Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

"Not perfect... but what is"

I pre-ordered this game because the previews looked good and it was a game I, as a hardcore gamer could see myself playing, after I brought it home and was amazed at the gameplay and the game overall, it was much better than expected and it became a game that I was proud to defend against the harsh critics who obviously didn't give this game the chance it deserved.

Story 7/10: The lowest grade goes to the story, which actually isn't bad for a game that's all about fun. You play a Mercenary out for revenge against Solano and Carmona, 2 very powerful entities in Venezuela, after they don't pay you. The storyline offers all the mayhem you would expect from a game called mercenaries and drops you into a lush, open environment that is one of my favorite open world settings yet. All- in- all the story, while not great, seems to be the best that pandemic could have done to set the scene for the mayhem and fun in the game.

Gameplay 8/10: The gameplay is great, the key to every game is great gameplay, and this game nails it... almost. The airstrikes are great fun to call in, but often I found myself forgetting to launch them, it makes me want to restart the mission so I can try my new bomb on that bridge. The shooting is good but could use some improvements, the guns are powerful and great fun, but sometimes the spray of bullets is innacurate and the glitches are a small but present annoyance in the game. In my instance, my character was changed from chris to mattius which I wouldn't mind but now I want to replay the game as chris again to see the different situations later on. But once again the developers did a great job and I am still having fun with this game.

Sound 9/10: This is a big strong point in the game, the music system is so well done I don't feel the need to revert to my ipod like I did in gta4 after getting pissed about the terrible soundtrack. The voice acting is very well done, on par with games such as GTA and GOW, in quality, although the civilians have some rough lines that sometimes don't fit, It still deserves to be given a 9.

Graphics 9/10: This game has good graphics all- around, especially in cutscenes but the reason that this ctegory is a 9 instead of a 7 is the explosions. They are beautiful, some of the best explosions I've seen in a game, also the character models are well done.

Replayability 8/10: I would play this again , but a lot of people won't bother because the only real incentive is to come back with another character in a little different cutscenes, but me and other gamers like myself are definitely getting their moneys worth here

Overall 8/10: A great game that doesn't deserve all the bad reviews, the bugs are of minimal problem and this game is definitely worth checking out, if your looking for a game that is tons of fun, and will keep you playing for a few weeks until some of the other fall games come out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/08

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