Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames takes its title very seriously. Simple, not complex action and a story that is capable of motivating the player till the end.

Mercenaries 2 has lived up to its expectations to be a fun and crazy game about having a hell of a time in a war zone.

Mercenaries 2 is like a newsstand; it has a lot of issues. Still, I can't deny that there were some hootin’ and hollerin’ moments. For every time I cursed the stupid AI, I cheered at the demolition of another building.

Great in small, explosive doses, particularly with a friend, but longevity is unlikely to be one of its strong points. [Nov 2008, p.106]

The humorous and entertaining gameplay suffers from long idle phases and a lousy port job. Better wait for the PC version of GTA 4!

If you prefer creating things instead of destroying them, please forgo Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Playing a mercenary in Venezuela you blow up multi-story buildings, restaurants, hotels, factories, cars and boats in several missions. The controls could have been better, but it's still fun, and instead of complaining about the shortfalls of the game you could always just go and blow up something else.

As a sandbox game, it shines in the hands of those who take it for what it is - an "A-Team" simulator - but as a narrative shooter, it falls flat. [Dec 2008, p.72]

Technically creaky but ultimately fun. [Nov 2008, p.82]

Mercenaries 2 put me off from the get go, however it has an ace up its sleeve. Yep – explosions. Right at the start of the game you pick up a grenade launcher, and start gleefully blowing stuff away. [Dec 2008, p.74]

If you’re a big a fan of blowing things up, then you’ll love this game. Literally everything can be turned into flames, but the longer you play the more you realize that Venezuela is not the real deal when it comes to “virtual paradise."

Only the unconditional fans of the most frantic and brainless action will find joy in World in Flames. Mercenaries 2 fails in its work to jump into the Next-Gen, and it´s because of a repetitive and clumsy gameplay. Abundant bugs, little difficulty and short term boredom are the main negative points of a game that only shines in the destructive way.

Luckily, there are no real game-ending bugs, so you can satisfy your appetite for destruction if you're willing to pay for an unpolished game. [Dec 2008, p.64]

Although there are problems with the PC version, Mercenaries 2 has a great deal of potential. It's a back-to-basics title that allows you to destroy pretty much everything around you, and you'll have no end of fun doing so.

Face of an action-paced experience with the body of past-century game. Pandemic created more v2.0 of previous game than the serious sequel. No appeal for players – you really don’t care what the game offers when you play. [Oct 2008]

The game deserves all accolades for its chillingly realistic depiction of the world in the struggles of a bloody global war. But the spectacular explosions can't cover up the fact that the graphics looks equally bleak as the near future presented here and the gameplay is too simple and repetitive. [Oct 2008]

Fundamentally fun, but just far too broken to win TPCG kudos. [Issue#12, p.58]

Playing it alone showcases how repetitive the missions are and without that second player it is just you versus an AI that is far from intense or tactical. The numerous bugs and crashes that plague the PC version are troublesome, as is the game’s refusal to really adopt any of the advantages of the platform.

But the truth of the matter is that I wouldn’t even recommend Mercenaries 2 to the fans of the series. Because the game might ruin the wonderful impression they were left with from the first title.