Mercenaries 2: World In Flames

7 Overall Score
Gameplay: 7/10
Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 8/10

Solid multiplayer | Airstrikes | Blowing stuff up never gets old

Buggy | Low-quality graphics | Depressing

Game Info

GAME NAME: Mercenaries 2: World In Flames

DEVELOPER(S): Pandemic

PUBLISHER(S): EA

PLATFORM(S): PS3, XBox 360, PC

GENRE(S): Third Person, Open world, action

RELEASE DATE(S): 8/31/08

You want metal?  Mercs 2 is metal.  From the main protagonist’s Norse-rock look, to the obvious soundtrack, to just blowing everything up, Mercs 2 is metal.  From its bombastic gun worship to the quietly desperate nihilism in the late game, Mercs 2 is metal.  Hell, even the DLC costume for Mattias makes you look like early Kid Rock.

Mercs 2 takes place in an alternate Venezuela, where you arrive as one of three characters to exact revenge.  For what?  Getting shot in the ass.  And don’t worry about forgetting your motive – literally every character you meet in the game will remind you that you were shot in the ass.  Various other factions are in the country, and the vast bulk of the game’s missions are you doing errands and murders for these factions.  This will eventually net you more guns, money, and airstrikes to destroy more things to get more guns, money, and airstrikes.  Since it’s an open-world game, there are hundreds of collectibles, but don’t worry about those – so many of the collectable tchochkes are bugged that you can collect the same one over and over (and over and over) again to artifically pad your score.

The various factions also have a series of high-value targets (HVTs) for you to kill or capture, which gains you influence and, of course, money.  The factions all hate each other, though, so it becomes a balancing act.  Of course, since this is a video game and not real life, this balance is associated with a slider system – run a few missions and everyone will love you again.  Added to the mayhem are car races, the ability to steal any vehicle, smuggling runs, and tons of other various things to do in poor Venezuela.  Also, every building and man-made structure is destructable, either by C4, tank, or airstrikes.  It’s really a terrible place to live for the citizenry, but I suppose it makes it fun for these 3 mercenaries.

Multiplayer is a welcome addition to most open-world games, and it’s quite helpful in Mercs 2.  Although you can’t stray too far from your partner and you’ll rubberband around, the occasionally crazy difficulty spikes are much easier to deal with when a second person is involved.  Plus, mayhem is always more fun with a friend.  The joining player doesn’t start with too much, though.  Basic armament and no airstrikes means you’ll be starting from the ground up – which may happen a lot due to fairly common freezing bugs.

Released in 2008, the graphics haven’t held up very well over time.  Given the fact that Metal Gear Solid 4, still one of the best-looking PS3 games released, came out that year, Mercenaries 2 pales in comparison.  And of course, as with just about every open world game, clipping and graphical inconsistencies are relatively common – especially in multiplayer.  There’s a fair amount of rubberbanding involved, which (when added with the free-wheeling physics) makes everything feel light and bouncy.  Audio is good, though.  Even though the quips can get overused and a bit tiring – and everyone reminds you that you’ve been shot in the ass – tanks sound sufficiently ferocious and the soundtrack is sufficiently metal.

Even the achievements are all named after metal songs.  The way money is represented in game is pretty metal, too – something you’d see Lars Ulrich doing.  It’s all just piled in the middle of your poorly-appointed mansion.  Gain more, and the pile grows – all the way to the endgame, where the pile is so high, it reaches the vaulted ceiling.  In front of it: a single lawn chair, so you can survey your spoils alone.  In fact, the whole endgame is like that.  After you’ve conquered the land, overthrown the government, and dealt with the factions, it’s just you and flat nothing.  Buildings razed, earth salted, it’s a nihilistic wasteland of destruction, with you as its king.  Citizens drive crappy Soviet-era cars to their jobs which no longer exist because you hit it with an airstrike, then return home in the evening.  Their world is truly in flames.  That late in the game, the monetary penalty for killing citizens is so relatively low that it’s not even worth avoiding them.  It’s a disparate, nihilist wasteland.  This game is every Metallica song ever – heavy, meaty, snarling.  But also desperate, empty, and full of an angry sadness.  Where’s your crown, King Nothing?  In Venezuela, apparently.

 

SHARE THIS POST

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Myspace
  • Google Buzz
  • Reddit
  • Stumnleupon
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • Technorati
Avatar
Author: James View all posts by
Dangerously fat. Twitter: @hypersaline