The Expendables 2 Video Game review

The Expendables 2 Video Game is a prequel to the outlandish movie featuring mostly aged action stars and sees you and up to three friends locally or online seeking to rescue a very valuable hostage. Think of it as a cross between Ikari Warriors and Smash TV and you’ll be someway there. As you’ve probably guessed you move using the left stick and shoot independently with the right stick as waves of enemies circle and flank you and try to end your fun with a stream of bullets. You can choose from one of four characters from the movie, each with their own special weapons and abilities. For example Caesar is needed to blow holes in things and Yang is very handy with his knife. As you gain XP through fighting you can then upgrade your characters and guns with extra speed, health and ammo etc. You can also pick up heavy weapons on the field such as bazookas and machine guns that should help if you’ve run out of grenades.

Sounds fun doesn’t it? The problem comes in the fact that it isn’t. Presentation’s not actually that bad considering the sound-alike voice acting is so bad (and if it is actually Stallone and co. it sounds like they phoned them in), it’s just that the action isn’t very well executed and doesn’t vary throughout the 20 or so levels. You’ll be regularly swamped by enemies and when you die there’s the chance for a team mate to rescue you, however despite icons at your feet it’s extremely confusing to see what’s going, especially when the action’s covered up by all the icons at the bottom of the screen. Button pushes to pick up weapons or melee attack enemies are also unresponsive so getting through the game largely feels like luck and an act of attrition. In fact the most fun sections are the on-rails shooting sections.

You may get something out of this if you like budget mindless shooters but you’d be better off paying a bit more and getting something that feels less rushed out in time to meet a movie deadline. It gets a woeful 3 out of 10.

Related: top down shooters, The Expendables 2 Video Game review on Youtube