Mercenaries 2:World in Flames

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2008-08-31 10:53am

Anyone else thinking of getting this game? From our fun friends at Pandemic Studios (Who brought us both Battlezone games as well as Mercenaries 1) comes a fun little game where everyone gets along and solves their problems through non-violent methods.
World Flames

Yeah...
From the videos in the above link you can tell what really happens, which is you have thousands of people trying to kill you, and you doing your level best to blow up everything and everyone.

Cause you gotta get payed...
So, who else is getting this game?(On all consoles and the PC)
I'm waiting till the first reviews hit.

Zixinus · Post by **Zixinus** » 2008-08-31 11:44am

Seems fun. I will try to get it if I can. Don't really have high hopes for it thought.

Joviwan · Post by **Joviwan** » 2008-08-31 03:14pm

I played the ever loving shit out of the first one, and loved every waking moment of it. World in Flames will be a proud member of my games collection, I feel. I just have to send it in to get repaired, now.

Peptuck · Post by **Peptuck** » 2008-08-31 03:27pm

Joviwan wrote:I played the ever loving shit out of the first one, and loved every waking moment of it. World in Flames will be a proud member of my games collection, I feel. I just have to send it in to get repaired, now.

What he said. I accumulated more than a billion dollars with one of my mercenaries in the original, so if WiF is half as good as its predecessor, its getting bought.

Grandmaster Jogurt · Post by **Grandmaster Jogurt** » 2008-08-31 04:54pm

I've already picked up the game. This time around it's Mui who's the fast one, so I'm using her this time instead of Mattias. It's pretty good so far, and destroying the environment has been improved a lot. I can't say I'm a fan of having to play the same minigame every single time I want to hijack a tank, but that's not a dealbreaker.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-08-31 05:01pm

Any word on the co-op? How is it, which versions have which options, and so forth?

Grandmaster Jogurt · Post by **Grandmaster Jogurt** » 2008-08-31 05:39pm

The 360 version has it, at least. I haven't tried it yet, though, since I'm not currently on Live.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-08-31 05:43pm

Grandmaster Jogurt wrote:The 360 version has it, at least. I haven't tried it yet, though, since I'm not currently on Live.

does it have split-screen co-op?

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2008-08-31 06:34pm

Well, I'm certainly looking forward to blowing-up my home country in exquisite and exacting detail. I'm also hoping every major landmark of every major city and natural preserve is there, I'll be disappointed if something is missing.

'Tis a pity I cancelled all non-essential expenses though, so I'm going to have to wait.

BTW - Does anyone know what are the differences between the PS2 and PS3/X360 versions?

EDIT - Been looking at trailers, it appears the enemy Venezuelan soldiers don't speak Spanish, like how in Playground of Destruction the men of each nation spoke their native language. That's bullshit, man, total bullshit.

Post by **RogueIce** » 2008-08-31 09:46pm

Peptuck wrote:
Joviwan wrote:I played the ever loving shit out of the first one, and loved every waking moment of it. World in Flames will be a proud member of my games collection, I feel. I just have to send it in to get repaired, now.
What he said. I accumulated more than a billion dollars with one of my mercenaries in the original, so if WiF is half as good as its predecessor, its getting bought.

I shall third this. The first Mercenaries was a fun game. I loved levelling everything in a province, even the AN HQ (gotta love them fuel-air bombs

).

Adrian Laguna wrote:EDIT - Been looking at trailers, it appears the enemy Venezuelan soldiers don't speak Spanish, like how in Playground of Destruction the men of each nation spoke their native language. That's bullshit, man, total bullshit.

Meh, if they say amusing or interesting things, I'd like to be able to know it without having to go and learn Spanish. It's not a huge deal to me.

Although in the first, hearing the "private" conversations of the SKs, Chinese and Mafia was really the main reason I played through with different Mercs - the stealth/strength/speed bonuses weren't something I really noticed much, at least not with my way of playing.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-08-31 10:05pm

Grandmaster Jogurt wrote:I've already picked up the game. This time around it's Mui who's the fast one, so I'm using her this time instead of Mattias. It's pretty good so far, and destroying the environment has been improved a lot. I can't say I'm a fan of having to play the same minigame every single time I want to hijack a tank, but that's not a dealbreaker.

