How bout that, Mercenaries 2 is out! In its opening week gamasutra reported that it was on top of sales for both PS3/360 in the UK and third/second in the US. I didn’t see the PC/PS2 versions in the top 5 listings but I’m not sure if those games are out yet. It’ll be interesting to see how the sales numbers progress into a month with some potential heavy hitters. Attentions are likely to be focused on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed but I see Spore, Brothers in Arms and Rock Band 2 as potential distractions. As of today, the game has a metacritic weighted score of 74 with 37 reviews listed. The TV ad seems to have created the biggest impact for the game’s marketing. The youtube version of the Ad has spawned about 3 million views including re-posts, remixes and making-of’s.
3 player co-op?
As for the game itself, the consensus seems to be “fun but greatly lacking in polish”. In Tuesdays gamers with jobs podcast, Ken Levine (Bioshock director) emphasized Mercs2’s need for a few more months in the oven. Then, Geoff and I found some hidden fun while playing co-op. The “unintended feature” we stumbled upon manifests itself when you have Ewan deliver a helicopter to your location and you destroy the helicopter at just the right time, instead of fading into the distance, Ewan becomes your AI buddy. Ewan looks hilarious when he runs and responds to honking vehicle horns. Ewan requires a lot of babysitting for someone in godmode. Eventually we stopped caring about our mission at all and spent our time collecting Ewans.
My thoughts. To be added at a later date.
Related Links:
Mercenaries 2 Tops UK Charts [gamasutra]
Mercenaries 2 Reviews [metacritic]