Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Review

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is the highly anticipated sequel to Pandemic's Mercenaries. Too bad, Mercenaries 2 disappoints in a big way. In fact, I was left wondering if Mercs 1 was really as good as I remembered it.

Gameplay: 7/10
Pros: The much touted destructable environment is pretty sweet. The controls are good, blasting things are fun, and the new hijacking minigames are cool.
Cons: So Repetitive! Idiotic AI and missions that are way too spread out.


Graphics: 8/10
Pros: The graphics are pretty good with lush jungle environments, and good detail. The draw distance is also very good and blowing up buildings looks fantastic. Framerate holds steady.
Cons: The cutscenes look horrendous. Animations can be stiff and the character models are subpar.

Sound: 7/10
Pros: The sound effects are all good and standard issue. Voice acting of the 3 main mercs is good.
Cons: Forgettable music, repetitive voice work kill anything that would differentiate the music in this game from any other military game out there.

Lasting Appeal: 7/10
Pros: Online Co Op is a good edition and there's a lot of missions and ground to cover...
Cons: It's just that its all repetitive and the Co-Op is limiting (players have to stay withing proximity of one another)

Average: 72.50%
Tilt: -2.50%

I was really looking forward to this game and it really let me down (I'm thankful I rented it first). The destructible environments are great, but ultimately open world games come down to the diversity of things to do in missions and sidequests... a whole game built around gunning down enemies and blowing up buildings needs to at least offer competent enemies. The game is a top-notch destructible playground, but I need more for my $60.

Final Verdict: 70%