Expendables game review

By Chris Tilly Updated: 8 May am. We've been waiting a long time for this one. In the s you couldn't move for testosterone-fuelled action flicks that were light on plot but heavy on body count. These films made movie gods of Sylvester Stallone , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Bruce Willis and the like while at the same time cleaning up at the box office and teaching the youth of the world that a grenade was the best way to solve any argument.

Then the celluloid landscape changed. There's therefore been a gap in the market for a film filled with guns, knives and explosions; a gap that Stallone looks to fill with The Expendables , his big-budget action spectacular that immediately takes you back to those halcyon days of bad quips and mindless violence. It helps that Stallone takes the lead role of Barney Ross, cigar-chomping leader of a ruthless team of mercenaries available for the most dangerous of missions should the price be right.

Sly is just the right guy to lead this disparate band of brothers, allowing him to re-claim his action crown while at the same time gently sending up his former glories. Have you seen Rocky IV? Joe movie tie-in. The action is viewed from an isometric angle that lets you see a substantial portion of whatever environment you might be navigating, but in this case there are four heroes working together to deal pain to the seemingly endless waves of enemy goons instead of the usual two.

Those four heroes can be controlled either by real friends or by the computer, depending on your preferences and circumstances.

The available mercenaries each have two primary weapons they can switch between, as well as melee attacks and signature killing moves. Visually the character models resemble the characters in the film franchise, particularly Stallone's character, but the main reason to pick one mercenary over another is the primary weapon selection. Yin Yang carries a simple machine gun and some deadly throwing knives, while the bulkier Gunner Jensen can choose between a shotgun and a sniper rifle with a laser sight.

Barney Ross is a middle-of-the-road character, meanwhile, and Hale Caesar packs more explosive equipment than the other guys. They all start out quite strong these guys didn't get where they are due to misfiled paperwork , but you make them even stronger by purchasing skill and weapon upgrades with the experience points you earn while playing through the campaign.

Health, movement speed, and weapon effectiveness can all be enhanced slightly, just enough to make later stages less intimidating but not enough to make them too easy. The differences between a fresh character and one that has been powered may not be substantial, but upgrades still serve as a nice reward for your efforts.

If you've played games of this sort in the past, you shouldn't have much trouble with The Expendables 2 on the default Casual difficulty setting. There are a few places throughout the campaign where the action gets crazy enough that you might get unlucky and fail a mission, but generous checkpoint placement typically prevents you from losing much ground, and there usually are enough points of cover that four heroes are quite capable of cutting a swath through any enemy forces.

There's also the option of the Hardcore setting, if you think you're up to it. Whether you're playing with computer allies or with local or online friends, you can at least count on helpful support. Since the characters can't wander far from one another, assistance is usually not far away, and any human players will be happy to revive you, if only so they can keep advancing through a zone.

Your computer friends never stray significantly from your side, so typically you have to wait only a few seconds if your character meets an untimely end. Then someone will kneel over him, and with any luck, he'll be revived a few seconds later. You can also switch to any available computer-controlled player at the press of a button necessary in cases where you're playing alone and need to take control of Caesar to blast a gate with explosives , so there's not a lot of downtime.

Two tanks, one wall. The Expendables 2 can be simple fun, but some points could have benefited from more attention. Verdict The Expendables 2 just doesn't click as a package. It's never anything special. There's lots of action, but it's not exciting. There's an upgrade system, but it's uninteresting. There's a lot of content, but it's just the same stuff again and again.

If you want to shoot and clop through the battlefield with friends, cool, but you won't miss much if you skip The Expendables 2. Was this article informative?

YES NO. In This Article. The Expendables 2 Videogame. Control the ultimate elite mercenary force in The Expendables 2, a shooter based on the blockbuster franchise. Strong Language, Blood, Violence.