Product Description

Mercenaries 2 features the latest and most dangerous in civilian and military tech, everything from shiny new sports cars, to the future-tech satellite-guided bunker-busting mini-nuke. Tanks, APCs, boats, or luxury automobiles, you can have it delivered to you in real time. If you run out of cash you can always acquire the gear you need in the field. Build Your Own Private Military Company - Recruit other mercenaries to build out your arsenal and options until you have the ultimate array of options to play with Playable Water - Fly over it, swim through it, race across it in boats - water is an active part of the game Landing Zones - Go to one of your captured drop zones and instantly get transported to the next hot spot and right back into the action

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #620 in Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2008-08-31
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Dimensions: .33 pounds

Features

• Profit from chaos in this explosive, open-world action game
• Take on only the assignments you want
• Jam-packed full of colorful characters and environments
• Jump in and out of the game at any time
• Play solo or in cooperative multiplayer mode

Amazon.com

A Mercenary's Rule: Everyone Pays

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is an explosive open-world action game set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world. When a power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply he sparks an invasion that turns the country into a war zone. But for you, international crisis is all upside: You are a mercenary, and you profit from chaos. You are not a soldier. You don't have to play by anyone's rules. You have your own code: you will fulfill the terms of the contract, no matter what. If you see it, you can buy it, steal it, or blow the living crap out of it. Play your own way, or play with the help of a friend in the new co-op multiplayer mode. And remember rule #1 for mercenaries: EVERYBODY PAYS.

Key Features Massively Open World - Play throughout the varied terrains of Venezuela that is larger than all the Mercenaries maps combined. Work for the Highest Bidder - You decide which factions to work for and when. From oneoff pick-up jobs to complex multi-objective missions your choices will decide how the game progresses and which faction wins the war. New Toys - Over 130 vehicles from civilian cars to tanks and choppers plus all the destructive weaponry you can handle from pistols to rocket launchers. Co-op Multiplayer - Whether split-screen or online you no longer have to go it alone. Invite a friend to jump in and help you fight your way to the top. Next Gen Destruction - Take down any building and see them crumble with fantastic effects - and they can be used to take out enemy forces and change the landscape of the battlefield. Build Your Own Private Military Company - Recruit other mercenaries to build out your arsenal and options until you have the ultimate array of options to play with. Playable Water - Fly over it, swim through it, race across it in boats. No longer just something to look at, water is an active part of the game.

Play by your own rules View larger image All the destruction you can handle View larger image Build your own military company View larger image

Customer Reviews

I like sandbox style games best...
Mecennaries 2 is a far from perfect game but if you like GTA, Just Cause or other sandbox style games it should give you hours of fun. I never played Mercenaries 1, but I did play Just Cause and liked it even though it probably had more bugs than M2. There are many vehhicles that you can eventually use, many people to fight, races and other minigame type challenges.

however, I did get frustrated with the game somewhat because some things that you must do in order to equip yourself for proper gameplay are not completely spelled out. You need to keep your fuel supply up, by taking from enemy bases, to fuel your partners so they can supply you with weapons deliveries and airstrikes. this was not immediately clear to me, I had to stumble across that. I'm kind of a ADHD player so I don't always listen to cut scenes and AI team members drone on about possibly important game tips.

overall the graphics and gameplay are nice. I think its worth full price new. there is some funny dialog. and the game has good replayability I LIKE THAT ALOT!

MIKE

Mediocre Game - Rent This One (Overall Rating - C)
Overall Rating: C

I am a huge fan of sandbox games. I love the ability to free roam and have control over what I want to do next.

That being said I was a bit hesitant about buying this game after reading some professional reviews and some here on Amazon.com. However, I decided to pick up a copy of the game when it dropped to about $30. Even though the game was about half the price of when it was first released I still felt disappointed. The graphics were decent enough, but as far as sandbox games go this game just did not do it for me. Here are some of my reasons:

- Missions felt repetitive. In some other games you are asked to accomplish missions in a variety of manners. It seems that this game was intended for only one direction, blow things up. This is fun at first, but the novelty quickly wears off.
- The story line is week. After playing games like Fable 2 and GTA IV, this game seems like a big let down. The plot line does not take you on any twists or turns. Someone wronged you, so your mission is to blow as many things up as possible until you can seek revenge, which involves more blowing things up.
- There are glitches in the game even after the downloadable updates. Other reviewers here have mentioned this issue and it's something you shouldn't expect to see in a finished product.
- The game is short. I was able to finish the game in under 10 hours. That's not very long for a game of this genre. True that there is some replay value here where you can play with some other characters, but the outcome is not vastly different. The "Lost and Damned" downloadable content for GTA IV provides longer game time for an add-on.

Overall, I would suggest playing this game if you are a fan of the sandbox genre. However, don't spend your money on buying the game, rent this one and save yourself some money.

Lots of fun, if not completely polished
This game is a lot of fun. If you liked the first mercenaries, this one continues the party with lots more vehicles, weapons, and airstikes. The vehicle hi-jacking minigame is kinda silly, as none of them are so hard that you simply won't be able to do them, even for the best vehicles (most require mid-tempo button-mashing), and if you fail, you can easily try again with little to prevent it. Money is rather silly in this game, as you can earn 5 million in a very easy task in your HQ that takes about 2 minutes, and the best faction units and airstrikes in the game only cost like $250k-400k. The only time you really need cash is to bribe factions (upwards of $10million). Another odd point is the relative invincibility of your merc. You can fall from hundreds of feet or stand in the middle of an airstrike and survive (though my experience is with Nielsen, who is the "tough" one).

Pros:
-Lots of vehicles (170+)
-Game world is very large
-It is easier to control faction opinion than the first game. You can kill whomever you want, as long as you don't get reported (the games gives you 10 seconds to take out reporting units)
-Physics engine is very realistic
-Everything actually CAN be destroyed (though most respawn at some point)
-You can afford all the vehicles and airstikes you could ever want without having to "work" for money

Cons:
-BUGS. This game literally locks up my Xbox 75% of the time when I try to load a save. However, it appears this has been fixed through Xbox live.
-Missions are too redudant. Most missions actually have you repeat the exact same task 3 times, though increasing difficulty and increasing reward.
-Voice acting is annoying. Everyone says the same things over and over again. A pirate unit sharing your tank will continually say something like "hey mon" every 5 seconds. I'm not kidding.
-There are not enough core missions. I would estimate there are 12-15 between the 5 factions. The other "missions" are more like errons (drive from A to B)

The only real deal breaker for me in this game was the locking up while loading. As I said, an Xbox live update will fix this, but if you don't have live, make sure you are a patient person.