Does it fix the problems with the first game? I mean, do people now actually chase you, do bad guys actually react to you and hunt you down/secure areas, or is it like the first one where you can drive around largely unmolested go right past checkpoints uncaring because the Norks will give up the chase after a few hundred meters?

The first game was a good idea, but it was pathetically easy and utterly broken (Nork army = less dangerous than cops in GTA4 = game fails). If they can fix it and make it what it was supposed to be (ie, a sandbox explode-em-up) I'll definately look at it, but I have no interest in another zero-threat game.

Andrew_Fireborn · Post by **Andrew_Fireborn** » 2008-08-31 10:53pm

The AI seems largely unchanged from the first.

The 'PMC' is largely a stall tactic, since you can't really do -anything- until you get the helo pilot, who you get after your first faction mission. After which you can pretty much get the rest of the crew. A good idea, since the third and final one (AFAIK) if the jet pilot which enables the majority of the airstrikes...

Fuel starts at 300, it's required for any support actions. Transportation to any faction HQ or fort costs 20 fuel, most supplies and vehicle deliveries start at 40, and Artillery (Cheapest strike option) starts at 120...

There're at least three upgrades per faction so far. Each provides 200 additional fuel, and unlocks after you finish capturing another fort for a base.

All in all, it's pretty much what I expected of the sequel. I am glad that helo's are much easier to come by, you'll unlock at least one by doing just the outpost missions for a faction, allowing you to buy them from them. (You have to recruit the mechanic before you can highjack choppers.)

Edit: I did forget to mention my one major grievance: You can't just buy strikes/supplies/etc on the fly anymore... You have to stock up.

Edit2: If you're heard the full version of the song they used in the commercial, it makes Mattias opening a little more funny.

Also, anyone know if the Huey Cobra (the attack copter in the commercial) is actually in the game? With no sign of the AN yet, I'm thinking the Longbow is likely out which means barring Hind-get, I'm gonna try to make it my main bird.

If not, I'll likely stick with the UP's attack choppers, since they're the same model the Russians used in the last game. (Meaning responsive as hell.)

Edit3: I suppose I should post the link to the 'making of'+full version of the song, you know for those in other countries or who just don't do TV. To the TUBE!

Grandmaster Jogurt · Post by **Grandmaster Jogurt** » 2008-09-01 12:22am

Stark wrote:Does it fix the problems with the first game? I mean, do people now actually chase you, do bad guys actually react to you and hunt you down/secure areas, or is it like the first one where you can drive around largely unmolested go right past checkpoints uncaring because the Norks will give up the chase after a few hundred meters?

I think that, aside from a few stubborn soldiers, the enemies tend to lose interest quickly. I don't know how much of that is them being distracted by other targets (where I am now, the factions are all over the place), but I suspect it's going to be similar to the first one. They've added the ability of factions to take over buildings and have soldiers fire out of the windows and such, but that doesn't really mean much if you're not standing near the building itself.

Andrew_Fireborn wrote:I did forget to mention my one major grievance: You can't just buy strikes/supplies/etc on the fly anymore... You have to stock up.

It wouldn't be that bad if you could just buy everything from the HQ instead of having to go to the factions.

Pulp Hero · Post by **Pulp Hero** » 2008-09-01 12:38am

Its fun, but I HATE how calling in air strikes is handled (menu you have to rotate through while standing completely still, no ability run and throw the marker grenade.)

It would have been better if the Arty/Air strikes could be dropped into the C4/grenade slots and the markers thrown on the fly.

Also: Chris Jacobs is voiced by Phil LaMarr, aka Green Lantern.

Pulp Hero · Post by **Pulp Hero** » 2008-09-02 03:49pm

Question: Can anyone steal the Hinds, high end Chinese helicopters, or high end tanks? I have tried consistently but always fail the button mashing.

Andrew_Fireborn · Post by **Andrew_Fireborn** » 2008-09-03 02:12am

Pulp Hero wrote:Question: Can anyone steal the Hinds, high end Chinese helicopters, or high end tanks? I have tried consistently but always fail the button mashing.

