Sunscreen? Check. Jungle-strength bug repellent? Check. Nuclear missiles? Check. Time for a working holiday in Venezuela. In the spirit of Pandemic Studios’ 2005 prequel on original Xbox, Mercenaries 2 takes the Grand Theft Auto sandbox-game formula — story-based objectives surrounded by lots of nonlinear side missions — and gives it a soldier-of-fortune twist, arming you with a massive array of weapons, vehicles, and airstrikes that can flatten an entire city block of this deliciously destructible virtual Venezuela.
War is business, though, and while you’re ultimately chasing an oil-hungry dictator who shoots your mercenary character in the butt during the game’s opening moments, your main motivation is completing enough missions to unlock the game’s five warring factions, as well as buy the biggest and baddest guns, tanks, choppers, and bombs. This is a game that lets you use nukes, for Pete’s sake. Subtlety is not encouraged.
In terms of improving on its predecessor, Mercenaries 2 misfires in a few places. Though it has a story of sorts and a much wider variety of contracts and bounties to tackle, it forces you to steal oil to fuel your supply drops and airstrikes, adding an unwelcome layer of economy to the game. The shift away from primarily capturing key bad guys might disappoint some fans as well, and the so-so visuals don’t exactly scream next-gen.
The seamless drop-in, drop-out online co-op play shines, though. Not only is it a lot more fun to demolish fortresses with a buddy by your side, but it also makes the game’s challenging multipart missions significantly easier, and it opens up creative strategies that aren’t possible when going solo.
For instance, one player can pilot a fast patrol boat beneath an oil-drilling platform while the other player, standing on the boat’s deck, whips a sticky airstrike-targeting beacon at the platform’s support pylons. Seconds later, as hot artillery death rains down and blows the whole thing to flaming smithereens, you and your buddy have already sped to safety in open water.
This kind of out-of-the-box thinking is almost necessary to make Mercenaries 2 as rewarding as it ought to be. It’s a giant, busy sandbox full of all kinds of fiery and destructive toys, but you have to get a firm handle on the game’s uneven tempo and immersion-breaking little quirks to fully enjoy the amount of freedom it offers. Are you prepared to work for fun instead of just for money? If so, flame on.
+ If you see it, you can blow it up. Spectacularly.
+ Skyjacking helicopters with a grappling hook for the win!
- Great draw distances marred by pop-in aplenty.
? Why ditch the original's "Deck of 52" targets? That was cool!
notatakenusername
March 15, 2010 at 6:48pm
They r making mercenaries 3 it very well might be rated M I hope not.
D.C.Happe
November 04, 2008 at 6:32pm
I love this game, but the missions are really stupid. A truck of parrots, really? Why would some jamaican pirates want a freaking truck load of parrots? I can blow stuff up in combat (and dominate) but I can't seem to keep some poor parrot in a truck. Pathetic.
jordanthorp
October 27, 2008 at 5:27pm
I wasnt convinced by the commercials(however entertaining they were)to throw caution to the wind and use 60 hard earned dollars to buy this game.Im glade i didnt but i did rent it on the 2nd day it was out.remember nobody played it before me....it was glitch ridden, repettitive,with below average gameplay,the only reason i didnt break the rented disc was because the explosions were sooooo pretty. I suggest throwing 10 bucks towards blockbusters way just to see hell fire rain down apon your enimies(or in my case inoccent civilians)and buildings come crashing down.
HIITMEN187
September 21, 2008 at 10:15am
GRAPHICS AINT ALL THAT GOOD BUT OTHER THAN THAT IT IS A AWSOME GAME IT SHOULDNT BE A 7.5 IT SHOULD BE HIGHER STORY MODE IS GREAT I LIKE IT....GARMERTAG:HITMEN187 ADD ME
Twilight666
September 16, 2008 at 12:58pm
Also, this is Mercs 2, not GTA 4. For you idiots out there that think that it is, it isn't.
Twilight666
September 16, 2008 at 12:56pm
Only a 7.5? I'm addicted to the game! The beautiful explosions, great vehicles, and the always amazing feeling that you get by smashing a guy's face in. The great graphics, funny dialog, and the mismatch crew is for the win. My favorite of the crew is Misha, the drunken jet pilot. Also, I agree with the question of dropping the "Deck of 52". But I guess that they dropped it because there were only 3 targets for you to kill, not four. Also, my favorite car would have to be the Norse Wind, even though it is a motorcycle. And although I'm against nukes, the Nuclear Bunker Buster is my favorite weapon. Twi's rating: 10.5
n00bIEwaN
September 09, 2008 at 8:53am
It's a lot better than the 5.0 that gamespot gave it. I USED to go there exclusively but it seems that they have been scoring low here as of late. Oh well, everything must come to an end. Enough of that, back to the game. Real fan of the original and looks as if I will be a real fan of part 2 as well. No, it's no GTA IV but then again, GTA IV got old real quick with me any how. Let me put it this way....I have yet to complete it. ;o) shocking, I know.... New to the site, long time reader. Thanks for giving us a voice for so long and carrying it over here as well. Fanboy, damn straight. --n00bIEwaN
madsick1
September 08, 2008 at 8:35pm
One thing about the driving that bugged me was that the e-brake doesn't make you come to a complete stop.
