Game Diary - 18 May 2009: Big Badda Boom!

Although I've been playing a lot of games recently (as you're about to find out) that isn't my excuse for neglecting this blog. Sadly my mum died back in February, and since then I just haven't found the strength to write original entries outside of my ButtonSmasher job. I'm slowly getting back into writing, and part of that is reviving this blog. That means getting out the shears and weed killer and going to work.

Where was I? Oh yes, the games! Over the last few months I’ve been a member of Boomerang; which is a video games rental website that allows me to rent one game at a time for as long as I want for only £9.99 a month. There are higher price structures that allow you to order up to three games at a time, but I have enough trouble finding enough time to play one amongst all the other games I have that lay unfinished. Anyway, this service has allowed me to experience a lot of games I wouldn’t normally have bought; either due to lack of funds or not being interested enough in the game to pay full price for. All I do is play the game, complete it, and then send it right back to get another within two days. Playing all these games should have been pure fodder for more reviews, but as I said above I really haven’t been up to it.


The game I have at the moment is Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, which - despite everything I read about the game being bad - I’m really enjoying. It doesn’t take itself too seriously; and if you’re after a good storyline, character building and great voice acting (sorry Peter Stormare, but you’re awful in this) then should look elsewhere because Mercs 2 offers none of these. Instead it offers plenty of explosions, and then some more. There’s nothing more satisfying than dropping a tactical nuke and leveling half a city, unless you’re doing it in reality as then you’d be a mass murderer. Red Faction Guerilla may be one upping the whole destruction thing that Mercs 2 has going on, but the difference is that Mercs 2 does it with style. Grappling onto a moving helicopter and tossing the pilot out may not be realistic, but reality is more often than not very boring.

When I play Mercs 2 I’m not looking for a stellar storyline, I play other games for that, I’m just looking for some good old fashioned fun – with a truckload of explosives thrown in on the side!

Another game I’ve been playing recently is The Darkness. I picked it up for £7.35 on Amazon and I don’t think I’ll be getting a better bargain in a long while. I’ll talk more about that in the next diary entry though, so goodbye for now!