Sore Thumbs

By Matthew Scott Hunter

‘Call of Juarez: The Cartel'

Plenty of wasted potential

(M) **

Ubisoft - Xbox 360

The third "Call of Juarez" game leaves behind the Old West (or Southwest) setting in favor of delivering a modern tale of corrupt law enforcement, drug cartels and plenty of shooting. "The Cartel" offers three-player, online cooperative play — although it's a stretch to call it "cooperative." The three protagonists all work for different agencies with separate agendas. Although you all fight together, each of you will be receiving different instructions on the down low. Frequently you'll get information over the phone, and other players will only hear your side of the conversation — the true meaning of which you'll lie about. You'll also be tasked to surreptitiously swipe certain collectibles from crime scenes under your companions' noses. Keep from getting caught, and you'll score additional bonuses.

While this could be a superb setup for a tantalizingly paranoid game play experience, none of it really leads anywhere. All three characters are generally scuzzy human beings, and they begin the game already highly suspicious of one another with nowhere further to go. Blowing its number one innovation, "The Cartel" has nothing to fall back on but mediocre first person shooting. The graphics are dated, and the audio is buggy to the extent that enemies will sometimes continue yelling the same repetitive phrases at you even after they've died. Lackluster multiplayer maps round out the package. The biggest crime in "The Cartel" is that it hints at such terrific, unrealized potential. Hopefully other developers will explore the possibilities of inserting traitors into online co-op play. CV