Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

"Mercenaries 1 Expansion Pack"

World in Flames is the long awaited Sequel to Playground of Destruction. In this game, one plays as one of three mercenaries who's been recently betrayed and are now out for revenge in a war torn version of Venezuela. Yes, that's it. Would that be enough for people searching for a good story in a video game? Will there be twists based on that main plot? Well... read on to find out.

Setting

The game lets one play as a mercenary, hired by a big shot to do a job in Venezuela. After completing that job (aka the first mission), the mercenary returns to his/her contractor and in their surprise, gets betrayed and shot in the ass. The mercenary now wants revenge for not being paid and getting shot in the aforementioned body part.
Yes, no twists and no other subplot. This, is the whole story in which World in Flames revolves on.

Graphics

For a late generation PS2 game, it's doesn't bode well. While it's functional and workable, it's clear that this version was just a rush job to cash in on the hype generated by the media and of the "better sequel" factor.

if one has played Playground of Destruction (PoD), it'll feel like Part 1's visual is better and more atmospheric for the most part - it is after all just Mercenaries 1.2 (yes, 1.2 and not 1.5), some additions were added but a few (good ones) were taken away. In this game, everything feels so dry and bland. The environment's colorful but feels so... dead. And it just doesn't give you the feeling of being in a gritty, war torn land.

In the end though, it does the job. It's nothing to brag about, but it's definitely acceptable.

Gameplay

As with the visuals, the game plays similar if not the same as PoD. There are a few minor changes - some good and some... should have been better left as it had been.

The game puts the player in a third person perspective with the camera mostly behind the mercenary in question. It is a sandbox type of game, so a handy free camera movement is implemented through the right analog stick. It does the job pretty well and is nothing to complain about.

As for the missions, you work for cash and support items through contracts given by certain factions. While it sounds easy enough and usually is, most of the missions are pretty shallow and sometimes just plain stupid. But for people who want to unlock most if not all of the support items, they are stuck doing jobs that just don't make sense.

The new system implemented, "Stockpile," is a far cry from PoD's "Merchant of Menace." While it is a system that grows on players, it is mostly a nuisance and a glaring downgrade. In this game, if one wishes to use a support item, he must first unlock it. But that's not all. To actually use the item, the player must travel to the contact that has it, buy enough of the thing for future use (and probably run out of cash in doing so), and then he can finally use it after traveling back to the place where the item was needed. If it sounds confusing, it's actually not once put into action but it definitely is frustrating.

The Stockpile system would've actually worked well, if it were limited to some items such as supplies and certain vehicles which are not offered by any faction. As it is, the system just makes the game harder for the player to enjoy the main appeal of the game - which is destruction and demolition of most structures found in World in Flames.

Also, the civilians are the true villains in this game. They are neigh on invincible and for every hit that is inflicted upon them by the player, a thousand dollars is taken away. It may not seem like a large sum, but the poor AI implemented into the NPCs make them suicidal to the point that they love getting rammed by any vehicle or be mowed down by most gunfire present... or both.

The gameplay, for all it's flaws, is still solid and fun to play. Sure, there are a lot of speed bumps along the way, but the ride is still very enjoyable and for the most part, well worth it.

Sound

The music in this game is forgettable and not at all appealing. It just doesn't give off enough emotions to make the player feel like they are in despair nor give them that adrenaline boost to take on a war torn Venezuela. For the most part, it's there to make the visuals more dead than it already is.

The sound effects are actually pretty good. They do the job well, and a job well done. Helicopters mostly sound like their real counterpart as well as most other vehicles in this game. The weapons, explosives and air strikes are spot on as well. This is one part of the game that's actually noticeably better than PoD (especially the shotgun).

The voice actors do their part well in giving the game's characters their personalities. It isn't noteworthy of any award, but it's okay as far as game VAs are concerned.


In a numerical summary, it might be written as something like this:

Graphics - 5
Gameplay - 5
Sound - 6

It's a solid game, but it's nothing more than a rent - at best. If one's looking for a definitive sandbox game that boasts of fully destructible structures, immersive environment and tons of things to do, Mercenaries Playground of Destruction is that game (for the PlayStation 2, of course).

This game gets 5 air strikes out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/09/08

Game Release: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (US, 08/31/08)