Metacritic Games

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Playstation 2)

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is an explosive open-world action game set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world. A power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a warzone. But for you, international crisis is all upside: You are a mercenary, and you profit from chaos. Mercenaries 2 features a slew of potential clients, all willing to pay you to do their dirty work. Dirty deeds, done for exorbitant fees. These are world powers with deep pockets, deep grudges, and enough arms and ammo to start World War III. This is your kind of environment. Mercenaries 2 features the latest and most dangerous in civilian and military tech, everything from shiny new sports cars, to the future-tech satellite-guided bunker-busting mini-nuke. Tanks, APCs, boats, luxury automobiles – you name it, you can have it delivered to you in real time. And if you run out of cash you can always 'acquire' the gear you need in the field. If you see it, you can buy it, steal it, or blow the living crap out of it. Play your own way, or play with the help of a friend in the new cooperative multiplayer mode. You are not a soldier. You don't have to play by anyone's rules. You have your own code: you will fulfill the terms of the contract, no matter what. Not everyone in the world of Mercenaries is as honorable. Everyone will try and screw you, given the chance. They think they can get away with it, because they don't know rule #1: EVERYBODY PAYS. [Pandemic Studios]

Electronic Arts
Action, Adventure, Third-Person Shooter
Players: 2
T (Teen)
Developer: A2M
Released August 31, 2008

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

49 / 100

Critic Reviews

83 Game Revolution
Occasional hiccups or no, having this much open-world freedom to come at the enemy any old way you see fit is just too much damned fun.
70 Cynamite
If you’re a big a fan of blowing things up, then you’ll love this game. Literally everything can be turned into flames, but the longer you play the more you realize that Venezuela is not the real deal when it comes to “virtual paradise.”
58 Cheat Code Central
It's a shame that developers didn't work harder to accentuate what's fun about this game with better graphics, more vehicles, and other gameplay elements. But, for what it is, Mercenaries 2 is a decent title for short-lived amounts of fun.
50 PSX Extreme
All in all, don't expect anywhere near the same caliber title from the PS2 version of Mercenaries 2. This is one of the sloppiest ports I've played in a long time, and you're better off saving your money towards a PlayStation 3 if you're looking for a next-gen experience.
50 GameZone
The PS2 version of Mercenaries 2 is barely a fraction of the franchise Pandemic created.
45 Gamers' Temple
The PS2 version is the cheapest of the many versions of Mercenaries 2 but you really get what you pay for in this watered-down title.
39 IGN
Mercs 2 looks worse, plays worse and is just plain worse than the groundbreaking original. Why this watered-down version was even published is a mystery...Mercenaries 2 on PS2 is a bad game. 'Nuff said.
35 GameSpot
Broken, buggy, and boring gameplay leaves Mercenaries 2's world in flames.
35 Game Chronicles
Don’t even bother to get this, the average rating for this game is above 50 percent from all the reviews and mine won’t make it any better. The game is not really up to a standard that would make it playable unless you just don’t care much about graphics.
30 PTGamers
This is exactly the kind of game that shouldn't be released on the PS2 by now.

CLOSE THIS WINDOW

©2009 CNET Networks Inc. All rights reserved.