An Honest Review of Mercenaries: World in Flames by an everyday Hardcore gamer
September 4, 2008, 5:57 PM
This game is pretty bad and not much fun. They’ve somehow, after 3 and ½ YEARS of work, managed to make something that is nowhere near as good as the first one. How you ask? Simple. They did one simple incredibly STUPID thing. It wasn’t the only issue I have with the game, even if it were fixed, the game would still fail to meet the level of its predecessor. The controls are okay, basically the same as what we saw in Mercenaries 1, but the aim is very heavy (meaning that the reticule moves either fast or not at all, making it easy to overcorrect on the aim and finesse very hard). On top of that, there is not one weapon in the game other than the sniper rifle that can hit with any semblance of accuracy if your target is outside 30 feet. Even then, they have an accuracy measure not in inches, or feet, but yards. The most accurate weapon in the game (that isn’t the sniper) throws a spray of bullets out that make Halo 1’s assault rifle look like precision weapon, I mean seriously people, that’s what the BARRELS are for. Unless you have a sniper rifle, forget, just forget, about a headshot (or even a body shot) and any kind of a quick kill. Just hitting them at all is nearly impossible even when close and baddies have about 3 times the health on average that they did before (it differs between faction and solder class) so a nice quick headshot would be a lovely thing to get. The sniper rifle can get a fast kill from a distance, but it also has a reticule the size of a pixel, so getting a headshot is very hard to do in most fights due to afore-mentioned aim. It lacks refire and kill power, and every one of the game’s guns makes you pine for the nice accurate carbine you carried in the first stage of the original game. And the sniper rifle is really the only thing that works to bring down the endless hordes of dim-witted knuckleheads who have more health than they have smarts. You can almost never use it to actually snipe, since all the places have walls or jungle to restrict your view. You can always call in airstrikes, but there’re pricy, AND usually destroy what you need to save, drive, pick up, deliver, you get the idea. Also they usually require you to throw or place a beacon, so you have to be close to your target, which kind of defeats the purpose of the whole figgin’ thing now doesn’t it?

With the chronic lack accuracy, it takes two clips to kill most foes unless you are 10 feet away. Like before, rocket infantry are your biggest threat, but with no real way to kill them quickly from a distance due to the sketchiness of the aim and crap weapons (think getting close to rocket trooper is a good idea?, nope) they tend to wipe you out before you can really kill them. This makes the game harder than it should be, getting in the way of having fun. It’s hard to really get into a mission if your running around trying to get close enough to actually hit someone, then running awy for more health (since you take massive damage having to be close for so long), then rinse and repeat. This means you really have no real options when it comes to tactics, unlike the original game where much of the fun and satisfaction came from. I had much more frustration and boredom than fun in this game, and if I don’t have fun in a game, I don’t play it, no matter how close it comes or what name is on the box. It even removed lots of the small parts of the old game that made somewhat unique or just complete, like stun grenades, stunning and pacifying normal infantry instead of forcing you to kill them, and preset but still realistic car damage just to name a few. Also, health and ammo pickups are always picked up whether you were at full or not, and it is easy to use up an entire missions worth of stuff by accident, especially since at lot of times it is all in one place. For all the difficulty, there is really very little real shooter skill or thinking involved here. The heavy aim, inaccurate weapons, and reduced options see to that.

So there’s my rant. If it were just another open-world game, I’d give it a 6 out of 10 (10 being the best), but as a SECQUEL I give it 2. It fails to even deliver the old formula that we loved, and instead replaces it with a flashy, shallow, and even primitive by comparison shadow of its former self that insults our intelligence and leaves us feeling empty. A classic “next-gen” title. The Next Generation of Gaming. What a massive joke. And these flashy, dumbed-down, broken games are the punch line.

Those cheats dont even work. >:(

does anyone know cheats that actually WORK

does anyone know cheats that actually WORK

I don't agree with you guys -__-
This game is incredibly fun.
I'll admit I haven't played the first one, but that doesnt matter much to me.

Seriously, who doesn't like to just run around blowing things up and causing chaos?
Stop complaining that is doesn't look next gen and compare it to GTA4. About the same or even better graphics I think. (not to mention GTA4 was incredibly boring after a few hours. You know I bet it got higher than a seven didn't it? well I might have to go over to it's page and tell you whats up.)

Anyway, The gameplay is great. It hasn't taken ME two clips to kill one person (maybe it's just you..joe..I'm just saying.) And I think the vehicles drive fine >.< I'll admit it may be a little frusterating when they sometimes keep veering one way or the other, which has happened (maybe its the contollers fault idk) but still. One little thing won't stop me from playing a game.

I could go in to more detail but I for now, I won't. All in all I give it at least a 9 if not 10.

i say bull crap i can get head shot with the pistol when i can hardly see them the problem u must be having is u can't stand too shoot in any form but fully auto so all in all u people just suck at shooting period.

one of my favorit games

This is a freakin grand theft auto knock off

this a freakin grand theft auto knock off

In reply to j0e-the-s1th, what you said about the aim being heavy, I think you'll find if you actually explored your options menu you would find, what's that, a slide bar to tweak your aiming reticule, including the "heaviness" of your aim. Rant over.

This one's awkward, it deserves a 7 for some aspects of the game, such as annoying dialogue repeats, but sometimes, this game can be genuine good fun. Helicopters are a blast, and blowing up oil rigs is possibly the most cinematic, fun thing I have ever done in a helicopter. Control fels real, and the personalities of the game characters are vivid and I found myself laughing along to the drunk jet pilot, Misha. You genuinely feel that you are in one faction, not just spreading between the groups. For the record, I have actually managed to go beyond reconciliation with UP, which is annoying because they have the best Rogue helicopters, but I'm content with the large firepower of the heavier guerilla whirli-birds. I genuinely love this game, and I genuinely hate it at the same time. It's an awkward relationship, but one I can live with.
The two things I really hate about this game is
1. You have to pay a fine everytime you hit a citizen (40 quid!)
2. People get back up, even when you have shot them, point-blank with a sniper.

How did GTA get a 10 rating? I hated that game, so boring after a few hours. This is much more deserving.

How can people say the graphics are bad? Granted, I have played bad, bad PS2 games for most of my life, but I found the graphics pretty damn good. People have to remember that this is from EA, and they don't just pump out the steady supply of bad games readily available on other markets.
Also, I agree with CandiedJester that, while the driving is not realistic, it's pretty fun to drive, you can do thirty-forty meter drifts quite easily and Joe, I had no problem scoring a good few headshots. Maybe you're just a noob?

I think Joe just genuinely sucks. He played the game, couldn't beat it, and got a bit teary eyed, and started a vendetta. And "Game God", how is it a GTA rip off?!
Set in:
GTA: A city
Mercs: VENEZUELA
Protagonist:
GTA: European immigrant
Mercs: A host of MERCENARIES
You are one Master-Chief licking, frat-boy fanboy. Go home and clean Chiefy's armour.

SHOW SUPPORT FOR MERCS 2
GET IN TOUCH AND WE'LL FORM A GROUP

Man this game is the best i wish i had it,Hey if you have it am trying to track it so add me as a friend and tell me wats gud