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I just got this game and so far I really like it. The graphics are very good, everything so far seems to be destructible. I am running this on a Vista box with 4 GIG of RAM and an nVidia 8800GT 512 graphics card with no issues. I did not have to make any special setting changes to get this to run, just clicked the icon and it booted. The driving, cars, trucks motorcycles etc. seems to be a lot like GTA (Grand Theft Auto). In some parts of the game, you need to go through key sequences to get through a fight, similar to other games, which when it involved hijacking a tank was a bit annoying. But this is an excellent game and I would highly recommend buying it.
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Mercenaries 2 is the kind of mindless action game that is perfect for killing time and that's about it. Its respectable graphics and diverse selection of weapons/vehicles makes the game interesting to play, but the numerous flaws and glitches keep this third-person shooter from being truly interesting. A few of the features and flaws of the game are:Extremely linear play. Though the various advertisements promise an open world, the "open world missions" tend to be repetitive and generally fall into three categories: base capturing, target destruction/capture, and racing. The base capturing missions run out quickly, leaving players to do the less enjoyable target destruction missions. If you want to do the "cool" missions, you HAVE TO FOLLOW THE STORYLINE. As well, most of the storyline missions have to be completed in a specific way, and that can be EXTREMELY frustrating to players that want a more free-form game.
Poor control via PC. The controls seem to have been intentionally muddled for PC users, as the mouse control is not nearly as smooth as it is in other games. This can be EXTREMELY frustrating until players get used to it.
Large selection of vehicles. There are a lot of different types of vehicles to use, ranging from numerous tanks to multiple helicopters, and even a few different types of boats. Most of these can be stolen on the fly, so if you see one, you can usually take it away and use it with ease.
Near invulnerability. Your mercenary is almost completely invulnerable to one-shot kills (such hits generally knock your health down to 2 instead of killing you). You heal quickly, so running in a zig-zag pattern until you can hide behind a boulder for a few seconds is usually enough to see you through any tight situation. This level of healing generally lends itself to a more-exciting action game, but will disappoint players interested in a realistic mercenary game.
Mercenaries 2 is definitely worth looking into if you want some quick escapist fun, but be prepared to get frustrated with missions on a regular basis (especially if you can't figure out the "gimmick" that will help you win it). I give this game three stars, as it is a decent PC-port of a console game that had its enjoyable moments of play.
Note: Online multiplayer is limited to two total players in any given scenario, and both players are on the same side.
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OkayIf you don't want to read a long review, which this is just notice these highlights. But I recommond reading this, especially part 2.
QUICK SUMMARY:
1. PAY ATTENTION TO THE SPEC REQUIREMENTS
2. You need a STUNNING graphics card.
3. Vista is a pain but doable with this game.
4. It is a great game, good looks, fun and good interface.
5. Good 'bang for your buck'.
6. Seems very bug free.
7. Nice concept.
8. Better than the original.
9. Works better on the PC, ignore reviews about it on the consoles.
10. BUY IT.
PART 1:
So I acquired this game recently (it is brand new after all) but have made enough progress and given it a rigorous enough test to warrant writing a review.
First things first, it is absolutely outstanding in the graphics department. I do mean they are very impressive personally I believe better than Half-Life 2 or anything equivelant. Better than on the consoles of course or anything else. I'm not really on about the faces of the figures etc so much as the shading, flowing enviromentals, dust particles, sky and the stunning water effects. I've played A LOT of these types of games before and this is the first one that looks realistic and doesn't either give me a headache, has glitchse or at some point just looks 'messy' or tiresome. It feels exhilirating to play. (SKIP TO PART 2 OF MY REVIEW FOR INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GRAPHICS CARD STUFF)
The open plan feel of the game is fantastic. You need to get over the first couple of 'missions' before you can start feeling like you have full freedom over your Mercs future. The cutscenes are fantastic, nice voice acting and good looks.
The open battlefield is very enjoyable to play on, as anybody who has played Mercs 1 will know. It feels in my opinion very unique. Few games are 'open destiny' yet have such a focused and enjoyable over all mission plan which can be tackled so individually with a nice number of other things to keep you thinking too, such as faction support or dislike, who you will ally yourself with if indeed at all, financial matters and how all this can and will affect your main goals of the "Deck of 52". The Deck of 52 overarching mission is a great and unique concept. It is as well executed as the original Mercenaries game and the map is even bigger, the scope wider and will take you much longer to complete. This is of course good news, you get more 'bang for your buck' so to speak.
The ability to know swim in water and drive boats is enormously fun and you start out the game driving in one. One aspect I also like about Mercs 2 compared to Mercs 1 is oddly enough I believe the game is easier to see. Mercs 1 was set in Korea and in jungle or dirt terrains. Since the Korean soldiers of all sides mostly fought in brown clothing it could on occassions be very frustrating fighting numberless practically invisible soldiers. The sky was often dark and cloudy and dirty looking, you couldn't swim in water and it was darka nd murky too often leading to frustrating deaths. Also in many respects it is a tired old concept of 'war in asia' for Americans. I suspect three high profile wars, Japan, N/Korea and Vietnam for the Americans in the last 60 years has led to a tired old story and view of that part of the world. It is nice to see an American company come up with a game set somewhere quite different and 'fresh'. I'm a Brit and know very little about South America as a result or anything about Hispanic culture. This makes it exotic and new to me and this is quite exciting. We've all heard about the Asian-American wars and seen the pictures etc but hear little and see little about the troubled areas of South America. The concept behind this choice of area is good too, the fight for oil. This new scenery, terrain, people and culture is a very interesting choice and the game is quite bright and vibrant in places.
