More bad than bad ass. Mercenaries 2!

A 3rd rate 3rd person action blowemup game released on the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PS2. Here is our friend Dave with a review on Mercenaries 2.

I played the Mercs 2 and was pretty disappointed. Don’t get me wrong the game is fun, but it didn’t suck me in at all. The details were sub-par, the animations were decent, and the graphics in my opinion were un-acceptable, especially on this generation of console. Enemy AI is so far the worst I have seen; in a shoot out I was able to run right up to a group of bad dudes, run around them, take what ammo and guns I needed, then blow them all up with an RPG before they fired a shot. The game lacks a polish, that I feel if I am paying 60$ for, I deserve, so gripe on. The cars look toy-ish, the “pedestrians” are walking zombies with no interaction nor reaction to anything going on around them, the maps are uninspired, and the one thing that kills me is the trees that make me feel like I am in Donkey Kong Country. The controls are sub par at best, aiming is decent once you get the hang of it, and animations are repetitive and “cool”. When you hi-jack a tank the “driver”, the fight he puts up is laughable. And we see that animation, every. Single. Time.

But I digress, the explosion animations are beautiful and the destructible environment is a huge plus. Nothing beats laying waste to baddies to where before the fight a lush forest or wall enclosed base surrounded you at the beginning and once over nothing but rubble and tree stumps lay at your feet. Bad. Ass. The developers wanted a player to be able to use their imaginations and do what ever they want. Want to fly a helicopter, while your buddy is dangling from your winch in a tank firing rounds into a enemy base, hell yea you do! It’s those ideas that I latched onto when the game was getting previewed. But the gamer I am, I have a hard time looking past all the gripes I have to enjoy a game of this nature. I have standards, and for a game like this I had premonitions that needed to be met. GTA4 and Assassins Creed, those are the games in which this game will be measured by. The textures, animations, involvement, layout, graphics, and my biggest peeve…attention to detail. Which is my biggest nit pick. Attention to detail for me in games supersedes a lot of what is listed above. I feel it can make or break a game, little things really do make a difference, and when they go missing and you know there are not there, man does it stand out. Take running over a street light in GTA4, it breaks and sparks spray out. I love it! Or in AC someone sees a fight or dead body, screams ring out and everyone runs for cover. It makes for a more realistic experience. Mercs 2 does not have that, it has “The enemy is here!!” 1,000 times. Their physics engine is great and objects reflect and react to their surroundings perfectly. But you level a 10 story building in front of a sidewalk, or layout 10 dudes with a RPG and bodies go flying, pedestrians just keep strolling along…like nothing has happened. Maybe people in Venezuela really are like that, I don’t know, but not in my mind. Attention to detail people! It’s one of the cornerstones to any great game! Sorry. I’m an ass like that. Deal.

So in closing, rent the game, see what you think. If you can see past many of the glitches and lack of polish, and just want to blow shit up, then I’m sure you will love it. If not, wait till after you have downloaded the November content for GTA4 and played through it, then go to a game store and buy it used, if possible use a trade in game! Discount!
-Dave “The enemy is here!”

Score: C
Verdict: Rent/Buy Used