Mercenaries 2 Second Opinion continued...

The fact that a player can continue on with the game even after the overall mission ends is a huge plus. Players may want to take to the streets in a Corales MG Scout and see how far they can get into Chinese Army territory without getting blown up, or hop into Eva's custom-built Cacharro de Muerte and troll the streets for money, oil and weapons. As described before, there are more contracts and side-jobs to complete after the campaign ends, from verifying HVTs to destroying targets. But the meat of the exploration probably lies with locating money and gas. There's nothing wrong with being rich - the Xbox Live Leaderboards certainly proves that. Fuel and weapons are a necessary part of the game within and outside the campaign. Of course, when a faction has ordered the "shoot-to-kill" command, gathering said goods might cause a problem. Again, everyone can be bribed.

And bribing is a huge element in Mercs 2. There are five factions to deal with: Universal Petroleum, Pirates, the Chinese Army, the People's Liberation Army of Venezuela and the Allied Nations (Americans). It's a huge task to keep everyone happy, as many contracts offered by one faction will involve another. The balancing act is rather costly in the end, sometimes reaching into the millions just to be able to step back into their territory. Because a mercenary isn't tied down to one faction, hunting down every money palette - even when helicopters swarm around like annoying gnats - seems ultimately necessary to stay in business.

There are times though when staying in business seems ultimately impossible. While it seems that the NPC and enemy AI appear brutally stupid, there are times when both parties have uncanny, inhuman accuracy. This observation could also be the result of poor planning when entering a hostile scenario - walking into an outpost stockpiled with tanks and soldiers with rocket launchers isn't the ideal strategy. Throw in a destructive environment, and there is really no place for a lone mercenary to hide.

Thankfully, Mercs 2 offers a multiplayer capability that allows a second gamer to join in at any time. Of course, this has its negatives as well as its positives - not everyone plays by the rules. The Multiplayer section in the Options menu allows the "host" gamer to choose Invitation Only, Friends or Anyone. The first two selections should be obvious (although drunken buddies can cause havoc too apparently). But opening up the game to total strangers offers co-op gaming to troublemakers as well as to honest players. Even if friendly fire is off, there are other ways to take the other player out: destroying his or her vehicle, dropping grenades at his or her feet and so on. Multiplayer gaming always has its risks, especially so with voice support and a lot of flapping, dirty mouths. Still, the multiplayer component is another one of Mercs 2's outstanding features, and it definitely keeps the game from entering the discount bin right from the start.

As for the game's storyline, the outline is rather shallow and simple: revenge. Initially Ramon Solano - a distinguished, highly respected political figure - contacts the mercenary and then refuses to pay the fee once completed. Instead, Solano tries to kill the mercenary but is unsuccessful in his attempt, leaving him or her for dead. After the incident, Solano suddenly becomes the dictator of Venezuela, thus seizing control of the country's oil. Other factions quickly emerge to retaliate. Suddenly, a simple revenge plot turns into a fight for oil and the protagonist mercenary is dead center in the middle of it all. In order to locate Solano, the mercenary must complete contacts with all opposing factions in order to retrieve information about the dictator's whereabouts. In the end, players discover that Solano is holed up in a well-fortified bunker that only a nuclear device can penetrate.

Of course, this special weapon doesn't appear until the end of the game, which only the Allied Nations (or rather the United Nations) offers. Until then, Marcs 2 gives you some amazing explosive weapons to purchase and toy around with, although they're not all available until certain contacts are made and contracts fulfilled. Some contracts even recommend certain weapons, requiring the mercenary to fly across the country and shell out cash to the pirates and then fly across the country again and bargain with the Chinese Army.

The weapons are knocked down into three categories: air strikes, vehicles and supplies. Mercs 2 even offers boats this time around, complete with the UP inflatable, the Cardenas inflatable, the warhorse patrol boat and even a jet ski. Again, every vehicle is available at the player's disposal.

Everything purchased within the numerous shops is listed in the mercenary's PDA. Hitting the controller's back button activates the screen, which displays a map of the area and other information. If anything, Mercs 2's interface is neat and well organized, displaying objectives when needed, available contracts and even factions that have the mercenary on their "poop" list. Gamers can even place a beacon on the current contract's target and activate a GPS path to follow. Because the country is so huge in a virtual sense, this device makes the numerous roads easy to traverse. The PDA's Stockpile section offers the aforementioned weapons categories and even allows players to select three weapons to be used in-game (accessed by hitting up and down on the directional button). The PDA's Info section offers the gamer's current standing with the factions, which is either hostile, neutral or friendly. A log tracks objectives, conversations and important events. There's also a section that stores information about each contact made. Finally, the Score portion of the Info tab shows all the achievements, statistics and progress.

Aside from the PDA, the actual control setup is somewhat of a letdown. Actually, it isn't the button assignments that are lacking, but rather the omission of certain features gamers are accustomed to in today's games. By pressing the X button, the mercenary will jump, but there is no vaulting over objects. The mercenary can't hide behind objects and shoot around corners either as seen in games like Gears of War and Drake's Fortune. As a result, the controls consist of the usual standards found in most third-person person titles. The controls themselves feel a little sluggish, especially for precision aiming in a timed event, and the gun consistently will not stay on target.

NEXT PAGE: Conclusions and the Final Score

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