Blowing things up in an open world was fun not long ago.

“Mercenaries 2: World in Flames” makes the prospect kind of a pain with an unpolished package of sandbox game play. As one of three guns for hire, you must balance allegiances to competing factions in war-torn Venezuela like a modern-day Yojimbo.

The Coen brothers' go-to weirdo Peter Stormare voices Mattias Nilsson, the Swedish protagonist grimacing on the game's cover. He and the other two choices, Christopher Jacobs and Jennifer Mui, offer only one unique battlefield asset (faster health regeneration, higher bullet capacity and faster running) in addition to the cosmetic differences.

Whomever the player chooses, the “Mercenaries” sequel places them in a sprawling Venezuelan city as the betrayed hired hand of a dictator who recently seized control of the country in a coup. The player completes murderous missions for each force: the people's liberation army, the locally based oil giant and intruding superpowers. As the conflict plays out, the protagonist's wallet thickens.

The Venezuelan cityscape is a well crafted blend of rocky hills, winding roads and skyscrapers. Though few interiors invite exploration, the surface is hardly sterile. But the absence of pedestrians cripples the liveliness of the sandbox. In the middle of the day, only five people may be seen passing on the downtown streets.

Most of the people who do populate the city are aligned with one of the factions and are likely to greet you with gunshots depending on your allegiances. “Mercenaries 2” introduces a touch of stealth to the sandbox formula by allowing players to drive the vehicles of a faction to blend in with it. Running missions for them and killing their foes helps too.

Combat is probably the weakest point of “Mercenaries 2.” Players can't hide behind objects in the environment because there is no cover system and no dedicated crouch button (only a halfway crouch while aiming). The enemies are controlled with an unintentionally comic AI that sends them running away in diagonal patterns as they fire at you. When they do fall within your cross-hairs, they react uniformly to bullet hits no matter which body part gets shot.

Though the tasks in “Mercenaries 2” can almost always be boiled down to a “Go here, kill this guy” outline, the game introduces strategic depth with its wide array of combat automobiles and helicopters. Missions can generally be accomplished in more ways than a typical sandbox game, and this openness gives way to the rewards of creativity.

The mission structure resembles that of “Grand Theft Auto” games in their openness, but “Mercenaries” tops the sandbox giant's formula by saving with each objection you accomplish. This setup saves the player the frustration of retracing their steps from a home start point to a mission assignment point to a mission start point.

As you navigate the environment between missions, you're sure to encounter several glitches in the game's physics. Cars steer the same no matter the surface - dirt, grass or pavement - and lightly bounce off boulders after hitting them head-on. They plow through foot-thick trees but stop dead at chain link fences.

A redundant loop of humorless soundbytes from the protagonist cancels out the mildly compelling soundtrack, and the game's graphic presentation floats by at a competent sharpness. The game is content to do the same.

David Wilcox

253-5311 ext. 245

david.wilcox@lee.net

If you play

Game: “Mercenaries 2: World in Flames”

Score: B-

Parental rating: T for language, use of alcohol, use of tobacco, violence

Publisher: EA

Developer: Pandemic Studios

Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PC

Price: $59.99

Play: Single, local multiplayer, online multiplayer

The final boss: “Mercenaries 2” wages war with a limp arsenal of lifeless sandbox play and plagued combat.