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People sometimes ask me if it's hard to write about the really bad games. It isn't. Those are the easiest to write about, as their obvious flaws create a natural shape for the review and demand to be explored. No, the hardest games to review are games like Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel. Games about which there is almost literally nothing to say. This is gaming as a plain cheese sandwich; blockbuster action as supermarket muzak.It has always been thus. Army of Two is a franchise that has made its way to three games without generating much passion, urgency or momentum. Gameplay is functional but, after the passably decent first game, no extra effort has been spent to give the series anything that might resemble a personality of its own. Beefy men in hockey masks shoot hundreds of bad guys across hundreds of rubble-strewn courtyards, drop a few macho quips, then stomp off to the next shoot-out. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
There can be entertainment in such a well worn template, and The Devil's Cartel sticks so slavishly to what's expected that it can't help but deliver basic point-and-shoot amusement. Yet despite explosions and headshots and bloody melee kills galore, it never musters enough energy or character to pull you all the way in. It's the world's most violent interactive screensaver.
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