Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) Review
by Eddie Turner on September 9, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
If you are a staunch PC gamer who's never owned a console, a single question may be entering your mind as you read this. What the heck is Mercenaries 2? This is a legitimate question being that the game is a sequel to a title that was never released on the PC platform. Even so, you may be familiar with its developer, Pandemic Studios, whose accolades include Full Spectrum Warrior and the Star Wars Battlefront series. Pandemic also takes the credit for Destroy All Humans!, but has ended their involvement with the popular series in order to bring us The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, an action/adventure title spun from Tolkien's books due for release on PC and consoles this November.
To clue in the unfamiliar, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction was a noteworthy console title when it was released on the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 in early 2005. The game is best described as a war torn Grand Theft Auto. Like many games that took on the sandbox style of gameplay made famous by the series, Mercenaries aimed to take it a step further, touting gamers' ability to "go anywhere, destroy anything, and blow the crap out of everything" right on the box. Following suit, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames continues its claim to no-holds-barred destruction, this time with a PC version to accompany those for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 2.
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Spacecomber - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
Sounds like Pandemic would have been better off porting this console game to the PC. Not being a console gamer, I've never played this title, but it looked wacky enough that I might have picked up a version for the PC, if it was available.Pandemic was formed in order to develop Battlezone II, when they were spun off by Activision. They managed to alienate most of the original Battlezone fan base with that effort (at least the multiplayer fan base), and it seems like they've continued to turn out games that are near misses since then.
I appreciate the risks they took and their efforts to do things differently with a game like Battlezone II; so, I've always hoped that they would get something right. However, I can't say that any of the PC games that they have produced since then have been compelling enough for me to purchase.
Full Spectrum Warrior lacked a true first person perspective, for example, and Starwars Battlefront didn't really offer more than its competition (the Battlefield games) already provided (or so it seemed to me).
Anyway, once again, when it comes to Pandemic and their PC games, the conclusion seems to be to "move along, nothing to see here".
samduhman - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
You read my mind. Their games have always been just shy of being something great. Is this due to their games being crossplatformed and they not putting extra effor in for the pc?EddieTurner - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
Agreed. Destroy All Humans! was a lot of fun and would have made for a worthy PC port. There's actually a new game in the series on the way. "Path of the Furon," I believe it's called. But, as I stated in the review, Pandemic won't be developing it. Sandblast has taken the reins. Still no PC version planned.fendell - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
Such a shame they didn't include a LAN coop mode with easy hassle-free joining..HOOfan 1 - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
While progressing through this article I experience several bugs and glitches with anandtech.JarredWalton - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
Unfortunately, our doc engine sometimes decides to set an article status to "live" during the posting process. Apologies for any inconvenience; the article is now fully posted.HOOfan 1 - Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - link
No inconvenience, I just thought it was amusing.