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Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS3) | 
| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: £49.99
Buy New: £19.55
You Save: £30.44 (61%)
New (24) Used (20) from £17.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 493
Platform: Playstation 3
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: Video Game
Operating System: Playstation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 0059057
EAN: 5030930059057
ASIN: B000RO5FJ0
Release Date: September 5, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Product Description
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is an explosive open-world action game set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world.
Amazon.co.uk Review
If there really isn't any such thing as bad publicity then Mercenaries 2 is already doing superbly. It certainly already has its fair share of infamy, after being denounced by the Venezuelan government as propaganda for the U.S. Army and even dragging Bono (who part owns developer Pandemic) into a row over its probity. Mind you North Korea weren't too keen about the first game either and that turned out all right. The reason poor Bono's name has been dragged into the dirt is that the game's plot revolves around a U.S. led invasion of Venezuela after a dictator takes control in a coup. It's pretty hard to get offended about a game as gleefully silly as this though as its interests are clearly not politics but simply blowing things up as creatively as possible. As before you're dropped into the war zone and free to ply your mercenary trade with whomever you want. However, this time you're in charge of your own PMC (Private Military Company) and get to set up your own base and recruit your own soldiers. Owning your own PMC gives you a lot more control over how exactly you play the game in what is essentially Grand Theft Auto in a warzone. Everything you see can be completely destroyed from innocuous shrubbery to be the biggest buildings. You can now swim as well and there's lot more vehicles and gadgets, from helicopters to grappling hooks. With an online co-op mode as well even Hugo Chavez couldn't fail to be entertained (maybe).
Harrison Dent
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 Great fun but occasionally spoiled November 26, 2008
I too was a fan of the original and looked forward to this. It is enjoyable, and I'm not quite sure why other reviewers say the graphics aren't an improvement on the original, but it may be I've got a later version.
I say that, because when I first inserted the disk, it immediately forced me to update my PS3 which wasn't that far behind the latest version. That is my first gripe. Don't assume you can stick in the disk and start playing.
However my primary annoyance is with the controls. Firstly some are a bit obscure, but worse, sometimes you find yourself bashing away at a control that doesn't do anything until you're dead. For example on the 'Get Solano' mission, you need to 'grapple' a helicopter, which means you highjack it. On several occasions I nearly pushed the key out of the bottom of the controller before everything went red and I was brown bread. When I did finally get the helo, and got to the next bit, I had the same problem highjacking a tank. OK make it difficult if you like, but don't flash up an instruction as to what to do but then ignore it. Thankfully there are checkpoints along the way so you don't have to start all the mission from scratch when you get killed for the 50th time because the game ignored your commands.
... and the helicopter winch? Thank heavens you don't need it much.
I would also like to have seen an improved 'stealth' system. Basically, you can ride into the middle of a bunch of enemies on a stolen motorcycle and they ignore you. However dare to stand half a mile away behind a bush and you get shot at like crazy. Also, dismount said motorcycle to take out a HVT (high value target) and suddenly all hell breaks loose and if they were a friendly faction, they ain't anymore.
But overall it's still great fun to play, and these gripes are what drops a star on my rating.
 What happened? October 27, 2008
If I could sum up this game in a single word it would be 'Disappointment'. After waiting for this game for so very long and seeing release date after release date slip past you would have thought the game would be more polished than a door knob in Buckingham Palace. Sadly, however, this is not the case as some folk even claim that the game has not changed in the slightest since they play tested it 6 months before the release. The game starts off as quite a hoot as you go around blowing everything and anything up but the small annoying bugs start to creep in until you notice so many you just want to launch the disc into the air and shoot it out of frustration. I have lost count of the times my vehicle has exploded for no reason what so ever. The voice acting is amazingly annoying with various soundbites being repeated until I have actualyl shouted at the character to shut the hell up! The only good thing to say about the voices is it's always awesome to hear Peter Stomare. Cooperative play would have been this games saving grace but they've even managed to mess that up too. You can't travel around the map independantly of one another and this is due, according to the developers themselves, to how much power would be required to do this. If Grand Theft Auto 4 can do it (and in better detail too), why not this game? There are too many annoyances to list here and while the developers are promising patches to fix this they have already slipped past one patch release date without so much of a comment. This game looks like it'll be great but just falls flat on it's bum (and will probably explode for no reason with any luck). A lot of things in this game should have been ironed out with basic playtesting and it just feels unfinished. It reminds me of when the last Carmegeddon was released; hyped to eyeball bleeding levels but all that was given to us was an unfinished mess that was as much fun as shaving your grandmother's wayward facial hair.
