Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel

[milkandcooki]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/DGSZW.png[/IMG]

About a week ago, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel was announced by EA. It is being developed by Visceral games and will be on the Frostbite 2 engine. Not many details are out as of now, but there are a fair amount of articles about the game out there.

[B]It's scheduled to be released March 2013 on the PS3 and 360[/B]

[quote]Last week EA surprised us ever so slightly with the reveal of Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. For the past few months we had known that a new AoT game was likely a thing due to a series of rumors and hints, but the lack of Salem & Rios in the leading roles and the March 2013 release date were otherwise unexpected. Despite holding their yearly Summer press event, EA decided to keep details on Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel to a minimum but thankfully a few details has arisen thanks to Game Informer.As always Game Informer has the scoop on never before seen games as their latest issue delves deep into The Devil’s Cartel. Besides stating the basics such as how the team at Visceral Games Montreal is aware of the mixed history the series has received so far there are some rather intriguing tidbits and some downright depressing ones.
Perhaps the biggest element about The Devil’s Cartel, at least to the fans of the series, is that Salem & Rios aren’t the main characters in the game. After going on countless merc ops over the years it appears that both Salem & Rios have decided to embrace their roles as the owners of T.W.O. (Tactical Worldwide Operations) as both will play a part in the narrative of The Devil’s Cartel but won’t be on the battlefield. The involvement of Salem & Rios in the cartel focused narrative of the game wasn’t explained but quite a few tidbits were revealed about Alpha & Bravo – the new protagonists of The Devil’s Cartel.
If you were hoping for a lot of expanded character for Alpha & Bravo then you may be out of luck. Visceral Games Montreal hasn’t totally thrown character development out the window, but as per Game Informer revealed both characters will never be called their real names – thus they’ll have the rather dull monikers of Alpha & Bravo from start to finish. The poor name decision isn’t a hint at both characters having a mysterious and untold past as both will have a rather straightforward backstory laid out. A so-called born leader, Alpha is a battlefield vet that was recruited by Rios to join T.W.O. Alpha’s battlefield expertise is a somewhat stark contrast the slightly younger Bravo who only served one tour before dropping out to become a hired gun.
I’m sure there’ll be some sort of vet vs. hot head angle in The Devil’s Cartel, but one thing that won’t be happening is neither character will dish out high-five upon killing twenty-five guys. In an attempt to go along with the “grittier” story neither Alpha nor Bravo will high-five each other and things in general will be kept to a realistic yet slightly action-packed attitude. The grand tale of The Devil’s Cartel obviously follows the drug cartel battles that are happening in Mexico right now so gamers can expect to see things like massive gang battles, entire families being slaughtered as a “message”, and bodies hanging in the streets to serve as a warning to others.
It’s obviously too early at this stage to know whether or not Visceral Montreal are indeed giving us a mature game that has substance to it, but the team has already gone on record to say that Alpha & Bravo won’t be able to fix the entire situation in a perfect Hollywood movie sort of way. So with that known and the element that players will have to make tough morale decisions, it seems like The Devil’s Cartel won’t be a completely juvenile action experience.
Visceral Games Montreal isn’t redesigning the entire gameplay foundations of AoT, but they do seem to be fine-tuning quite a bit. Obvious improvements are being made such as making the A.I. partner more aware during battle so as to be more impactful when they’re not on the defensive side of things. In addition to that little nugget of info, the cover system has been tweaked so gamers actually need to press a button to end cover and can also break out of cover animations if they desire.
No mentions have been made of major game enhancements so the combat aiming and enemy reactions could be similar to what we saw in AoT: The 40th Day. However, one big change that has happened in The Devil’s Cartel is that the Aggrometer has been ditched in favor of a new feature called Overkill. Now this is where things start to sound a bit generic as Overkill will allow gamers to slow down time in which players deal more damage. Of course when Overkill mode is triggered the game has a different atmosphere as the audio is different and the game is given a sepia tone filter. Haven’t we seen that before in other action games?
Pessimism aside concerning the implementation of Overkill, the mode does encourage tactical team play so it’s nice to see that The Devil’s Cartel hasn’t become some kind of arcade shooter. It does seem like Overkill will play a big part in the game as Overkill points can be used to upgrade weapons to improve things like the recoil on weapons. The concept of Overkill may sound a bit mixed right now but I’m sure we’ll get a better look at it once Gamescom kicks off next week.
That’s the bulk of the key info that Game Informer was privy to but there’s still a lot we don’t know about Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. Things such as how big the set-piece moments will be still remain a question as to whether Visceral Games will truly take advantage of the Frostbite 2 engine to allow tons of destructibility. We even don’t know who’s voicing Alpha & Bravo so despite their somewhat cliché character basis some life may be injected via their voice-actors – just like it was for Salem & Rios. I’m sure some of our questions will be answered next week once EA kicks off the debut demo for Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel during their Gamescom presentation.[/quote]
[URL="http://www.shogungamer.com/news/14395/first-wave-details-army-two-devils-cartel"]Source[/URL]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Y3wQVBdSc[/media]

[B]Barely informative IGN video and article.