Backlash2007
September 07, 2008 at 7:54pm
i found that it was too touchy when you are steering but thats just me
Casey OXM
September 07, 2008 at 1:10am
SPAZNAUT: The driving is very similar to GTA IV, though Venezuela is hardly the new Hove Beach
SPAZNAUT
September 06, 2008 at 10:39pm
Yeah, I new this game wasn't gonna be ground-breaking or anything, but it is really entertaining, i was hoping for improved vehicle control but I guess i'm just used to GTA4's controls. Well, this game is a good rent, maybe even a buy.
shorty101089
September 05, 2008 at 6:10pm
Bummer, another disappoint. Not a terrible game per se but another one that could have been so much better. Oh well, I have three titles to look forward to that I know won't be a disappointment this fall. Fallout 3, Fable 2, and GOW 2. If you haven't seen the new gameplay videos of Fallout 3, you need to watch them. I'm 100% stoked for that game now, it looks fantastic! And with Fable, I doubt that everything PM says will be in it, much like the first one, but from what they've shown so far (co-op baby!) it'll be a lot of fun. And GOW 2.... I don't even think I have to say anything for that one. It'll be great. Fin.
DelishusSeagull
September 05, 2008 at 4:53pm
It's an alright game, but i preferred the Deck of 52 story from Mercs 1. Aside from graphical flaws and stupid in-game advertising, it's still pretty fun,
bahama mama
September 05, 2008 at 3:44pm
I agree with tis score but this is definitely not even in the same league as Star Wars TFU!
Scaboo
September 05, 2008 at 6:35am
7.5 is right on I think. It's fun but some of the things you have to do are downright annoying. The pop-ins are somewhat frustrating, but overall it's so much fun to blow stuff up that the amount of fun you have while playing outweighs the few negative aspects. Co-op kicks butt too!
Furious_George
September 05, 2008 at 6:12am
I started out loving this game but the farther I got the less I loved it. Still a good game but 7.5 is a fair score in my mind. Calling in Ewan is fun but having to wait for him to slowly come and retrieve oil or drop weapons or whatev before you can request another pickup or drop is tedious. The visuals don't look so hot and the game gets repetitive after a while, and the AI feels even dumber than in the original Mercs. Don't get me wrong its awesome being able to blow everything up, this is a great stress relief game. Lots of stuff to do but sometimes I was like "why am I doing this again?" The ending kind of blows too. Mercs 2 has 75% rating on Gamerankings right now so it looks like OXM is right on target. Good game, not a great game.
foamysking
September 05, 2008 at 3:13am
yes it was fun yes i did like playing it till the end then i come to find that all the time i put in to get the game to 100% to get all the achivements dosent count for squat if it wont award them and im not the only persoin with this problem and it is a very annoying one the ones that i have seen issues with are ...And Justice For All, Longing For Fire, Be Quick or Be Dead, and Stand Up and Shout
Lumpy Fat
September 04, 2008 at 6:17pm
I also disagree with this review. I liked pretty much everything about this game. The helicopters, the c4, the airstrikes, Everything Destructible! and more. One of my favorite things to do is to put a pack of c4 on a vehicle, then drive it toward a VZ barricade (with the trucks) and when it gets there, set it off. The only thing I don't like is the repetitiveness of Ewan and the UP soldiers, particularly the "UP can kiss my ass" line. I think it deserved at least an 8.5, maybe a 9 if I was feeling generous.
Casey OXM
September 04, 2008 at 4:38pm
I agree with you blindside, mostly, except how can you say liberating nearly 2 dozen outposts to complete the faction contracts isn't doing the same thing over and over? Storm outpost, hijack tank, blow everything up, call in 3 troopers, watch them disappear into the bunker, rinse and repeat. That's the definition of repetitive. Still, I really like this game. I would also disagree with the review only in that I really like stealing fuel and cash now, it's funny to call in Ewan, though EA should've ponied up and recorded more than 3 lines of dialogue. I don't want to hear about Ewan saving my bacon ever again. :)
blindside80
September 04, 2008 at 2:25pm
I completetly disagree with your review. This is what GTAIV should have been. I rented this game being skeptical but I'm buying it now. I never feel like I'm doing the same thing over and over. Being able to literally blow up everthing you see. Not having to restart the whole mission when you die. Not being killed if your vehicle blows up. Being able to hijack anything you want. The list goes on and on. Sometimes a story ruins the gameplay, GTAIV anyone? This game deserves a 10 but I don't see why it doesn't even get a 9. Anyway, this game rocks!