The only positive things I have to say about this is that it is fun to be in the Anaconda (Hind) and that the rebel tanks look great. Oh, and you can also switch it off.
Save youself the hassle of trading this in. Buy yourself something better.
 Most fun on the next gen console so far! October 23, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I think I am not as critical of this game as some of the other reviews as I never played the original. For me this is a brand new game...... and what a good one! The closest game to this is GTA, however it is also totally different. You can free roam, have missions to complete, but that's where the similarity ends. A seemingly endless selection of weapons and vehicles which you can use to kill, destroy and generally cause as much havoc with as you can possibly imagine! (MOAB's are great fun!) The vehicles and weapons are pretty easy to use and with lots of side contracts, you can just veer away from the main storyline and just keep blowing things up as much as you like. Had it less than a week, and completed it last night, this game has caused many a late night! My only criticisms are that I have found a few annoying bugs where a HVT 'disappears', buildings blow up and you cant get out and buildings that are totalled still show as not destroyed, and the last 2 missions are maybe a bit too easy, especially compared to some of the ones in the middle of the game, but these are not nearly enough of an issue to move it away from 5 stars! (and I haven't even played online yet!)
 Oh Dear!!! October 12, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ok, the first Mercenaries was great when you first loaded it up. You were in a world where you could just blow anything and everything up, when and how you wanted.
Then, after a good few hours of play you started to think, 'ok, so is this it. Have I already seen and found all of the weapons and vehicles...!!?'. Of course as you progressed bit by bit you may be able to have access to a new tank or something, but frankly you're already bored. Fact is, Mercenaries is great fun in small doses. Otherwise the reality that mercenaries was a limited game at best with the same thing over and over again hit you.
Unfortunately the second game is no different. There really isn't anything new about the game to be perfectly honest. Yes, its set in a new surrounding, yes there are some new vehicles and weapons etc.... but quite frankly thats what you expect.
You don't buy a sequel thinking, 'no, nothing will have changed, nothing at all' and then start playing and to your delight find a new rifle. No, you expect that from a sequel, it's a given. So you expect more than just a few new rifles and vehicles. You expect much better gameplay, better game physics, superior graphics and excellent cut-scenes and voice acting. Mercenaries 2 really doesn't deliver on any of those fronts.
The graphics are nothing special. I've seen original Xbox games with better graphics.
The voice acting is ok, i won't say it's bad because it isn't. It's certainly not great though.
The gameplay is same old same old.
The story is weak and frankly needs a lot more work. It just feels that there's no drive to complete anything. You are just doing these petty missions for the hell of it. Every single enemy camp or High Value Target base looks exactly the same!
Overall a very average game, and very disappointing.
No where near as good as the first one September 29, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
First off is the graphics are like a good ps2 game, first hour I spent on it and I completed it 20% so its not a long game straight off, I was really looking forward to this game as the first mercenaries was brilliant couldn't stop playing it, but they have really lost this game, having more space on a disc is for a reason look at mgs brilliant game crisp graphics and exellent gameplay mgs is what make's me keep my ps3 because when a good title comes out it make it all worth wile, so in short save you 30-40 quid and by something better
Also I'm making it a rule from now on never to buy a ps3 game that has been released on a ps2, the only one that has worked is half life2
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