With big-budget adaptations of movie blockbusters on the wane, XBLA has become home to some smaller-scale productions. With focused efforts like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, the approach has paid off, but unfortunately, it doesn’t preclude cheaply produced cash-ins like The Expendables 2 Videogame.
The Expendables 2 Videogame drops you into a twin-stick, three-quarters-perspective shootout featuring four of the movie’s testosterone-fueled mercenaries — the ones played by Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and Terry Crews. While those four are among the movie’s best, it still falls far short of the near-dozen elite action stars in the film, leaving notables like Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, and Chuck Norris on the bench instead of swapping them in.
Each character has a “special meter” that you can trade for grenades at a lower level, or charge all the way for a brutal melee kill. The former is a better option, in this case.Character omissions would be forgiven if the game was good, but it’s far from fun. It’s often difficult to tell where your character’s bullets are heading and sometimes tough to see if environmental elements are being affected by your gunfire, both of which are vital in a shooter. Even without this fundamental flaw, though, you’d still grow bored of the repetitive combat before finishing the first of four campaigns — your weapons don’t have much variety and your melee attacks are all but useless, as you’re often facing far too many enemies to find a single target.
Moreover, the game’s low budget belies its blockbuster roots — character models are ugly and unexpressive, while most levels are bland. The voice cast is also sub-par, with a mix of uninspired cast members reprising their roles and off-mark imitation of the game’s bigger stars (particularly the exaggerated imitation of Rocky Balboa that’s used to approximate Stallone's character, the leader of the group and primary speaker).
The Expendables 2 Videogame could have worked if it had the budget of its celluloid cousin. Or if the creators had reined in their vision even more and gone for, say, an even less expensive Contra-style side-scroller, and then sold it for less than the current $15 price. As-is, the game’s just a flop.
Taking down a helicopter is slightly less irritating than mowing down hordes of gun-toting enemies, if only because it’s less of a chaotic mess.PUBLISHER: Ubisoft • DEVELOPER: Zootfly • ESRB: Mature • MULTIPLAYER: 4-player cooperative (locally or on Xbox Live) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Mostly easy, but boring • COST: 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15) • RELEASE DATE: August 17, 2012
+ The helicopter mounted-gun sections are kinda fun.
– The ground-based action is broken, dull, and repetitive.
– Poor voice-acting and subpar visuals unbefitting of a blockbuster movie.
? With so many action stars at your disposal, why limit us to four?!