The one thing i'm not certain about is the choice of a 'base of operations'. In Mercs 1 there wasn't really a Base of Operations so to speak, not so much, you more or less spent most of your time in the field and based with whichever faction you were with. In this you (SMALL SPOILER HERE...) end up after the opening sequence of events being some sort of giant mansion that belonged to one of the important figures in Venezuela that double crossed you. I wasn't so keen on this to be honest. It seems a bit bizzare and unrealstic. However if you like that kind of thing, you'll like it. It is also a lot more about 'blowing stuff up' than the first Mercs was, not by a long shot mind you, but enough that I prefered at least from what i've played the the more 'shoot' rather than 'blow up' mentality of the original. Having said this, this is a vastly superior game in comparison to Mercs 1.
For starters, the game is for the PC! This was not the case or available in Mercs 1. This makes a great difference, greater use of keys, better accuracy and aiming with the mouse etc. The game feels smoother and the movement and aiming etc is incredible in comparison.
The game suffers from one issue however, only one mind you that the original suffered too. This may be a bit of hint for those who haven't tried this too much but since i'm a natural 'Oh thats a bit hectic... run!' kind of guy I just found this out from my playing style. If you take the time to run like hell from fights, you'll never be short of hiding places to sit and let your health regenerate fully. This can make it sometimes impossible to die. I think the makers expected you to just 'fight'. But hit and run can make this game a bit easy sometimes. That means the hardest missions are the timed ones and the vehicle missions. However if this wasn't the case I guess the game would be too hard. And don't get me wrong, you'll get killed a lot.
I rated this game five stars for fun and overall. I almost never do this. This shows how good the game is I think it really is, in my own opinion, on the PC about as flawless as it gets. It is smooth, stunningly beautiful and amazingly fun. If I were you, yes, you reading this, I would buy it, but make sure you CAN play it properly first. It seems that to play this well you must be in an elite group that possesing high performance graphics cards and PCs in general. Read the Part 2 of this review to see more about this it is vitally important you do.
PART 2:
There is a catch. It comes at a heavy cost, you NEED a very very good graphics card. I wouldn't even recommend the nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, I would recommend the nVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (for anyone not tech savvy this doesn't sound like a big difference, but it is) you can buy this graphics card for about $230, that is steep I know BUT worth it and probably necessary. I suspect a lot of you reading this right now will have sinking hearts... don't be too depressed though. I know I shouldn't drop names really but I picked this roughly 230 dollar high performance graphics card up for 140 dollars at Circuit City. That is a steal for what you get. For more information on this read this card and why you really should get it read this
This is on the page with the 8800 GT 512 card. The guide talks you through many from the start for varying prices. Have a read see if you think it may be worth it.
But when the game specs are given, pay attention to them. Okay? Don't look at them and say "well i'm almost there" I did that and it didn't work. I can run Command & Conquer 3, Lego Star Wars 2, Dawn of War Soulstorm etc and many other high spec requirement games. I didn't match their minimum requirements but I could play it. I had 1 GB of RAM and a Geforce 6150 SE nForce 430. I didn't match Mercs 2's requirements and even on the lowest settings possible it jerked so bad I couldn't play in a million years. I had to buy an extra Gig of RAM and the afore mentioned graphics card. With those in place the game played so beautifully I couldn't believe it. I had Vista not XP by the way, if you have Vista like me you do for some stupid reason need more specs. So trust me when I say, this game needs a lot of juice to play. I would recommend finding out if your graphics card can play this game before buying it. If you have the other requirements sorted but are not sure about your card, find out. The number like 5200, 6600, 7100 doesn't mean a whole lot because some are made for games and some not so FIND OUT. Don't just say "hey, I have a 7000 series, so it'll work", phone EA and ask them, they can let you know. Or search the net, I just couldn't find it when I searched but it doesn't mean the info isn't out there.
One more point, since this hasn't been out long support is minimul for this game on the web and EA aren't the most helpful on occassions. So I should mention that if you begin the game (and you have the requirements met) and get odd looking graphics, cross over effects, all white jagged ground or pitch black shadows, just in general it looks messed up go to your .exe launch file (mercenaries2.exe i think) go to properties --> compatibility --> run as xp service pack 2 and check the 'turn off' boxes but don't run it in 268 colours, 640x860 mode etc etc etc. This only applies if you have vista, but don't panic, just do that.
Thats all.
If you can handle all that do it, it is seriously worth it. What a bloody good game.
Honest reviews on Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
The game required you to go online once just a short time nothing like STEAM.I experienced some audio stuttering during cut scenes. I downloaded a patch but my antivirus program said it was malicious so I didn't install it.
The open world feel was great. It was fun to snatch a vehicle and drive around. Motorcycles, cars, trucks, boats, helicopters, etc.
The interactive environment was fun. You could blow up buildings, flatten shacks with a tank, cut down trees with a heavy machine gun, etc.
The ability to be "in disguise" was a great idea, although it was limited to certain vehicles.
I got hung up on one mission a timed race. After maybe 30 tries I just gave up. Games should always have an "out" that would allow you to fail and still continue. In this case you had to test out an experimental vehicle (and succeed in the allotted time) in order to have the mechanic join your team. It would have been very simple to just allow the player to pay a big bonus to the mechanic to get them to join you in the event that you failed the mission. (100k, 250k, whatever)
For me the biggest negative was the frequent crashes. Combined with the limited saves, that made me give up on the game. I was doing a 3 part mission (destroy 3 separate buildings). I destroyed 2 and was working on the 3rd when the game crashed. When I brought it back up the artillery strikes I had used to destroy the 2 buildings were "gone" but the 3 buildings were all now standing! That was so frustrating that I quit. Sometime I might lower the settings and try it again.
Overall it is a game that has great potential but problems bring it down to an average game for me. The basic theme of the game would have been great if it had been developed as a role playing game instead of a shooter.
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