When you hear the word Mercenaries, what do you think of?  Explosions?  Guns?  Fast-paced action?  Well, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames has all of that plus more to entertain a wide range of gamers.

At first you start out by picking one of the three Mercenaries available in the game.  You will then go through the most common thing you do when first playing a game, a tutorial and some cut-scenes.  After that you’ll complete a mission which will get you a main headquarters, and then you’ll have the freedom to do plenty of things.  If you want to keep the story going then continue to do the missions available for you.

Another option for you is to run around the map, causing trouble and blowing stuff up.  Sounds fun right?  Well in Mercs 2 everything you do will have an effect on how you play the game.  For example, as you get farther into the story you’ll meet factions.  Factions are groups of people that are in Venezuela (the setting of this game) for a certain reason.  The reasons vary from running an oil company to trying to gain control over Venezuela, but when you anger a faction, they become hostile and will fight you whenever you see them.  This can usually be bad because to gain back their trust you have to either bribe them or anger another faction, which can get annoying most of the time.

It’s pretty obvious that many gamers like destruction.  They like to destroy things while there playing there game.  One of the positive things in this game is that almost everything can be destroyed.  Trees, vehicles, and even buildings all can be demolished.  Some will be easier than others.  A tree will usually fall by simply running over it with a car, but because things like buildings and tanks are bigger they have more health and will withstand some heavy duty damage before falling.

In a game like Mercs 2 you need high-quality sound to be able to feel like you are in the game.  Well, this game delivers this kind of sound.  The explosions are realistic.  Each vehicle has its own unique sound while driving.  And to compliment the sound effects are great voice-overs.  The voices match the characters’ personality’s properly, and with humorous lines in almost every cut-scene it’s enjoyable to listen to them speak.

The graphics in this game are created very well.  Even though there are some minor flaws like leaves on trees not looking real, it doesn’t take away from the theatrical look this game has.  Which leaves gamers staring in awe from the intense explosions and jaw-dropping visual effects.

One thing I’m sure fans of Mercenaries would have loved to see team based multiplayer matches, but one thing this Mercenaries 2 does have is the ability to play with a friend in co-op mode.  If you ever get stuck in this game, and you need some help you can just invite a friend to your game.  Or depending on your settings, you can have a random person join your game.  Also if you feel like helping someone out, just go to the join a game option at the main menu.

Mercenaries 2 has some of the most realistic game play on the market today.  Great sound and visuals also add to the realism making this game even better.  Some of you probably think that this game is just mission after mission, but there are plenty of other things to do.  Run around and shoot people.  You can complete wagers for money. You can drive around in a tank and blow things up.  The list doesn’t end there.  With so many things to do, Mercs 2 will keep you coming for more.