Devil’s Third opens with such promise. There’s a momentary glint of intelligent commentary on the detached nature of modern war, a slow downward camera pan through a Guantanamo Bay under siege, and a somewhat indulgent solo drum performance by our hero, Ivan, as we’re treated to sepia-washed flashbacks of a history that still haunts him. The thing is, it’s all a ruse. Devil’s Third isn’t thoughtful, subtle, or even entertaining. It’s the kind of soulless, perfunctory action game I fear people judging the medium of video games by.

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That initial glimmer of hope flickered out quickly once I actually took control of Ivan and started doing the only thing he can do: murder fools in a comically graphic fashion with a limited, uninteresting set of abilities. To its credit, Devil’s Third melds melee and gunplay fairly effectively but neither is varied or even immediately satisfying enough to sustain any level of excitement. Simple doesn’t have to be bad, it just is here; the repetitive melee executions come with a loss of control and a jarring camera cut, interrupting the flow of combat constantly, as if Devil’s Third doesn’t want to be played.

I don’t have any problem with bald hyper-violence either, as long as it’s conveyed in a visually interesting way, or is used as a pay-off for good play, like in Mad World or Gears of War, but in Devil’s Third it’s neither. It’s hard to imagine how Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki was involved in combat so simplistic and void of tactile joy. Melee hits have their impact blunted by tinny, cheap sound effects, and gunfire feels similarly limp. Even perennial favorites like flamethrowers, miniguns, and under-barrel grenade launchers fail to elicit a grin.

“ [It's] as if Devil's Third doesn't want to be played.

A lot of this could be made up for if there were interesting decisions to make in combat, or if it was mechanically demanding in some interesting way, but neither is the case. Despite silly, inconsistent damage spikes (Ivan can shrug off RPG shells, but dies near-instantly to random swarms of bats), I found it easy to strong-arm my way through the campaign in a few hours by leaning heavily on one particular attack string with the katana. Only a couple of bullet-spongey enemies made me work, and the bosses were really just exercises in monotony – I beat most of them by spamming dodge and chipping away at them a couple of quick swipes at a time. By the time the final boss fell, the only emotion I could muster was relief that there wasn’t any more to trudge through.

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There is a multiplayer component to Devil’s Third, which seems odd because the combat is neither deep nor gratifying enough for me to want to play it with other people in a competitive setting. You’ll purchase equipment, choose a loadout for your character and engage in mostly pedestrian game modes, save a couple of oddball ones that don’t really fit the game’s established tone. The real insult to injury moment comes when you realize the multiplayer is riddled with micro-transactions, giving your competition a chance to buy the best equipment while you grind tirelessly for it.