Mercenaries 2: Huge Preview with Pandemic

Join us for a detailed look at open-world destruction-gasm Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, as we chat with Pandemic Studios' Jonathan Zamkoff and Cory Lewis.

Page: 1  2  3  4  5 

Page 2

By any measure, Mercenaries is big. The game world covers 64 square kilometres with multiple cities and plenty in between. You'll be able to get a good look at it thanks to the impressive draw distance, which reportedly stretches to over 2,500 metres. In fact, the game has expanded so much during development that the team added in a GPS receiver so that you can better find your way around.

Of course, giant maps, while great for players eager to expand their experience in the game world, can also makes it harder for hassle-free navigation. To alleviate problems like this, the team has instituted checkpoints that can be unlocked by completing side-missions. These missions will also be a source of a fuel, allowing you to improve your standing.

Side-missions generally involve hooking up with contacts who give you jobs to perform. Complete jobs and associated control points are unlocked on the map, giving you access to helipads for quick movement around the country - "a kind of reward for exploration," Zamkoff calls it. It's all part of a massive amount of content ancillary to the main story, which also includes a spiritual successor to the deck-of-cards of focal items that was introduced in the first game. These are important people and target buildings you can interact with and earn yourself fuel and more.

The more side-missions you complete, the faster your store will be populated, Zamkoff explains. There's a lot to the marketplace. In total you can expect more than 100 unique vehicles and around 30 different airstrike options, including tactical nukes (not available in cities) and the US Air Force's cheerfully named Mother of All Bombs. More than enough to show off your mastery of the battlefield, in other words.

Just as important as the weapons available to you is your back-up team. These are non-playable characters that will make your life easier. There's Ewan, a helicopter pilot who helps you with supply drops, Eva, a mechanic who will keep your gear working and an unnamed Russian pilot who will deliver airstrikes for you.

The story itself mirrors the proportions of the rest of the game. There are 79 missions in total, each inching you closer to the game's bad guy, Ramon Solano, a military dictator who, among other grievous misdoings, is responsible for stiffing you on payment in an early mission and then getting you shot in the ass. It's a classic Hollywood revenge fantasy, says Zamkoff. A mission we're briefly shown has you tracking an official from an oil company around the country as he destroys sensitive documents. This is just the general goal, though, and how you accomplish it is up to you.

Page: 1  2  3  4  5 

NEXT PAGE >>