Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

Huzzah! I got myself my copy of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames for the PS2 as my own personal birthday gift (I need to treat myself as well right?). Now I can check this game off the list after being in my Wish List for almost 2 years weeee XD

My heart was screaming Viva la Revolucion! when I obtained a copy of World in Flames

The game the way I perceived it while I was waiting to get my hands on it;

And what did I get in the end? A very buggy, boring empty game. I mean, I had more fun in the first game Playground of Destruction which had a great storyline AND long game play. World in flames? Bought it on Monday, played for 4 hours, then on Tuesday another 4 hours and presto I've killed Solano. I've completed the game before I could completely get engrossed in the game. Total missions was 16 (main storyline) and I only used the old usable GOD MODE cheat from previous game during the last 2 hours before the game ended. Here's how the PS2 version looked like;

Okay so maybe the EA logo that popped up in the beginning broke me down (I didn't realize it's under EA now) so my hope was still up since I had good history playing Pandemic games. But the curse of the EA strikes back, and I was served with cold gun sound bug, random game crash (thank goodness only once, but it was mid of a long mission FTW) and seemingly degraded graphics. North Korea in the first game looked like a real war-torn country with a sad ambient that gave me goosebumps experiencing the horrors of way, whilst Venezuela in Merc 2 felt like the backyard of my house; damp, muddy and rainy. Owh and the songs sucked too, I was expecting something central american-ish with passion that keeps you shooting and blasting, but... yeah.

World in Flames have dissapointed me big time :/ but I'll give the PC version a try just so I can positively look at EA-nised Pandemic games in the future. My rating after bombing Solano's reinforced bunker with a nuclear bunker buster bomb? A 3.5 out of 10.

Plot:

Hey I understand what a guy who got shot at his ass (or upper thigh) feels like, AND didn't get paid for a big job well done. So a vengeance storyline is a-ok with me, sadly it's just too plain and simple. I mean by the time China and the Allied Nations decided to invade to stop the chaos I was so hyped up by the big war (seeing the Venezuelans, Guerillas, Universal Petroleums, Pirates, Allied Nations and the Chinese battling it out at the streets just turns me on, I love urban warfare XD). Alas the mood was killed when I find myself watching the credits of the game after I nuked Solano's bunker a few hours later...

Graphics:

Sadly for the PS2 version, not much noticeable improvements... biasa jak... in the first game seeing the carpet bomb for the first time made me go all 'O' but now... haihz...

Sounds:

Eargh, covered the music earlier, it's just not "ummph!" enough. Was looking forward to an intense passionate Spanish guitar-ish theme song playing in the background while you yee-haw at everything that moves and empties that AK-47 rounds with a B52 soaring overhead dropping megatons of fun. But sadly the song and sometimes the in-game dialogues hang or lag for a while as it tries to load (could be my aging PS2 or just the game, I think it's the game).

Gamplay:

Nothing new since Playground of Destruction. The map is smaller (for me) compared to the first game which had Korea split into two maps. Now it feels like Ulu Lanang riverside. I thought I will be brought to another part of Venezuela or something as I progress but... yeah.

Longevity:

Once you've completed the main storyline there's not much left for you to do. I'd rather replay Playground of Destruction all over again.

General Ham suggests:
SERIOUSLY AVOID Mercenaries 2 for the PS2
Play the first Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Try PS2 Just Cause