Customer Reviews:
 One of the best games for ps3! October 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
By far one of the best games for ps3, sharp graphics, great enviorments and intense exciting gameplay, after getting started you wont be able to stop
 Clouds of nuclear smoke and burning rubble obscure the technical gaffes. October 12, 2008
As above, Mercenaries 2 has some serious technical issues and is riddled with bugs, but the freedom to level cities makes it (almost) worth the price of entry.
Bugs include disappearing secret kits, horrid AI, various visual and collision detection glitches, and a general lack of polish on the parts of the game that don't involve calling in an airstrike. But then again, those airstrikes are way fun to call in. Your mileage may vary.
 A Worthy Next-Gen Sequel, Flaws Aside October 7, 2008
I am surprised to read so many negative reviews of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. (I don't recall the same number of negative reviews for the equally buggy Assassin's Creed, released last year.) It isn't a perfect game (what game is), but it is very enjoyable, just like the first Mercenaries on PS2.
Mercenaries 2 expands on the "playground of destruction" theme, allowing players to use even more vehicles this time around (including some very large warships), more weapons (all very highly detailed), more ways of destroying nearly everything, and more types of terrain.
For those who say the graphics aren't much better than a PS2 game, I have to say, that is just not a fair statement. It isn't as refined as Metal Gear Solid 4 in the graphics department, but then what recent game is? The graphics are sharp and detailed--yes, some buildings are generic and not high-textured, especially in shaded or dark areas, but the character models, weapon models, and vehicle models are all top notch. The day and night cycle are a welcome addition, especially with how great the reflective qualities of the water in the game are. To see some of the buildings (or a castle in one mission) come crumbling down after one of many choices of airstrikes, is just amazing. The level of destruction is very impressive.
The storyline is b-movie, but many games' storylines are no better or worse. The actual story part of the game can be completed at about 75-80% of the overall progress which is a little disappointing, especially when the first 20-25% of the game progress happens pretty quickly, then slows down for awhile. What's left are any side missions and unfortunately, while fun, there isn't a big incentive to go back after beating the game. MY ADVICE: Do yourself a favor and do side missions as you see them or as they become available and balance them with the story missions--you will get a longer, more rewarding playing time than I did.
The AI is no worse than the first Mercenaries, but not of the level you'd expect in a next-gen game. Often enemies will spot you miles away and are crack shots, which is rather ridiculous, especially when you are trying not to tick off a particular faction at the same time. They also just stand there some times or do erratic things like walk into a building corner and apparently get stuck walking. Now this is where the bugs and glitches come in, as mentioned by other reviewers.
There are several, such as poor collision detection (i.e. your character or AI characters seem to be able to move through solid objects at times and sometimes get stuck), poor targeting (sometimes it takes a whole clip to kill a generic bad guy), iffy vehicle controls (flying helicopters is tedious and usually ends in a crash), the red low health screen sticking (when your health drops to near death, the screen goes red, but sometimes it stays red and all of a sudden your health is back to 50 or higher after the screen returns to normal). All in all, none of the glitches or bugs were bad enough to get me to stop playing or to really take away the enjoyment of the game. Basically, in the next-gen age, we are all becoming used to cross-platform games being rushed out and then they try to patch them or correct them later. This is what PC gamers have always had to put up with.
In conclusion, Mercenaries 2 is a thoroughly enjoyable game that takes the foundation of the first game and updates it to the next-gen of gaming. You will enjoy it despite the problems. Don't let the negative reviews keep you from giving the game a chance. Again, Assassin's Creed was a very glitchy and buggy game and many of these negative reviewers said nothing of that and only praised it. (I consider having the patience to complete Assassin's Creed a great accomplishment of mine! I returned it later to the store as a defective game, which even Ubisoft agreed on their website.)
Lots of fun, but... September 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mercenaries II is an addictive shoot-em-up, and the graphics look amazing when you're blowing up buildings--and you're always blowing up buildings in this game.
I took a point off for three reasons:
1)The game is just as glitchy as Mercenaries I. If you try to pass over a wooden bridge (or even the little bridge in front of the PMC HQ) at speed, your vehicle will either do a back-flip or careen into a direction that defies physics. Also, when taking an outpost, your reinforcements want to man the emplaced weapon, hop the tank, smell the flowers...anything but go into the stupid building like they're supposed to do. In themselves, these are not serious glitches; but they do get annoying when you add them up.
2)Too much realism...In Mercenaries I, I could justify shooting Allied Nation soldiers occasionally because I assumed I was only shooting the French and German ones (kidding...sort of). But in Merc II, it's clear that AN troops are really just Americans, all the way down to the ACUs they wear. As a Guardsman, it's a little disturbing to be shooting my own. I mean, I do it anyway in order to get 100% completion, but that's even more disturbing, now that I think about it.
3)Politics...I think this game insults oil companies more than South Americans (I wouldn't know, though, not being either), but let's look at the players:
a)Hugo Chav...er, Solano, a businessman-cum-dictator;
b)Universal Petroleum, who have raped the country for their own evil capitalist gain;
c)The PLAV, insignificant "freedom-fighters" who have become caricatures of themselves;
d)The pirates, silly Jamaicans who smuggle rum and parrots, mon;
e)The US..er, Allied Nations, whose soldiers only know the words "whoa", "dude" and "hey", and so are obviously all teenagers sent to fight for an uncaring, oil-addicted capitalist nation;
f)and...the noble Chinese, who speak proper English and whose soldiers, in their spare time, practice martial arts in front of the Chinese HQ. Their leader, Colonel Peng, is the only leader with any honor in the game, according to whatshername, the girl who's always reading the blogs, you know, the independent sites, and can't stop telling you about it.
All in all, Merc II is a fun game, but obviously Made in China.
 Uh, are you guys for real? September 29, 2008
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
I downloaded the PS3 demo on this and couldn't believe that anyone would release something this bad with all the great stuff out there now. This is great for the kids, but come on, how can you get into this after CoD4, Bad Co., GhostRecon, and Assassin? If you can, more power to you, I like to encourage progress myself, not regression. I'll save my bucks for the guys who put something into the game. I tried to find some good points but just couldn't. Rock n Roll, baby.
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