Oh Army of Two. Has there been a franchise in recent memory more incapable of making good on its potential than this one? The first game, while not a disaster, never quite managed to pull off its attempts at irreverence amid cooperative mercenary combat. The second one...well, let's just pretend that game never happened. Now EA has announced a third Army of Two game, and it will be the "more intense, mature, and gritty" reboot of the series that I'm not sure anyone was actually asking for.

The game, titled The Devil's Cartel, is in development at Visceral Games' Montreal studio, and will employ DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. It stars Alpha and Bravo, two mercenaries under the employ of Tactical Worldwide Operations who find themselves in the middle of Mexico's unfortunate war between drug cartels. This may rightfully give you some really bad flashbacks to the painfully unpleasant tone of Call of Juarez: The Cartel, but according to the press release, as well as this cover teaser posted on Game Informer's website, The Devil's Cartel will attempt to take its setting a good bit more seriously than its predecessors did.

My question is, does anyone want that? I always wanted to enjoy the Army of Two games, but my problem with them wasn't that they weren't gritty or serious enough. My problem was that save for a few moments of legitimately creative levity, most of the series' limp attempts at comedy fell flat. This one seems like it's targeting those who were more focused on the co-op shooting than the story, so maybe this'll work just fine for them. I can't say I would be terribly excited for a jocular take on the Mexican drug wars, anyway. Fist bumping over the bodies of innocent victims of drug violence just feels, I don't know, slightly inappropriate.

You tell me. Does the idea of a more serious business Army of Two sound like something you'd want to play?

Oh Army of Two. Has there been a franchise in recent memory more incapable of making good on its potential than this one? The first game, while not a disaster, never quite managed to pull off its attempts at irreverence amid cooperative mercenary combat. The second one...well, let's just pretend that game never happened. Now EA has announced a third Army of Two game, and it will be the "more intense, mature, and gritty" reboot of the series that I'm not sure anyone was actually asking for.

The game, titled The Devil's Cartel, is in development at Visceral Games' Montreal studio, and will employ DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. It stars Alpha and Bravo, two mercenaries under the employ of Tactical Worldwide Operations who find themselves in the middle of Mexico's unfortunate war between drug cartels. This may rightfully give you some really bad flashbacks to the painfully unpleasant tone of Call of Juarez: The Cartel, but according to the press release, as well as this cover teaser posted on Game Informer's website, The Devil's Cartel will attempt to take its setting a good bit more seriously than its predecessors did.

My question is, does anyone want that? I always wanted to enjoy the Army of Two games, but my problem with them wasn't that they weren't gritty or serious enough. My problem was that save for a few moments of legitimately creative levity, most of the series' limp attempts at comedy fell flat. This one seems like it's targeting those who were more focused on the co-op shooting than the story, so maybe this'll work just fine for them. I can't say I would be terribly excited for a jocular take on the Mexican drug wars, anyway. Fist bumping over the bodies of innocent victims of drug violence just feels, I don't know, slightly inappropriate.

You tell me. Does the idea of a more serious business Army of Two sound like something you'd want to play?

only the grittiest of high fives and fist bumps.

Thought it already was like that? Or am I reading into "Screwdriver Bayonet" as not mature?

Strange direction... Honestly, the comedy aspect wasn't even the worst part to me. It was the clunky feeling controls and frame rate.

A reboot of a series that only has 2 games, is that what we're at?

Oh man it's a TRILOGY

about time. I was getting tired of the rainbow bullshit in 1 and 2

Video games don't understand the word "inappropriate."

The first was ridiculously short for $60, and quite boring.

I do not want to play another Army of Two.

Still keeping the stupid looking face mask things huh?

They're just going to blunder this thing into the ground. Army of Two was kind of shit, but the absurdity of fist-bumping, chest-bumping, and having a button for flipping your mask up and down on your face was the best part of it.

I'm waiting for the cute and colourful Dead Space.

Well, I've never dude merc-ed before, and I doubt this game will make me want to start dude merc-ing.

The core mechanic of drawing aggro in Army of Two is just not very fun.

Weird, I actually kind of liked the first Army of Two game. It was a decent enough couch co-op game. I follow this to see what they do with it.

Double down on the maturity and grittiness.

Cause that's what its been lacking.

The over the top cheesyness of the first game made it almost endearing. The second game was ruined by trying to be too serious. This feels like the complete wrong direction to the series, now it's just another realistic military third person shooter.

@alex said:

Does the idea of [...] more [...] Army of Two sound like something you'd want to play?

No.

Finally: the redder, browner Army of Two we've been waiting for.

Hey, now. The second Army of Two was a fun, challenging TPS w/ GREAT sound design that was hamstrung by some half-baked pre-Spec Ops: The Line "morality" choices, similar looking enemies, and short length.

It deserved another follow-up to do things right, but a gritty reboot? What? It was already grey as hell. The whole reason why they have Alpha and Bravo now is because the last game forced you to choose between essentially failing your mission, or executing your partner.

The only redeeming factor about Army of Two was that it wasn't serious. Why would they remove that?

