'll give you an example: so, I start traveling and come across an abandoned truck stop. I say, “what the hell.” I look around and find very little. I then leave, only to have my tire blow on me, so the game makes me enter a new area. What do you know, this "new" area is the same damn truck stop I was just at, despite having driven a good 20 miles. Of course the layout of the items has switched ever so slightly, but come on. In reality, there are maybe five different scavenge locations that are just re-used throughout the entirety of the game. What's the point of even including this feature if you're not going to take the time to make completely original locations? It's sad, lazy, and just further proves that this game is nothing more than a cash-in.

Earlier I said that gas was the stupidest thing included in this game. The reason I said that, is because having to constantly try to find more gas in order to be able to make it to the next area is annoying. I don't want to do it and I don't like doing it, but I will do it in order to minimize the number of times I wind up at an unmarked location.

I really wish the developers would have scrapped the entire traveling between locations concept, and instead just made the game purely level-based, whereupon beating one area, you click a button, and are instantly transitioned into the next area. I feel that the game would have really benefited from it, along with making it even shorter, which when it comes to this game,  isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I haven't talked much about how the game actually plays, so I'll get into that. The player is given long-range weapons, short-range weapons, and flares/glass bottles to dispatch or distract the walkers. By long-range weapons, I mean guns, and surprisingly, this game has a decent amount of them. They range from Pistols, Rifles, Machine Guns, to Daryl's classic crossbow. The crossbow is probably the most rewarding and useful weapon, because your bolts can be retrieved after being shot. Plus, it's entertaining to see your bolts sticking out of a Walker. For your short-range or melee weapons, you've got a Fire Axe, Machete, Lead Pipe, and Hammer, to name a few. I never found myself using the flares or glass bottles much, but their only purpose is to distract a group of walkers who haven't already spotted you. All of these weapons and items are found scattered around the different areas you explore.

Excuse me Ma'am, may I have my arrow back?

At any given time, you are able to carry 10 items. Upon finishing a level, excess items can be stored in your vehicle to make room for more. This is perhaps one of the few things this game got right. Too many First Person Shooters these days limit how many weapons can be carried to an obscenely small amount, typically two. At least with this game I could pretty much always have five weapons to switch between.

As I mentioned briefly before, the game doesn't play well. To be blunt, it plays like a bad First Person Shooter. The shooting mechanics fail to be as crisp or responsive as the higher budget shooting games. They work well enough though, and I've played with worse, so I'm not going to complain much on that front. What I am going to complain about, are the terrible melee mechanics. Now, melee combat from a first person perspective has been proven to work. Take for example either Condemned game or Skyrim. In this game, though, it is handled terribly. It's almost as if the developers didn't want you to use melee weapons. One would think that if you've got an axe or even a hammer, it wouldn't be hard to quickly bash in a zombie's skull. I mean, on the TV show they're rather quick about it. But, no, with this game, every swing takes way too much time to perform, and even longer to initiate any subsequent swing. One would think a second swing wouldn't be necessary, but for some reason Daryl isn't very good about killing a zombie with his first swing. The meleeing works well enough when only facing one walker at a time, but try to face a group and you might as well be slitting your own throat.

The annoyances don't stop there. Zombies, if given the opportunity to get in close to you, will take any opportunity to grab on to you. If they succeed, this activates a god-awful little mini game where the player uses the Right Stick to direct a reticle over a zombies head, whilst this reticle is sporadically moving about.
Once the player lines up the reticle, a simple tap of the Trigger and Daryl will shove a knife through its head. The different knife animations are cool in the beginning, particularly the one where he shoves it up the jaw, allowing the blade to be seen through the walker's open mouth. These animations quickly become tiresome, simply because of how often this grabbing happens. After one zombie grabs you and you kill him, another zombie will instantly take his place. Before you know it, you're performing the grapple mini game on ten zombies before finally breaking free, assuming they don't kill you first. Towards the end of the game, I found myself just letting them kill me so I didn't have to do the mini game any longer.

Say Awwww...I see well I regret to inform you that you are indeed infected

Another noticeable issue is the absolutely terrible AI behind the Walkers. Now, I know they're zombies, so it's possible to argue that them being dumb is actually realistic. Which is fine, except that these Zombies are also constantly getting stuck on bits in the environment. Strangely, they seem best at getting stuck on each other when each zombie is attempting to go in  a different direction.

One more slight issue, possibly more of a complaint, happens when throwing a grenade. When you are, say standing on a car and wanting to throw a grenade in the middle of 20 or so zombies surrounding you, the grenade will always bounce off their heads and continue past them, instead of falling between them like it should.

Possibly the most unique thing about this game, that I don't believe has ever been done, is having the main character's sweat appear on the screen after sprinting for too long. I found this rather amusing mainly because it took me so long to figure out what it was. Originally, I thought it was supposed to be some sort of rain effect on my screen, except that it never rained.

The one thing that saves this game from being absolutely terrible happens during any extra playthroughs of the campaign. After beating it once, the player unlocks bonuses which can be activated, and  they make the game much more enjoyable. The better of these bonuses allow for the player to have the crossbow and assault rifle as starting weapons from the game's beginning, and the absolute best bonus grants the player infinite ammo. These bonuses turn the game into more of a shooter, and take away some of its flaws, which is good. It's too bad that most people will never bother playing the game past its first playthrough.

Two Legs is overrated anyways

Conclusion

Before playing this game, I believed that Aliens Colonial Marines would go down as 2013's most disappointing game. I now think that Survival Instinct is a definite contender for that title. Going into this game, I had heard rumors that it was a bad game. Those rumors still did not prepare me for what I experienced. The game has countless flaws that hold it back. I'll be honest, I can see what the developers were trying to do with this game and, in a way, I suppose it's a decent idea. They wanted to create an authentic zombie apocalypse experience for the player. One where players are constantly worrying about their supplies, making them face off against a seemingly endless flood of zombies, all the while forcing the player to make tough decisions. When you say it like that, it sounds kind of cool. Too bad in reality it's a laughable, frustrating piece of garbage.

Pro's

+ 10 inventory slots is nice
+ TV Show Voice Actors
+ Nice bonuses after completing the game (adds replayability)
+ Crossbow grants a bit of fun

Con's

- Infinitely Spawning Walkers
- Scavenging lacks reward
- Shooting mechanics and movements feel low-budget
- Melee combat is far too slow
- Lots of recycled areas
- Poor Walker AI and collision issues
- Outdated graphics
- Poorly told story
- Levels are too small, not expansive
- Walkers grab far too much
- Traveling feature hinders the game