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Play with Mercenaries 2 devs, 'catch' an Achievement
One of the more ... interesting Achievements in the Xbox 360 version of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is the 50-point "Everybody Wants Some," which is earned by playing online with one of the game's developers, or someone who's already played with them. Yep, it's contagious. Actually, it's sort of like the STD of Live Achievements, if you'll pardon the icky analogy. We think it'd be pretty cool to hear the 360 "Achievement Unlocked" sound in real life every time we came down with a cold or other ailment. Hear that Microsoft? Get on it – after all, you were all about "Live Anywhere." Mercs 2's devs will be playing September 5 through 12 using special easy-to-grok Gamertags, which we've listed after the break. Now, go forth and expose yourself to viral goodness.
GameTrailers compares 360, PS3 versions of Mercenaries 2
Considering the inflammatory nature of these little side-by-sides, we're not even going to weigh in an opinion on which version of Mercenaries 2 comes out ahead in the GameTrailers comparison video we've put just after the break. Suffice to say: They're both better than the PS2, and that's as far as we're willing to go. Even if we wanted to express some opinion (which we don't) we're not sure if we could even pick a side, as they seem pretty darn close to parity. Do you have a preference?
Metareview - Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
No doubt your eyes have already darted to that score at the bottom, recoiling in shock at the sight of a number so low, it actually manages to spell something: catastrophe. Five out of ten? What happened? Well, it seems not everybody is blown away by Mercenaries 2 and its highly delayed destructive, open-world gameplay. Most reviews think the game accomplishes what it set out to do (i.e. set charges and blow the world to smoldering smithereens), but there's an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the supposedly shallow combat, dubious AI, the adherence to the previous game's formula and, of course, the bugs. 1UP (B+): "While Mercs doesn't do anything particularly new or interesting, the formula is inherently fun (as long as you enjoy blowing things up like I do). I can keep complaining about the quirks -- ridiculously repetitive voice samples from NPCs, a climax that consists of a trial-and-error button-pushing session -- but the wealth of smaller problems are insubstantial in light of the effective fundamentals." IGN (79/100): "For every time I cursed the stupid AI, I cheered at the demolition of another building. For every bug that got me stuck in some bushes, there was an attack chopper waiting to be jacked. If Mercenaries 2 had more polish, it would have been a great game. As is, it's still worth playing – and enjoyable – but falls far short of its promise." WorthPlaying (76/100): "Cars will flip for no reason, your character's legs will get stuck in the environment, things will explode for no reason, etc. It's impossible to play without encountering bugs on a regular basis." Eurogamer (50/100): "We'd now go a little further than that: apart from some cool explosive effects and solid controls, Mercenaries 2 is utterly mediocre in almost every sense that matters. From the initial sorties onwards it's bogged down by the worst kind of brain-dead cannon fodder enemies, lead-you-by-the-hand level design, arbitrary boundaries, and some technical howlers."
New games this week: Mercenaries 2 edition
We hate to be the ones to break the news to you, but, with the season still three weeks away, the fall onslaught has officially begun. The biggest release is the oft-delayed Mercenaries 2, sure, put you've also got a new Viva Pinata, Trouble in Paradise, and Facebreaker, which ... well, at least it has Snoop Dogg in it. See the rest of the week's releases right after the jump. %Gallery-1961%
EA free gas giveaway in Los Angeles for Mercenaries 2 promo [Update]
[Update: Apparently, this was today. Whoops. Thanks, Paul!]You guys wanna make a bet? We think the above shown Mobil gas station was the most popular gas station in Los Angeles today. EA is hosting an event to promote Mercenaries 2 called "Petrol to the People, For Free!" that gave free gas away today at 6 AM until the pumps dried up. Fuel is a central element to Mercenaries 2 story, where players use gas to obtain weapons and supplies, as well as playing at integral part in the story. Additionally, the station was redecorated Mercenaries style and the attendants were dressed up as Mercenaries handing out information about the game. So where would you have gone take advantage of this free gas giveaway? 8489 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048. For those of us who missed it , watch the action from today with videos at Break.com.%Gallery-30600%
Mercenaries 2 gets a Flash version
If you find yourself unable to wait until the Aug. 31 release of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, we may have the perfect soothing balm for you: Armor Games and EA's Mercenaries 2: World (Nearly) In Flames. It's exactly like the console versions of Mercenaries 2, except it's free! (And it's made in Flash. And it's two dimensional. But other than that? Exactly the same.) OK, so maybe it's not as technically impressive, but we could think of many worse ways to kill some time until the real release than with this solid, old-school diversion. Enjoy.
