Platforms:360, PS3
Developer: Pandemic Studios | Publisher: EA | Released: US August 31 2008 | UK September 5 2008
There are many different kinds of people in the world. There are cool ones, snobby ones, and annoying ones that talk loudly in movie theaters. Some people like going to the Football game, while others would rather go to the science museum. Yes, our planet is truly one of great diversity. How can developers of video games be sure that everyone will like their product? I don’t know, but Pandemic is betting on pretty explosions. Here’s the review.
"I find Renaissance art distasteful"
An epic tale of love and circumstance
…not. In Mercs 2, you play as one of three different mercenaries. After completing a contract in Venezuela, the man that hired you betrays you, and tries to murder you. (AND he doesn’t pay!) Now you, a radiating pile of human emotion, decide that it’s time for a proper ass whooping. For the rest of the game, you complete contracts for different factions in order to eventually annihilate that SOB. You know, because “Everybody pays!”
The storyline feels like an afterthought, and seems to be just an excuse to run around blowing things up. I honestly wish that more time would be spent in the story department these days, as Mercenaries 2 (and many others) have left me with a great experience, but nothing that left its mark on my brain.
Explosions Are Pretty.
That’s what you’ll be saying the whole way through. Mercenaries 2 looks great, whether it be the environment or the, you know, destruction of the environment. When they say that everything is destructible, they are not exaggerating. Call in an airstrike and you’ll see buildings, cars, and even potted plants break apart in graceful drops of ferocious flames. It’s breathtaking to see an Oil Rig explode right before your eyes, and amazing to level a city block without even a bit of lag. The water, jungles, and cities are all joyous to behold, and then utterly obliterate. With all the praise I give the graphics, however, it has its share of hiccups. (Maybe a bit more than its share.)
While playing through the game, I experienced quite a bit of pop-in. “But Gabriel”, you say, “it’s an open world game! You can’t bash it too hard!” That’s where you would be wrong. I’m totally fine with a few buildings in a far-off distance slowly growing as I move towards them, but some of this is inexcusable. I was driving down the road, when suddenly a crate popped up. When I was 2 Meters away from it. Needless to say, I was confused, and all manner of small items repeated these appearing acts. But only small things, like crates…fences….people… cars… You get the picture.
The physics are great when debris are flying this way and that, but for some reason the engine cant seem to process that limbs shouldn’t stick out of car doors when they are closed. Speaking of the people, there is a lot to say.
The Populace of Venezuela
You know how, generally speaking, a quality open-world game has citizens that realistically react to thier surroundings? Apparently they don’t have quality open-world games in Venezuela. The cities are dead. I’ve seen an average of 1.5 people per block. If I had to make a prediction, I’d say the towns of Fallout 3 are more lively. If you happpen to find a civilian, don’t get too excited. I’ve pointed guns at them, exploded things nearby them, and still get no response.
You know what’s more awesome than watching a building explode? Watching a building explode while countless civilians cry in terror and run for their lives. Unfortunately you won’t get that here, as the only citizens nearby are in their abnormally-obstructive vehicles, driving in abnormally-obstructive fashion. I’d love to say that these civilians are the only strange characters in the game world, but I’d be lying.
A.I.: Amazingly Inept
"Come back! We wanna race bikes too!"
I’ve experienced a lot during my gaming career, but never anything as unexpectedly bad as Mercs 2′s AI. The enemies you face seem to have their heads rammed up their asses 24/7, which turns the firefights from “intense and gripping exchanges” to “Crackdown-like one sided massacres”.
Want some examples?
- Enemies on vehicle turrets don’t fire at you when you are close. Instead they jump off, leaving the vehicle in question open to hijacking.
- A friendly faction attacked itself when I accidentally hit one with a car.
- Escorts don’t jump out of burning vehicles, instead they stay inside to make sure you have to restart the mission.
- Friendly soldiers like to take a lap around the vehicle before getting in.
Yes, Mercs 2 will become a “One time” game.
The games’ AI is terrible and deserves Razzies, but one of the game’s other features is nearly good enough to make up for it.
It Takes Two
Although it lacks a split-screen co-op campaign, the Online is extremely well done. It takes a great premise, blowing things up with a friend, and delivers 2008′s best co-op experience yet. As in the single-player campaign, you complete contracts for factions. In co-op, however, it’s double the fun.
You can both get attack choppers and decimate a city together, can shoot explosive barrels when your partner is standing near them, and totally screw up a friend’s faction-rating, with little noticeable lag. I was able to play a while with a buddy over Xbox Live, and the co-op is not only the title’s best feature, but likely the best co-op experince you are going to have until Resident Evil 5 hits next year. It’s extremely fun, and players can jump in and out at any time without being interrupted by lobbies. Hell, you guys can even get together just to laugh at how stupid the AI is. You know what goes good with bad A.I.? Bad audio!
Speak Your Mind
As expected, the kabooms and pew pews are great. Sounds of battles are fantastic, as is the game’s scoring. But what I can’t get over is the dialogue. In the first twenty minutes of playing, I heard my character repeat the same line three times over. Apparently mercenaries don’t have much to say outside of “I like to blow things up” . Your friends also have the same problem. I don’t know how many times my allies said “Enemy spotted!” , when we were still at their base. It’s simply mind-boggling.
The Verdict
I had tons of fun during the time I spent with Mercenaries 2, but after playing, I feel strangely empty. It’s not that Mercs 2 is a bad game, it’s just not as great a game as we all expected, not all it could have been. If Mercs 2 had stayed in the oven a little longer, if the absurd bugs and nagging issues weren’t there, this game would have been a must own. Instead, here we have a merely good game.
It seemed that Pandemic spent so much time perfecting the explosions, and destructible little details, that they simply forgot to add anything truly inspiring or unique. At the end of the day, I think of “Mercenaries 2: World In Flames” as being like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz; It’s big and shiny, but doesn’t have a heart.
Mercs is worth renting, because of the sheer fun you’ll have, but not worth the money, unless your damn sure explosions will keep you happy forever.
[rating:3.5/5]
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