1 Hour Review: Mercenaries 2

I loved Crackdown's open-world, car throwing, building jumping and massive explosioning gameplay. I'm almost a sucker now to try any other sandbox gaming that comes into stores just so I can have a fresh experience like it. Mercenaries 2 just came out today so we picked it up in hopes that it would offer some of that same play that made us always want to say to each other online, "Let's go blow that thing up over there next."

The bad, short story: ill concieved controls, glitchy movement on screen, partially computed item physics (I pushed a huge broken concrete wall by walking into it), last console generation character models, last generation terrain mapping, confused timing for narration...if I go any further, it'd just be nit-picking.

The good, short story: two-player, sandbox-style gameplay. Big explosions. Loud guns. Accurate shooting mechanics. Likable character voices. Wide open areas. Decent script writing. Fun "challenge" missions to try. Big explosions. Loud guns. Dishes out Gamerscore points like Sunday lunch at Grandma's.

Overall, it's not an impressive game an hour deep into it. Looks and controls alone, it's not worth $60. I am, however, anxious to see more weapons, more missions, and just where the earned money is going to in the game. I'm saying it has potential to flop as bad as Army of Two, but also soar as high as Crackdown. I'm seeing a lot of similarities between the two games so far.