Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) Review
by Eddie Turner on September 9, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Multiplayer
While Mercenaries 2 does not feature standard multiplayer modes for deathmatch and team play, it does offer cooperative gameplay. In this mode, players may simply drop into another player's game and assist during their campaign. In the options menu, the ability open your game up to a single joiner exists for those who desire an experience with friendly banter and twice the destruction. Those who want to jump into another player's game can use the same menu to search for an open game in progress and then dive right in. While choices to add supplies and order air strikes are limited to the host player, any cash and Achievements (Xbox LIVE) gained by the joining party during co-op play will carry over to that player's campaign upon their return. Though limited to two players online with no split-screen option for local play, the co-op experience is where the game shines its brightest.
 |
During my time with Mercenaries 2, I was able to try out co-op play on three of the game's four available platforms, namely PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 (skipping the PS2 version). Of these, the most seamless experience was achieved via Xbox LIVE. While playing co-op on the PC version, I experienced segments of the game where the audio would cut in and out. Mind you, this was not the communication between the person whose game I joined and myself. Instead, the glitch belonged to the in-game audio. Despite these segments lasting no more than 4 or 5 seconds each, I did experience this in all three games I joined. Just the opposite, the issues I faced with the PlayStation 3 version left me without the ability to communicate with the other player. However, this is not the first time I have experienced this issue while playing online games via the PlayStation Network, so it would be tough to pin this issue to the game itself. In addition to the audio issues, servers with noticeable lag time plagued both PC and PS3 platforms in at least one out of the three co-op games I played on each. While experiences may vary from player to player among the three platforms, all three games I joined while playing the Xbox 360 version of the game provided a bug-free experience with absolutely no issues save for the slow down periods that I'll address shortly. All in all, cooperative gameplay is a welcome addition and adds a little extra enjoyment over playing the game alone.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
17 Comments
View All Comments
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.