I do NOT understand the point of a reboot on Army of Two. They are going gritty and shit, but in all honesty, they should've gone the other way - a more Saints Row direction. Okay, maybe not that super self-aware style, but more over-the-top...almost Michael Bay levels of over-the-top.

Also, no Rios or Salem? No sale. Despite the lackluster nature of those games, those two characters are still fairly recognizable to me. These guys couldn't even be bothered to have names!

Why not at least try? Jesus, you bitch when they go for this one thing, and then you bitch when they change it. Clearly Army Of Two hasn't found a big audience and a dedicated large, fanbase, so why not try something else? The first Army Of Two was shit because the shooting was absolutely fucking broken, but I enjoyed The 40th Day because, hey what? The shooting turned out to be awesome. Sure, the ham-fisted "choices" didn't really work, and some people questioned the tone, but the idea still has a lot of potential.

I'm just sick of all the fucking negativity [of game announcements in general]. Let them try, and lets see something more than some fucking artwork and a couple of, "hype quotes" before you start judging shit. Goddamn.

I don't think this will be as "mature and gritty" as Alex think it is they're still wearing masks and I bet they still do fist bumps.

VISCERAL,GRITTY,MATURE.

Yep that is the PR all right. The first one was ok but not the best. And really i do not give a damn about this game. I want Mirrors Edge 2 for crying out loud!

Was the 40th day actually worse than the original?

It was pretty bland but competent enough

....why?

@Napalm said:

Why not at least try?

I have a better question: Why try? Is this suddenly not going to be another cover-based third-person shooter (lord knows we don't have ninety million of those already) in a franchise no one has ever particularly liked? No, instead of making something cool and new, here's Army of Two 3. Because that's what we were all chomping at the bit for.

Why is about the best question you can ask. I don't know a single person that actually wants another Army of Two game. So strange that they're making another one.

As long as it keeps the "bro'in button" I am cautiously optimistic.

I'm one of the few who absolutely loved both Army of Two games. I'm down for another entry, gritty reboot or not. I look forward to seeing where they take the series.

If they take out the bro-fisting then they've lost my money. I need to bro-fist.

@iAmJohn said:

@Napalm said:

Why not at least try?

No, instead of making something cool and new...

Yeah, like your third-person, cover-based Dead Space 3.

Nope. This isn't it EA.

@Napalm said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Napalm said:

Why not at least try?

No, instead of making something cool and new...

Yeah, like your third-person, cover-based Dead Space 3.

Don't remind me. :'(

But also you've pretty much nailed the problem of every game EA makes is now essentially the same.

So.... more or less fist bumps?

So they are making Savages: The Game?

Will at least get a nice long rental from me provided it meets the standards set by the first games. Loved playing through the first two with a friend and the gun customization is wacky as hell.

They should have taken a Saints Row 3 approach instead if you ask me. Explosive fist bumps, gold everything, jacked-up physics, and a really stupid story.

@mustachioeugene said:

only the grittiest of high fives and fist bumps.

Maybe they're talking about actual grit this time? Like, all the dirt and sand in Mexico that gets kicked up during firefights gets inside their masks and gives them serious chafing problems.

They probably should have just abandoned the Army of Two IP for something completely new instead of trying to salvage the PoS that Army of Two was. Call it Bromance.

@Alex said:

The game, titled The Devil's Cartel, is in development at Visceral Games' Montreal studio

Visceral Montreal, aka. EA Montreal, aka. the same studio that made the original Army of TWO games.

Will we be shoving more tampons into bleeding wounds?

lol

I mean, the first one wasn't the worst game I've ever played through, and it was a decent amount of fun with a friend, but a fucking reboot already? Jesus, EA.

Played both Army of Two games and never really liked them, however i did like Mirrors Edge EA!

Yeah, well... that's exactly what I do NOT want from this franchise.

I really liked the first Ao2. It was light-hearted, it had a little bit of an A-Team vibe with the weapon/armor customization. I liked the vastly different settings around the globe. It also reminded me of old Amiga games like Dogs of War. In that game, you could choose missions, earn money, buy new gear etc. They should've gone more into that direction with Army of Two... let us choose missions around the globe, tie the reward to the difficulty of the mission, have the players buy new gear from the rewards etc.

I didn't like the second game as much because it concentrated on one, bleak and setting. It was just too grim/dark and the weapon customization lacked the A-Team/80s vibe (dunno how to describe it, it wasn't the same).

But no, now it looks like the series is becoming another wannabe-COD/MW/Battlefield. As if we needed more of that.

Now wonder EA stock decline

@Alex said:

The game, titled The Devil's Cartel, is in development at Visceral Games' Montreal studio

Visceral Montreal, aka. EA Montreal, aka. the same studio that made the original Army of TWO games.

@Kuchucka said:

They probably should have just abandoned the Army of Two IP for something completely new instead of trying to salvage the PoS that Army of Two was. Call it Bromance.

I would play a TPS called bromance, not gonna lie

Making it more serious was the problem that the second one had. This is only exasperating that. I really don't like the way this sounds.