Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

Reviewed by:
Gerasimos Manolatos

Price: $59.99 (PS3, 360), $49.99 (PC), $39.99 (PS2)

The Skinny: Grab your bandolier and get ready to pump some heavy metal into those damn Venezuelans! This is basically GTA IV, but in South America and with bigger explosions.

The Good: Unlike the Rockstar gem it so closely resembles, you won't be taxiing people around for three hours. There is a wide variety of missions to choose from, including the requisite side quests expected from sandbox-type games. But you'll have to manage your assets correctly, like fuel and money, so you don't wind up the brokest hitman in South America. You can expect the regular kind of arsenal, like assault and sniper rifles, but all of the heavier artillery (airstrikes, RPGs, and tanks) will be able to level anything and everything you see on your map. Play nice with enough factions and you'll be able to launch the real good stuff—nuclear bunker busters.

The Bad: While you'll be taking down evil corporations and raiding gang territory, you'll wind up fighting a more formidable foe: bushes. Try to flank your enemies by way of the surrounding flora and your character will conveniently get stuck in it, unable to move, probably because of poor development and QA. It gets really annoying later on in the game when YOUR ENEMIES HAVE THEIR HEADQUARTERS IN THE FOREST!

International Incident: Believing Mercs 2 showed the country in a bad light, the Venezuelan government condemned the game and pushed for it to be cancelled. Suck it, Hugo!

Buy, Rent, or Disembowl? Buy. You can spend five hours leveling buildings and it never gets old.

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