Yeah, it's the hardest of the QTEs, but it's quite doable if you exploit it.

It's always the same pattern, so you mash the correct buttons until they show up then mash the next in order.

The Hind (Anaconda) and Cobra (Ambassador) share the same order which is. LStick <, Mash A, X, B. They've got an annoyingly short time on the X&B which makes it hard to do without the 'exploit.'

Same deal with the tanks, except I can't name the order of the top of my head.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2008-09-03 03:25am

Lol, so not only does it have QTE (stupidest shit ever), but it's even no-fail QTE, so it's laughably easy?

I want to play this game even more now. Easy AND broken controls? Awesome!

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2008-09-03 06:26am

Some of them are easy, some of them less so. The High-end chopper and tank ones give me trouble but then I've never been that great at button mashing. Mostly it's an issue for the big tanks, the Hind and Cobra aren't too bad once you've got the pattern.

Jordie · Post by **Jordie** » 2008-09-03 09:03am

So can we steal the Abrams for cruising around the map instead of just the last mission like the first game?

Andrew_Fireborn · Post by **Andrew_Fireborn** » 2008-09-04 06:10am

Jordie wrote:So can we steal the Abrams for cruising around the map instead of just the last mission like the first game?

You can even buy them and have them delivered if you do the right mission chain for the AN.
(It's either destroy all designated buildings, or Capture/Confirm all HVTs. Pretty sure it was the buildings, since I save those incase I PO a faction doing HVTs for a different one, 3 buildings will usually get you back to Neutral no matter how back you hit them.)

Stark wrote:Lol, so not only does it have QTE (stupidest shit ever), but it's even no-fail QTE, so it's laughably easy?

I want to play this game even more now. Easy AND broken controls? Awesome!

Oh, it gets better. The last bit of the last mission is a QTE, and if you fail it you get sent back to before you drop the bomb. (Resetting the tank, infantry and two choppers outside the base...)

Post by **weemadando** » 2008-09-04 05:39pm

Is the interface less clunky than the original? I really enjoyed playing it, but when I went back to it recently it just felt... eh...

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2008-09-04 06:09pm

I love now having access to nukes.. first thing I did was hijack a helicopter, fly over to a building near UP HQ and nuke the hell out of that skyscraper.. in fact it's all part of my master plan to get every faction with all their outposts and then go around nuking them all..

Also does anyone else seem to have a permanent mushroom cloud/dead zone around the AN HQ once you beat the game?

Andrew_Fireborn · Post by **Andrew_Fireborn** » 2008-09-04 09:36pm

weemadando wrote:Is the interface less clunky than the original? I really enjoyed playing it, but when I went back to it recently it just felt... eh...

The interface is about the same. Other than the support menu no longer pausing the game for you to decide/cycle through your options, and no longer being able to "equip" the majority of airstrike call options... (You can still move with the laser, but smoke/beacons and satellite weapons are all called up as soon as you select them off the menu. Also, Satellite weapons cost money to use, and have a "Hit (A) X times in these narrow wedges or start over, and oh we're charging you by the second" minigame... And even with that, they still have a ridiculously short range.)

SylasGaunt wrote:Also does anyone else seem to have a permanent mushroom cloud/dead zone around the AN HQ once you beat the game?

It would seem that which ever faction you go with to get your nuke gets nuked by Solano.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-09-04 10:08pm

Hotfoot wrote:Any word on the co-op? How is it, which versions have which options, and so forth?

Anyone? Come on, 360 version at least? Is there split-screen, y/n? All I want to know, I promise.

Andrew_Fireborn · Post by **Andrew_Fireborn** » 2008-09-04 10:15pm

Hotfoot wrote:
Hotfoot wrote:Any word on the co-op? How is it, which versions have which options, and so forth?
Anyone? Come on, 360 version at least? Is there split-screen, y/n? All I want to know, I promise.

No splitscreen, personally I blame Microsoft & EA. I'd imagine the PS3 is the same. (Since it's most likely a straight port, basically.)

So, online only. On the bright side, there's no exclusively online or off content. (Although this appearently makes the Level3 'training' challenges much easier.)

Sadly there's no New-Game+ like there was in Mercs1, once you beat the game, it's all over except the wasting of toys.