i logged on to gamespot today to find mercs2 having received it's official review of mediocre at 5.0 and to be frank i smirked and got ready to let gamespot have it. i'd already begun an outline of my tirade beginning with their apparently broken review review staff, moving to the mistrust now thrust upon them by the gaming community at large, and finally culminating with ...once again... how instrumental many of the staff "replacements" have been in systematically half a$$ing what was once the premiere gaming news and reviews site on the interweb. Oh, it was going to be glorious!

but then, i watched aaron thomas' review.

i figured i'd better have all my ducks in a row if i was going to hammer this clearly idiotic and unbalanced review of a game i'm thoroughly enjoying right now. but here's the thing: aaron isn't wrong. now granted the man's a little jaded and usually strikes me as the most prospective employee of cbs to go postal and wipe everyone out, but hey everyone needs to vent. the point is every flaw he points out is in fact and -can- be totally annoying if you think about it too long. of course the bugs and glitches are more prevalent than too human, but not as bad as described. i mean good lord they're described like this game was ''alone in the dark'' coming home after a weekend bender in reno. and truth be told, it ain't that bad folks.

and truthfully that pretty well rounds the overall take away feeling i have with that review... "yeah aaron you're right, but the game ain't that bad."

now one point i will directly confront is all the whining about getting around in an open world. guess what people, you asked for bigger worlds, now you're going to complain when you actually have to traverse them?? pandemic was kind enough to institute a fast travel system, what do you want an effin' teleporter?

gun mechanics are sloppy yeah, but 1- it's a 3rd person shooter...it happens, and 2- a tight aim trigger was added which helps it considerably, plus try shooting an autorifle, and hitting anything ur aiming at, it's rough kids.

look all told mercenaries 2 isn't broken, nor is gamespot at large, but lightening up a bit might be in order.