Mercenaries 2 brings 'boom, boom, boom'
Download to PSP We like to give attention to a few multiplatform titles we've neglected (by accident, we swear!) over the past few months. Unfortunately, Mercenaries 2 is one of those games. Thankfully, this explosive trailer from EA really caught our attention. The ridiculous number of ridiculous explosions is ... well, ridiculous. It's a nice, refreshing break from other action games which have become a bit too heavy-handed and serious.The game is coming out next week, but we really want to get our hands on a demo. With co-op multiplayer, and a massive open world to blow up, we're hoping that this upcoming game gives us the thrills we're looking for. %Gallery-30600%
Mercenaries 2 dev diary talks destruction
A new Mercenaries 2 developer diary has been released and it features lots and lots of destruction. Pandemic director Cameron Brown discusses all the various destructible elements of the game. Mercenaries 2 uses what Pandemic has dubbed "Crashable structures" which are objects that can be destroyed by a moving object like, say, a car. All that is just talk though. The highlight of the video is undoubtedly all the yummy footage of things being destroyed. Now imagine wreaking this havoc with a friend and we've really got something.
Mercenaries 2 co-op developer walkthrough
We'll be honest: most of the staff at Joystiq has a serious medical condition that makes us physically unable to resist good co-op gameplay. We can't do it. It's a serious condition. There's only two known treatments: 1) massive amounts of mind-altering pharmaceuticals or 2) co-op video games. Sometimes, we're forced to seek out the former when there aren't any co-op games on the ol' release calendar while other times there are games like Mercenaries 2: World in Flames that would appear to provide enough co-op gameplay to keep us drug-free for a long time. Above you've got another Mercenaries 2 developer walkthrough, this time sharing the wonders of the game's co-op functionality. Don't mean to brag, but we've already played it. That means you'll want to pay attention, lest you miss things like "drop-in," "drop-out," "campaign," and "explosion." Say, does anyone have an early copy of Castle Crashers, we're really hurting over here ...
Joystiq plays Mercenaries 2
Those lucky jerks passionate journalists at Joystiq recently got a chance to try out the online co-op in Mercenaries 2. Not only that, but they were playing it with a member of the Pandemic development team. From the sound of things, it sounds like they had a blast. It was quite literally a blast actually, what with the hands-on preview mentioning inappropriate use of surface-to-air missiles, using a tank to punch holes in concrete walls and calling in air support to sink a ship. And that's only a handful of everything that went down. Head over to Joystiq to check out the full preview.
Joystiq hands-on: Mercenaries 2 online co-op
Click to enlarge blow up So many things in life are just that much better when enjoyed with a friend. Ice skating, canoeing, inline skating ... grappling a helicopter to escape the blast of a nuclear bunker buster strike you've just called in. That last scenario – and more! – is exactly what we experienced during a recent game of Mercenaries 2 online co-op with developer Pandemic Studios. Unfortunately, there's no "Hi-Five!" peripheral (yet) for the 360 or it would have gotten plenty of use during our brazenly over-the-top cooperative mass destruction of a virtual Venezuela. %Gallery-29596%
A look at how Mercenaries 2 does co-op
IGN has a pretty decent writeup detailing their hands on time with two player co-op in the explosive Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Online co-op is presented pretty standardly, allowing two players to connect seamlessly where one player enters the others' world a la Crackdown. Meaning that any progress made during co-op only counts towards the hosts' game, but any weapons or money earned by the other player can be taken back to their game. What's nice to see too is the fact that the game doesn't "scale" the action based on co-op, which means that having a co-op buddy by your side makes dishing out the destruction a whole lot easier. Make the jump to get Mercs 2 learnified.
