Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

List Price: $49.99 Discount Price: $32.00

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

Accessories:
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides)	PC Gamer (1-year)

Customer Reviews:

Awesome game, GTA4+COD4 [Posted on 2008-09-08]
I love this game, if you liked GTA4 and any number of military games you'll love this one. It's got a very slick menu system that's true to that awesome commercial. The open world military game in the real hot spots like the first one and this one is great because it's not trying to be PC and doesn't care, next up should be Iran or Ukraine. If you played the first one you will love this one, tanks, cars, motorcycles, flying machines, it's all there with great new graphics and the sound is good as well. Not much to the story but there doesn't really need to be, pretty much a variation on the first one's theme. I wish they would release the first one on PC as well!

I'm using this in Windows XP and it works great, I have an XFX 8800GT 512mb, 3GB RAM, 2 year old AMD 64 X2 3800 and the max resolution available to me is 1280x960 with the games default of 1024x768 on start up. So you'll need a decent system but not tomorrows to play this. I would think a person with an average latest generation video card/CPU/2GB RAM would play it either on my setting or a little higher. This is all DX9.

Of course you can play as different characters, I chose the female, she's very sassy and nice to look at during game play. You can also play as the spiky haired dude and one other dude, of course it makes no difference in the story other than the voice/character and the special skill, the girls is running fast, the spiky dudes is healing fast, and I'm not sure what the other dudes is.

I'm using a USB dual shock Logitech and it works on plugin with the same control scheme as the first one, but I think you could use the keyboard as well, it just feels more natural to drive vehicles and do the 3rd person action with a joypad for me. My one gripe about the controls is that when you go to turn direction it is somewhat slow using the joypad, using the mouse is the right speed. Adjusting the sensitivity does not fix this and there is no speed setting. It doesn't seem buggy in V1.0 so far no crashes or other problems.

Otherwise I can't think of another negative so far since I have not finished it yet. I think because of the open world and blow up-s''' type of game play it'll be a good value even at full price. GET IT!

DRM issues here are not as bad as on Spore. [Posted on 2008-09-09]
Despite its super-dumb AI, unpolished gameplay, and many glitches, this game is a whole lot of fun to play. It's addictive, especially in online co-op mode. A simple patch would do this game so much good. In many ways this game rivals GTA:IV, its just less polished.
I haven't had any DRM or SecuRom issues yet. I couldn't find any information on Pandemic Studios or EA's websites about whether there is an install limit and if SecuRom is included on this game. It does say that you must register the game online before you can play it, which seems to be true.

I meant to give it 3 stars, not 1. Can't seem to change it.

NOTE: This game is also available on EA's version of STEAM (called EA downloader), but the DRM policy employed there is EVEN WORSE. They only allow you to download the game for 6 months (unless you pay an EXTRA $6, in which case they will extend it for two years). At least with STEAM I know that once I pay for a game, I OWN it, and I can download it for as long as STEAM exists.

Mercenaries 2: PC in Flames [Posted on 2008-09-15]
Mercenaries 2 could have been a great game on the PC if Pandemic had taken another month to polish it off. The game has great potential and the bit of it that I have played has been fun, but mired by glitches, bugs, and total system freezes. The first problem I had came when I started the game for the first time. I was greeted by a wonderful frozen screen telling me that it was an EA game..... that wasn't working, or ctrl+alt+deleting, or doing much but forcing me to hit the killswitch on my PC. As it turns out, the only way I can get through the CG cutscenes in the game is by setting my game to run like its on a Win98 system. And by this, I mean right-clicking the file and changing its compatibility to win98/winME... however the game was created for XP and VISTA.... After doing that I found that graphics are poor, because win98 can't handle next gen graphics and one of the key weapons in the game, GRENADES/C4, can't be used because there is some bug preventing me from picking any up or using them! But on the level, I'm sure its a fun game for consoles and eventually PC's... But do yourself a favor, and wait until announced patches have come out for it, so you can enjoy the game the way it was meant to be played. And Pandemic, or EA or whoever... get off your butts and do some beta testing next time-- I don't wanna pay good money for trash outta the box next time, PC gamers shouldn't be treated like an afterthought.

Mindless Action Game Good For Killing Time [Posted on 2008-09-17]
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.

BUGGY AND BROKEN, DO NOT BUY!!! [Posted on 2008-09-28]
This game is incredibly buggy and broken. The game stutters, crashes,and bsod's more than frequently, assuming you can get the game to start. My copy of the game I got from gamestop couldnt even start, due to a ram error that states I have under 610mb of RAM. I actually have 2gb, and I have windows xp. Its up to you, but I dont think 50 bucks is worth a shiny coaster and a nice little box. Dont buy this game!

Not to mention this game also ILLEGALLY installs SecuRom on your pc, without your consent, or even knowledge. SecuRom will slow down your pc, and run all processes through itself. It can be blocked with Kaspersky, or other advanced security clients, but the only true way to remove it is to wipe your hard drive.

50 bucks for a broken, malware infected coaster. Not worth it!

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