Mercenaries 2
I hate this guy. I hate the braided goatee, the feauxhawk, the attitude, the tattoos and the supposedly “extreme” bad-assery he’s clearly meant to represent. I’d go further to say that if this guy – Mattias, I’m told – actually existed, I wouldn’t want to meet him. Since he doesn’t, I’ll go further and say I also wouldn’t want to meet the people who made him up, packaged him, and sold him. I loathe this character . . . so I was pretty glad I could also be a black guy or a sexy girl instead. Not because I wanted to play Mercenaries 2, I did not, I feel like I’m too old for this one. But because it’s a good idea for me to check out anything based on destruction if it’s rated Teen. I’m bound to get questions about it.
Mercenaries 2 tries too hard and too little at the same time. It oozes the sort of attitude and pretend destruction that used to please adults to no end in shows like Miami Vice or the A-Team. The sort of consequence free destruction that ignores any pretense of realism and embraces the reptilian part of your brain that greats a Bruckheimer explosion with a breath of “cooool.”
People die in the game, but are they people? They’re supposed to be Venezualians (take that Hugo Chavez) but these soldiers are brainless robots. You can’t empathize with them and you can’t mistake them for people. They’re objects. Reinforcing this is the fact that there’s no blood, just bodies that don’t look very human being flung about. The game really thrives on destruction – hence the “World in Flames” sub-title – and it mostly delivers on that score. But does it in a way that feels sorta “meh.”
Look at all the pretty buildings.
See the bad guys hiding in the pretty buildings.
With my tank I can steam roll the buildings down or blow them up one by one.
Yes, this game lets you do that. A lot. Mostly at will and with some of the sandbox features of more open-ended games. You’ll hate the characters, the cutscenes, the dialogue, the voice acting, and maybe even yourself, but you will like the destruction.
But for how long?
Well, how old are you?
I think that might help you answer the question. Assuming you’re buying for yourself. What about kids?
Hmmm….
The fact is that Mercenaries 2 comes exactly as advertised. It’s all there in Mattias’s leering mug. It’s a violent war shooting game featuring money, guns, and vehicles and a world you can destroy at will. It’s aimed at the youngest of Teenagers and, aside from the gun violence, hits that mark perfectly.
I hate it.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
You know what these kinds of games need? More pink dinosaurs who attack by throwing cupcakes. Yeah. –Cary
September 9th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
According to “Grand Theft Childhood” this kind of consequence-free violence is worse than the bloody gore of M titles. Not sure if I would agree with that; but, I’ll agree that I hate this game.
And I haven’t even played it.
September 9th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I have just played a bit of this crappy console game pretending to be a PC release … oooh what a giveaway 😀
September 9th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
This seems a real shame, as the first game was a lot of fun, and actually a breath of fresh air compared to the more serious/”cool” games at the time. I ended up playing more of it than the later GTA games.
September 10th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Wow! I wasn’t expecting such a negative review and comments, I liked the original and most people on my friend’s list said that it’s worth a purchase (most people on my friend’s list are teenagers though). I’ll probably skip this one.
By the way, I think that it’s a little unfair to focus on the story and characters in a review of a game that clearly wasn’t supported to be story driven. Just imagine if a reviewed Super Mario Bros. and spend half the review criticising the story.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:39 am
It isn’t an age thing, it is just a really mediocre game.
The entire thing hinges on whether or not you are satisfied with a bland world full of bland characters … that you can blow up. I like blowing things up … I like popping headshots … but those things are a means to an end, sign posts along the way.
And Some Guy I agree to an extent that over-analyzing plot and character in a shooter or action game is missing the point. *BUT* when a game pushes how bad they are in your face … you can’t help but notice. Take the Painkiller games – there is very little character and story because they are ‘balls to the wall’ shooters. But you accept the premise and characters as they are, and get on with the business of shooting everything in sight.
Most action games and shooters are thinly-plotted blast-fests with cardboard cutout characters … so imagine what it takes to stand out from that field 😉
I have terrible ‘buyers remorse’ on this one … I was just in pre-ordering Far Cry 2 to get the extra GameStop stuff and saw it there. I knew the PC version was coming but didn’t realize it was a simul-release. Had heard such good things about the original that I figured – should be fun. And while it isn’t as bad as Space Siege … it isn’t very good either.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Mario doesn’t take it’s slim story and rub it all over you until you feel icky.
Mercs 2 does that.
In a way.
But Some Guy, and this isn’t an insult, it’s not a bad game at all for teens. The other target in my article above, the hidden target, is about how much I can’t get into intentionally shallow games any more. Not if the hook is braided goatee guy, his black friend, and the sexy woman option.
The gist of this is supposed to be – and maybe I failed or was clumsy – is that Mercs 2 is a wicked cool and fun game but that I’m too old to appreciate that because I just have this visceral hate for it. In fairness, to my age, I probably wouldn’t have liked it a lot as a teen myself. At no stage in my life was a I a fan of this kind of “cool.”
I like horror so I had no problem with Painkiller’s brand of mindlessness and hey, I’m ALL about the mushroom kingdom baby!
April 29th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
the game is awesome, the character (mattias particulary) is so f****** cool i love the mohawk ( not a fauxhawk) its actually a hedgerow mohawk and the wrasslin’ beard looks awesome… the best game ever made.