"Hey y'all.

So, I'm totally new to the community.  I've registered just for this post to express some of my frustration with Mercenaries 2.  I am a fan of this series.  I enjoyed the first Mercenaries thoroughly.  I found it to be a highly polished affair - the graphics were clean and impressive, the audio side featured great music and powerful effects.

With the track record the developers had with the first Mercs and another series I really loved, Star Wars Battlefront, I began to get VERY excited when I read about the prospects of what Mercenaries 2 was going to bring to the table.  Now I have it for my Playstation 3 and my honest opinion is that I am playing an unfinished game, and I really expected more after being treating to a AAA experience with the first game in the series.

With my first few minutes with Mercenaries 2, I was completely taken by how sloppy the game looks and feels.  My initial impression of the visuals was that while certain aspects of the presentation were very good looking - everything lacks polish.  Effects like 'heat-exhaust' look incomplete.  While the explosions look great, the fire effects on barrels and fuel tanks is totally inconsistent with the art direction of other pyrotechnic elements.  The draw distance of the "world" is fine - but the draw distance of objects within the world is VERY shallow.  There's a lot of little graphical touches of artistry that are IN the game - but that's just it - they feel like they're just THERE.  The lack of visual cohesion across the board gives the impression that this game has been released undone.

The feeling of control lacks refinement.  The driving physics are all over the place.  Motorcycles are TOO fast.  I have no control over throttle.  It's either all go or all stop.  Choppers feel better this time around, but cars and trucks handle VERY inconsistently when turning.  Some vehicles feel fine - others are remarkably bad - feeling more like rails instead of four wheels.  Braking is inconsistent as well.  I apologize if this statement is totally out of the realm of what's actually there: it feels as if there's NO physics engine.

The voice acting too is a disappointment.  While I'd have loved for the original cast to have returned, I understand and overlook that aspect.  However - the NPCs are a total letdown.  So much has been said on this topic, but I have to agree.  The lack of variety of lines is disappointing.  I'd rather the NPCs be quiet than say the same things repeatedly.  Even the audio mix feels undone - volume levels between characters are totally inconsistent and all sound like a studio - not a living breathing world.  The first game was mixed in THX.  What happened this time?  This sounds so cheap - not like a Pandemic or EA game AT ALL.

Look - I honestly am not trying to nitpick this game.  I was VERY excited for Mercenaries 2 and I wanted this to be great.  But the way I feel as a consumer is that I'm paying MORE for this product ($60) than I did for the first game in the series ($50) for LESS QUALITY.  Sure, it's a bigger world - but that doesn't excuse it from fine craftsmanship.  While I acknowledge the achievements the developers have made in getting their game over to next-gen, I have to honestly say I wish someone at Pandemic Studios or EA Games had to guts to DELAY THIS GAME even more! 

I waited and waited for this game to be released - and after spending a few hours with it, while I am enjoying what I have in my hands, I would have rather waited another 60 days OR MORE for this thing to be totally complete.  Instead, I feel like EA had Pandemic rip out a physics engine and audio post-sweetening to save money on making the game - and in the end what I have here feels like I paid full price for a BETA.  I'm really shocked.  I want to make noise because this is NOT acceptable - either here or going forward. Mercenaries 2 needs more work - a patch is needed BADLY to address these inconsistencies in the package.

I'm really surprised because Pandemic always gave the impression of a studio that takes great pride in developing a great game - but this title feels like a step backwards.  What happened - is it EA?

-SeventhWard"

URL:  http://www.pandemicstudios.com/community/viewtopic.php?id=9035

Those were my thoughts when I played Mercs 2. It's not finished and every time I wanted to like it, it showed me an another reason not to.

I looked through those forums and it looks like some people were getting UPSET at negative criticism, albeit the fact that the tone and rhetoric is clear that the person who wrote it had fun but really wanted to see some improvements towards Mercs 2 in a patch.

I didn't surprise me but I wish people were more intelligent to stop, take a breather, and stop ASSuming lol.

I plan to check this game out still as a rent in the near future, but my inital impressions looking at gameplay videos and etc, have been less than stellar.

it's actually really fun everyone even if it has a few problems.

"it's actually really fun everyone even if it has a few problems."

WORLD IN FRAMES HAHAHHA

I can't even join a custom or quick match in co op. It doesn't let me search no matter how much I pound the A button.

I agree completely with the TC on this.  I actually bought this after trading in some old games and my old GBA SP as well as they had some trade-in specials going on at Gamestop.  This of course was the day mercs 2 came out and I loved the first one and I coincidentally had $60 in my pocket from the trade-ins.  So instead of buying 3 good games, I got 1.  Yes its a great game, I have a lot of fun playing it, but after watching all those dev blogs and reading all this hype on how this game was going to be the shiznit, I was left disappointed.  I'm satisfied but not $60 satisfied.

Guys, this is what reading reviews is all about, then you don't have to be completaly bummed out when you throw down a bunch of cash on a game that's still BETA.

It could be possible that the wrong build of the game was published also... i played the game for like 2 hours, and im enjoying it. Sure there are bugs and glitches, but  i can look past them as long as i get to blow shit up :)

I haven't got mercs 2 yet, and I'm not sure if I'm going to. It was top of my must buy list, and even when the bad reviews started rolling in, I was still planning on buying it, but I've slowly started to be put off by the amount of negative feedback. I dunno. I'll probably wait until it comes down in price. That seems like the best option.

Ya I can't believe they took a year to not release this game. Still way too many problems and bugs that break what really would be a great game.