Note: Scroll down all the way if you think it's tl;dr



Okay, so this game's been out for a little bit of time. Some of you beat it and forgot about it, others could give two shits about its existence..well, I've been taking my sweet, sweet time with this title, and I finally finished it, playing online.

I was pretty frustrated at first, with this title. The glitches, lazy programming, textures and AI were getting in the way of what I had hoped would be a brilliant sandbox game. I continued to feel this way until my friend and I got around to unlocking the missions and vehicles for the "Allies" (Americans), and Chinese factions. Really, at this point, it truly grows into its maturity as a sandbox game.

Glitches and shortcomings aside, when you've got a big pen to play in and a lot of amazing tanks, copters and weapons, you will barely give a crap about any of the hang ups. In fact, some shitty programming makes the game all the more fun. The fact that so many vehicles are fragile to rocket fire means that you'll be jumping in and out of whatever you can get your mitts on. This was annoying at the start of the game, because all you get to play with are jeeps and a few light tanks, and really lame helicopters. It felt really restrained and redundant.

I think the "fragility" issue for vehicles goes hand in hand with the fact that even if you free fall from 30,000 feet, you will not die. Your mercenary is meant to be perceived as a super-human. With an ultra-strong melee attack and the inability to die if dropped from the sky or caught in a fiery blast, the overall feel of Mercenaries 2: World In Flames is akin to the days of my childhood when I played in the muddy backyard with my GI Joes. Lots of violent, ridiculous antics stretched through the filter of fantastical imagination.



This is the only vehicle you will care about


Really, I feel these overlooked details were purely intentional. It creates a frenzy, a mad rush of action, as if the game was souped up on lots of coffee or was diagnosed with ADD. It emphasizes the fact that this game is nothing more than a sandbox for your mind to play in. You aren't supposed to care about the story, and you never will once you get your hands on an Ambassador Gunship.

Some other things I wanted to say, though.

When it's time to beat the game, you have to choose one side to ally with. I chose the Allies, which put me up against the Chinese..I warn you, however. If you don't finish all of the missions for the various factions, you won't have the chance to do so once you complete the final few contracts. This is a load of bullshit, and really unforgivable. The recent patch did nothing about this (in fact, all it did was add trophies, right?), so that means beating Mercenaries 2 is pretty much similar to when you beat Mercenaries 1..lots of aimless killing in a big world.

Granted, there are more enemies to find and slaughter, and a lot of cool locales to decimate..but it seems like it will get boring pretty quickly. I can only hope the November DLC will add some fun in the mix, because really, the only incentive for replay is to start the game over and try to achieve 100% before you have to pick a side to wrap up the campaign.





Nuke drops, though.

This is the entire focal point of the game. I'm pretty sure the guys at Pandemic wanted to make their title relevant to the times. You can see it clearly with the UP faction, the fact that Venezuela is being ripped apart by proxy war (you don't even get money for killing Venezuelan troops, they're nothing but cannon fodder..mere obstacles) but most importantly, the necessity of the Nuclear Bunker Buster and how you get to abuse the shit out of them once you beat the game. Sure, they cost $ 1.0 million, but god damn is it worth it. Drop one on an oil rig and tell me I'm lying.

Don't think Mercenaries 2 is warning the people of impending nuclear doom? When you beat it, the Allied HQ is cut off because of a looming mushroom cloud erupting from the center of it, It's a giant, ominous landmark that can be seen in the distance, and it doesn't dissipate. This was the icing on the cake for me. When I saw this, I was convinced Mercenaries 2 earned the props that it deserves. It may be put together sloppily, it may piss you off at times because of the glitches, but the fun you get out of simulated nuclear holocaust makes it all worth it.

What a great fucking game. Renders the first one obsolete, and 10x as fun. I will definitely be playing this over again, essentially because I didn't get to unlock the Ambassador Gunship in time and the Chinese equivalent that I do have is crappy in comparison. I will close this essay with one, burning question:


WHERE DA PLANES AT, YO?!??!?!?/1/1/







TLDR:

-This game with its glitches makes for an experience much like being on speed as a child while playing with GI Joes.
-Pandemic says nukes are bad yet we all love and worship them
-Beat all the missions before you choose Allies or Chinese at the end because I was stupid and now can't buy any Ambassador's.
-Planes for DLC please