Joystiq interview: Mercenaries 2 senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff
We spent some time with the eagerly awaited Mercenaries 2: World in Flames at Electronic Arts recently, and we can safely say that it's a lot of fun blowing crap up in this game. In fact, if they dropped the storyline (you're chasing a druglord) altogether and called this game Blowing Sh*t Up!, we'd still buy it. Senior Producer Jonathan Zamkoff answered several of our questions about the game after we took a breath to check for scorch marks and shrapnel wounds. We'll be spending a lot more hands-on time with this one at E3, so look for more coverage next week. In the meantime, check after the break to find out why they hope driving won't suck in this one... although they don't explain why this screenshot looks like Motorstorm 2: Save Your Own Ass. %Gallery-27307%
Verify your target with this Mercenaries 2 trailer
We haven't reported on Mercenaries 2: World in Flames since its delay back in 2007. Apparently, after almost a year, destroying entire buildings is still an option and the game is still coming on just about every console and PC. The video has a group of mercenaries in Venezuela, whose goal is to 'verify' a human target, dead or alive. Alive will bring in more money, but dead is just so much more fun. The trailer has a promise stamped at the end for a August 31st release date, but are you guys even still interested?[Via Joystiq -- thanks, imperalpig!]
Mercenaries 2 delivers the goods with 'Improvise' trailer
After what feels like countless delays, the new trailer for Mercenaries 2 rekindles our hope that the latest release date of Aug. 31 for the game actually sticks. The video gives examples of a couple different ways to complete missions within the game, from being all stealth-like to just going in guns blazing. There's something disturbingly satisfying about the idea that, if a mission goes south while trying to sneak through it, the option of just flipping out and destroying everything is still on the table. Check out the video after the break.
Video: Let's have a Mercenaries 2 walk-through
Mercenaries 2 news has been lacking a bit lately, so we were rather excited to see a new trailer pop up on the old Gametrailers.com. Actually, it's a developer walk-through video with the game's lead designer Scott Warner who shows actual level gameplay but played three different ways with all three Mercenaries 2 personalities. There's plenty of tactical, covert and overkill gameplay to view complete with head butts, helicopter hijacking, button mashing sequences and explosive goodness that really doesn't look too bad. Both visually and gameplay wise, that is, if you're into that kind of genre. But how about that demo?
Mercenaries 2 demo and DLC confirmed
Pandemic Studios has just confirmed with Eurogamer that they plan on releasing a Mercenaries 2: World in Flames demo, but are "not sure of dates" for its release to the XBLM. Pandemic's creative director Cameron Brown also confirmed that they have Mercenaries 2 downloadable content in the works saying that they already "have it up and running on the consoles" and it is being seen as an "enormous opportunity" as far as the longevity of the title goes.Downloadable content already up, running and complete months before the game even releases? Something smells of EA shenanigans and it doesn't smell good.
New Mercs 2 trailer reveals August 31st release date
Pardon us if we fail to sound particularly interested during this post. The above video for Mercenaries 2 almost made us fall asleep and now we're all grumpy. From what we can see, Mercs 2 will be another generic shooter with a second rate storyline. The only good thing about the trailer? It had a release date attached. The game will arrive on shelves on August 31st. Will it be worth picking up? Doubtful, there are plenty of games due this year that promise to be more worthwhile.
Mercenaries 2 blows things up August 31st
IGN has revealed that Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is scheduled for a U.S. release on August 31st. And since a release date announcement is a big deal, Pandemic also supplied a new Mercenaries 2 "US Release Date Trailer" for everyone to enjoy. From what we can tell, things splode really, really good. We also get a feeling for why Mattias Nilsson is so hellbent on revenge ... his bum has a bullet lodged in it. Watch the trailer, take it all in and (potentially) add Mercenaries 2 to your ever expanding list of 2008 must-haves.[Via Game Stooge]
Mercenaries 2 blowing up August 31
We already knew that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames was headed for a delay, but now we know exactly how long we're going to have to wait. IGN is reporting today that the new date is August 31. We know! That seems like forever! They might as well make the date Nevervember the 37th. The waiting isn't made any easier by this new trailer, which caters to that facet of our personalties games so often ignore: The part of us that likes to blow stuff up. ... Listen, we're sorry we got so upset earlier, we don't know what came over us. Just, please, for our sake, no more delays, OK? Please? [Thanks, Jonah]