[/B][quote]EA has announced Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. The game will once again feature cooperative gameplay and follows the story of Tactical Worldwide Operations operatives Alpha and Bravo as they fight through the streets of Mexico. According to EA, the pair is dropped “into the middle of a drug war conflict” for “an assignment full of corruption and deceit” as “allegiances begin to blur and they face off against a ruthless opposition.”The Devil’s Cartel is in development by Visceral Montreal and powered by Battlefield 3 engine Frostbite 2. The game features online or split-screen co-op as well as a new customization system and an “intense narrative.”
This is the third Army of Two game, following [URL="http://www.ign.com/games/army-of-two/xbox-360-825894"]Army of Two[/URL] in 2008 and sequel [URL="http://www.ign.com/games/army-of-two-the-40th-day/ps3-14293275"]Army of Two: The 40th Day[/URL] in 2010. Back in December, a rumor suggested [URL="http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1213751p1.html"]that the new sequel would feature four-player co-op[/URL], but EA hasn’t confirmed if that’s true for The Devil’s Cartel.
Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel will hit PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2013. More details are expected to be announced at [URL="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/01/watch-eas-summer-showcase-live"]EA’s Summer Showcase[/URL] later today[/quote]
[URL="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/02/army-of-two-the-devils-cartel-coming-in-2013"]Source[/URL]

[B]Gameinformer coverage
[/B]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y_xHxERCpI[/media]

[quote]You might have heard that Visceral Games is developing the [URL="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/08/02/september-cover-revealed_3a00_-army-of-two_3a00_-the-devil_1920_s-cartel-headlines-our-co_2d00_op-issue.aspx"]latest entry[/URL] in the Army of Two series, but you might be confused as to what this means for The Devil's Cartel. While the game is being developed in the same location as the last two entries, a majority of the team is new and has been rebranded from EA Montreal to Visceral Montreal.
We spoke to the lead developers of Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel and the general manager of the Visceral Games to get a better understanding of why this expansion happened and what the studio behind Dead Space and Dante's Inferno hopes to bring to the series.[/quote]

[URL="http://Source and link to full coverage video"]Source and link to full coverage video[/URL]

[B]Characters[/B]

[quote]As the title implies, past Army of Two games have focused almost exclusively on two characters - Salem and Rios. We had occasional communication with Alice and run-ins with generic baddies, but virtually all of the screen time was dedicated to the two wisecracking meatheads. With Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel’s attempt to create a mature story, the original duo has been scooted slightly into the background in favor of two new protagonists. Read on to learn a bit about the cast of The Devil’s Cartel.
[B]
Alpha[/B]
[IMG]http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/armyoftwo/0912/alpha (2).jpg[/IMG]
With an extensive background in the U.S. military’s special forces, Alpha is a natural fit for T.W.O. (Trans World Operations). After arriving back in the States after numerous tours of duty, Tyson Rios recruited Alpha for his first stint as a mercenary. He plans on bringing his military-bred precision and efficiency to a new battleground.

[B]Bravo[/B]
[IMG]http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/armyoftwo/0912/bravo (2).jpg[/IMG]
Unlike Alpha, Bravo quickly learned that he wasn’t cut out to be in the U.S. military. He displayed raw talent and impressive reflexes during one tour in the Army, but decided that the by-the-books nature of the organization wasn’t for him. Bravo worked as a gun-for-hire for many years, offering his services to various private military companies around the world. After a high-profile urban rescue operation in the Balkans, Elliot Salem approached Bravo with a new opportunity working for T.W.O.

[B]Tyson Rios[/B]
[IMG]http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/armyoftwo/0912/rios (2).jpg[/IMG]

Along with Salem, Rios is now operating as a top executive for Trans World Operations. He plays a key role in recruiting new mercenaries, and he’ll also partake in on-the-ground operations. While we never saw him with a gun in his hand during our time with the game, Rios was frequently discussing the mission with Alpha and Bravo over their headsets. Despite his higher-level position in the organization, Rios still takes on the occasional mission with his old partner.

[B]Elliot Salem[/B]
[IMG]http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/armyoftwo/0912/salem.jpg[/IMG]
While EA assured us that Salem is in the game and is still part of the T.W.O.’s operations, we didn’t see or hear from him at any point during our time at the studio. Considering that the team declined to clarify which ending of The 40th Day (in which Salem could shoot Rios or vice versa) is canon, we’re left wondering if there might be some hard feelings between the two.

[B]La Guadana[/B]
[IMG]http://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/electronic-arts/armyoftwo/0912/cartel (2).jpg[/IMG]
Translated to “The Scythe” in English, La Guadana is a terrifying cartel run by a man named Esteban Bautista. They supply drugs and guns out of their headquarters in La Puerta, Mexico, and few are willing to stand up against them. Even if someone did take a stand against La Guadana, they’d be cut down in short time thanks to its vast paramilitary presence. With their influence over La Puerta’s police force and political system, they’re a ominous force to be reckoned with.
[B]
Juan Angelo Cordova[/B]
Cordova is the mayor of La Puerta, a Mexican city terrorized by drug cartels. With his passionate anti-drug stance, he’s become a clear target for the La Guadana cartel. His family has been murdered, and control of his law firm has been wrestled away from him by the cartel. To prevent himself from being another victim of drug violence, Cordova enlists T.W.O. to protect him during a political rally at the outset of The Devil’s Cartel.[/quote]

[URL="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/08/08/who-s-who-in-the-devil-s-cartel.aspx"]Source[/URL][URL="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/08/06/becoming-visceral-overhauling-ea-montreal-for-army-of-two-the-devil-39-s-cartel.aspx"].[/URL]

[B]More sites and shit[/B]

[URL="http://www.gameinformer.com/p/armyoftwo.aspx"]Gameinformer's ~super exclusive~ AO2: TDC information page[/URL]
[URL="http://www.armyoftwo.com"]Official site[/URL]

From what I can tell, they're taking a more mature approach at the series instead of having two beefy, immature, and questionably homosexual goofballs.

[editline]9th August 2012[/editline]

The videos seem to be having a lot of trouble embedding.

This thread ain't working too well.

[LobsterPastry]

I loved Army of Two when you had a good friend to play it with. Solid gold shielded drum-round AK-47 for the win~