Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

"Perhaps one of the most dissapointing releases thus far"

This game turned out to be a huge disappointment to say the least. I pre ordered it and it arrived today morning, but my excitement didn't take very long to fade away.

So, what make this game incredibly disappointing? It's previous-gen, and suitable for only consoles support low resolutions such as the Xbox and PS2. The graphics and environmental texture quality in this game is sub-par and comparing with other titles such as GTA4 and COD 4 is out of the question. The cars still handle like they used to in Mercenaries 1, the player still movies like a block of wood, and the destruction effects, while occasionally impressive at a distance, often resemble those that may have been used on the PS1 or GameCube for example. The water textures are also disappointing in detail and far too repetitive enough to be a sore sight rather than sweet. I could really go on and on but if you've played games in the likes of Uncharted Drakes Fortune, GTA 4 and Call of Duty 4, It's not even necessary for me to elaborate on how much of a step back this games takes in terms of the environment and visual appearance.

The in-game dialogue is cringe-worthy at best and is easily demeaned by GTA 4, and you can easily see why. You often hear the same lines over and over again, and in terms of having a comical value, the dialogue fails. It doesn't impress at all, and if anything, it adds a negative value onto the game. It's the sort of dialogue I suspect only hippy Americans would be impressed by. If Pandemic wanted some inspiration, they could always have a look at "Uncharted, Drakes Fortune" of which's dialogue was top notch throughout the whole game. The sound effects are mediocre and don't really add much to the experience. They do their job, and nothing else can be said really.

Is this game fun? No. It's repetitive. You kill people, you blow up things and you blow up more things. I'd have expected something more out of a "fun" game than just repetitive play like this. So many people have drilled games like GTA 4 for bad gameplay, but this game should give them something alternatively new to complain about. I got bored of this game right from the first few contracts. The experience doesn't leave you with a desire to return and I suspect many people will will feel cheated to have bought this or at least inclined to sell it back to regain at least a fraction of the money lost.

Perhaps the only unique aspect of this title in terms of gameplay features is the solid co-op mode and the ability to buy vehicles and other military services. However, this positive aspect combined with the hundreds of other let-downs this game offers inevitably makes this game mediocre at best. Only buy it if you like constantly blowing things up, and nothing else. I'll be listing this on ebay shortly, back where I bought it; It's not worthy of a placement on my shelf.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/08

Game Release: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (EU, 09/05/08)