Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

Oh where oh where to begin, there is so much to talk about in this game, so much to do, so much to break and destroy. I had never before played any game in this franchise but as of now I am hooked, should they ever consider making a third I will be first in line to buy it…this game offers all kinds of killer perks. But to make it slightly more scientific, I will be using (of course) my guide to game reviewing. These are at least five things that I personally look for in a game to make sure its quality is high enough for me to recommend to a friend; after all…these do cost sixty bucks brand new.

1. The Graphics: This game is very interesting graphically speaking; there is an abundance of eye catching features that permeate throughout. Everything from sandy beaches, to dense jungles, to high mountains, to cityscapes. This game has it all in great detail, very few things look the same, and almost everything blows up. Which brings me to my next thing that I love as far as graphics go, if I can burn down, it probably will, for instance: if you should so choose to fly a helicopter with rocket pods, there is a good chance that whatever you blow up will catch the surrounding area on fire. The only thing that I didn’t like so much was the way the water looked, it was far too easy to see how large, and where the graphic replicated, especially when flying a helicopter.

Graphics 8 of 10

2. Physics: The physics in this game are fantastic, and at times rather amusing. On the fantastic side, as I previously mentioned, almost everything blows up, come to think of it, the only things that don’t are the rocks, and the basic landscape. If you can see it, you can destroy it, everything from shanty towns to skyscrapers and motorcycles to tanks. Another absolutely awesome feature is one that is mostly unnoticeable…in several games that have a destructible environment, you can use almost anything to do it, a machine gun is all you needed…fortunately for this game, that’s not the case, most things aren’t even hurt by small calibers as a matter of fact…so the need for air strikes, C4, and RPG’s comes into play. And let me tell you, I have seen now in this game, the extreme destructive qualities of a MOAB. For the amusing side, the rag-doll physics are very fun, considering that you yourself often become a projectile. (mostly due to poor driving)

Physics 10 of 10

3. Game Play: The story line in this game is very fun, without giving too much away, it’s a revenge plot with a lot of interesting little side notes. The game play is pretty good also, at first it’s fairly easy to get a job done, but as different factions become aware of you and what you are doing they begin to ramp up security and fortifications. This makes for a very interesting play, you can’t do the same thing every time to accomplish your goals, and as a matter of fact, there are some places that you flat out have to have a play in order to not die. However, as far as I know, there is no way to actually lose this game. So unfortunately due to that fact, it loses a few points as far as game play is concerned.

Game play 8 of 10

4. Single player: there are hours and hours of fun to be had. This game is packed full of things to do, and contracts to fill. Not to mention the things that you can find just wondering around…I could tell you…but I think you should find them yourself.

Single player 10 of 10

5. Multiplayer: this game carries a revolutionary multiplayer aspect. Instead of starting a multiplayer game and having to wait in a lobby for a friend to join, you start a single player, and a friend just shows up. This is thanks to EA’s join in play technology. It’s fantastic, your friends can come and go as they please and your game is not interrupted in the slightest, that is unless your friend or whomever has the idea to wreck it for you, so long as you are together, whatever they do will directly affect how factions feel about you. So that can obviously be a negative. However to counter act this you can set your game to only allow people that you invite to join your game. Problem solved. Unfortunately there is one negative thing that no matter how you cut it just plain sucks as far as this game is concerned. Its only two players. In this world of epic game play a two player multiplayer is pretty weak, but if you consider that each session of gaming is hosted by EA, and that there is a lot of processing that you Xbox has to do as it is, improving this feature with currently technology is not possible without losing either your graphics quality or your physics. So yea it sucks, but unfortunately there is little that can be done with today’s gear to fix it.

Multiplayer 9 of 10

So there you have it the complete review for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, this game gets a solid 45/50 points. Which is an “A” as far as my review goes. I recommend this to anyone despite the multiplayer short comings. It’s a fun game full of fun features that you and a buddy can play together for hours and hours and still not see or do everything. And if you are an achievement whore, there are some pretty challenging achievements to try to get so that should keep you busy for a while in and of itself.

SoldierofEmpire
“Gaming so you don’t have to…”

P.S. American Idol game? two words: -HELL NO-