Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

Jun 11, 2008

As you might remember, we here at GameSpy loved the first Mercenaries, giving the game our first perfect score of 2005. Pandemic's open world game was the perfect blend of Grand Theft Auto's wide-open, do-what-you-please sandbox mechanics and the over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek action seen in, well, not nearly enough games. Unfortunately, while we've known about the game's upcoming sequel for quite some time now, we really haven't seen Mercenaries 2: World in Flames in action that much, and it's been MIA since last year's E3 show. Thankfully, we know some people who know a few folks, so we recently got the chance to spend some quality time playing the game to see if it's going to set the world on fire when it releases in August.

Rather than simply jump right into the middle of the action, we figured that we would start from the beginning, as this would give us a good chance to focus on the game's storyline a bit. Of course, before you start to play you'll need to decide which mercenary you'll be. As in the first game, you'll have the option to pick one of three characters, each of which brings a different style of play to the action. Mattias (voiced by the always-excellent Peter Stormare) is the fastest, making him perfect for quick-strike attacks, while Jennifer Mui can be used to approach a situation more quietly. Finally, there's Christopher Jacob, the tank of the bunch. We don't know yet if one character's campaign is easier or harder than another, but it seems like you can't go wrong with any of them.

After picking Mattias, we watched as a cut-scene immediately began. The faux-hawked Swede was cruising down a tropical road on his motorcycle, then pulled into the long driveway of a massive villa, all while Latin-flavored music played in the background. Greeted by the hulking Blanco, an old friend who may or may not have left you to die during a mission that went bad, Mattias had to relinquish his weapon before being lead in to meet Solano, an "industrialist" who needs a favor. It seems that the head of the Venezuelan army, a general by the name of Carmona, has been taken hostage during a coup by his men. Given his love of money, it wasn't much of a surprise to see Mattias accept the assignment, although he obviously didn't notice the conspiratorial looks between Blanco and Solano.

The action kicked off with a quick speedboat ride to Isla de Mano, the island on which Carmona was being held captive. As the first level in the game, this mission is not only the one to really set the story in motion, it also acts as a tutorial. Since the ability to kill people is probably the most important part of a mercenary's skillset, the first thing you'll learn is how to shoot. The gunplay mechanics are similar to those seen in nearly every third-person shooter (run, shoot, sprint, change weapons, etc.), and they feel very solid. We didn't notice any aiming or collision problems, and the action itself was just as intense as the first game's (though, thanks to some AI improvements, the enemies use cover a lot more often). As you'd expect, there are a ton of weapons at your disposal, and we saw everything from a pistol to a rocket launcher in the first few minutes alone.

Of course, the game's biggest and best weapons are the air strikes that you can call in when you've got a particularly tough challenge. World in Flames features everything from bunker busters to cluster bombs, but you'll need to pay up if you want to blow something up. Pulling out your trusty GPS will give you the ability to order airstrikes (as well as supplies such as vehicles and weapons), although we noticed that the procedure has changed just a little bit. For instance, when we called in a bomb via a satellite, we had to complete a brief mini-game in which we were tasked with pressing a button every time a radar sweep went through a shaded area. In a matter of moments, the bomb dropped from the sky and obliterated some massive stone gates in a blinding flash.

Once we reached a clearing, we were told to call in a vehicle to help Mattias get to Carmona more quickly. You'll be able to grab vehicles whenever you see them, but it's nice to know that having access to a tank in the middle of the jungle is as easy as making a quick call. After cruising for a while in our jeep (and by cruising we mean "running people down and steering erratically"), we actually did get our hands on the Diplomat, a massive tank that we proceeded to drive directly through a hillside shantytown on our way to our final destination, a crumbling mansion on a riverbank. After blowing up the defenses with a few blasts from our tank, we grabbed Carmona from his cell.

From there we were treated to another cut-scene, in which Mattias went to Solano's for another mission. After some brief patter, Solano ominously explained that "the job is not for you, it is you", something that Mattias obviously wasn't too pleased to hear. Although he escaped from danger, we'll simply say he didn't get away unscathed (his unfortunate wound seems to be a running joke in the game). The scene then cut to a bar, in which the local news reported that Solano had just been named the new President of Venezuela and that Carmona would be his right (and militaristic) hand. From what we've learned of the game, these two may be the game's main antagonists, but you'll have to watch your back when dealing with any of the other factions you'll encounter.

The first order of business was to set up a base of operations, and it didn't take long for Mattias to choose a location: Solano's mansion. We launched a full-scale assault on the grounds as we hunted down the henchmen tasked with holding down the fort while Solano was gone. This was straight-up combat from beginning to end, as we had to navigate through rows of hedges before heading around back to battle near the pool. We actually ran out of ammo several times, but luckily there were enough dead bodies scattered around the grounds to help us keep up the good fight. The final part of this mission found us battling a tank inside the mansion, and we were able to subdue it by playing through another quick mini-game (which lead to Mattias tossing a grenade into the body, clearing out anyone hiding inside).

This mansion will serve as your base throughout the game, and you'll be able to freely walk around it between missions. There will be a variety of things to do, including weapons training or simply gazing longingly at the sea, but our favorite activity was probably climbing around on our cash pile, which gets larger and larger as you play through the game. (You'll also be able to collect fuel drums and tanks, which will somehow be used as a kind of in-game currency.) We don't know yet if you'll be able to earn more safehouses around the area, but we're hopeful that you won't have to spend too much of your time driving to your objectives.

The time we spent with Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was a blast, both figuratively and literally. The action is just as over-the-top as it was in the first game, especially when you use the various airstrikes at your disposal. Our only issue with the game was the driving controls, which felt a bit loose at times, especially when trying to make precision maneuvers. We're also still waiting to find out more about the faction system, especially since it played such a major part in the previous title. If what we saw of the game was any indication of what's to come later this summer, Pandemic may have another hit on its hands.