The overall graphics of this version of Mercenaries 2 looks much like a first or second generation PS2 title. One would think that the graphics would nearly rival some of the later released PS2 games, especially when the console has had some extremely eye-pleasing games recently such as God of War II or Final Fantasy XII, but this game seems to turn back the clock in terms of graphics. In-game textures for the environment are usually muddy and many of the buildings and other objects are blocky and unattractive. The game has a hazy look to it throughout gameplay. Everything runs smooth without any slowdown however, but most of the entire game has a simple appearance in terms of graphics.

The graphics can actually make some missions more frustrating than they should be, especially when trying to shoot an enemy that is far in the distance. There is one mission where you have to take control of a mortar gun inside of a helicopter while that helicopter flies you out of an area and it is VERY hard to make out the individual enemies on the ground - the ones with the rocket launchers. Along with the fact that there was no checkpoint and this was during the middle of the mission, this made that particular mission quite frustrating since I had to repeat it every time that the helicopter was taken down by nearly unseen enemies with rocket launchers.

Many of the missions are more frustrating than they actually should be on the first time through since sometimes it is hard to tell what you should actually be doing at some points. Match this up with the infrequent checkpoints and you might just get as frustrated as I did at some points. During escort missions, the partner does not tag along behind your character at the same speed, so you'll wind up having to wait on your partner every few running steps that you take if you are without a vehicle since a prompt will appear and tell you that your partner has lost track of you.

The enemy AI is really weak as well. Most enemies stand in place and fire, allowing you to simply gun them down while they pause to shoot. Sometimes they take cover, but they almost always step back out and stand still while they fire, to which you can simply casually aim and shoot with whatever weapon of your choice without any worry of having to run after them. The main challenge in gunfights comes from the total amount and positioning of the enemies on the screen.

The overall sound is engaging during cutscenes, but the main game is rather quiet. Enemies constantly spew out a few lines while attacking. The most popular is "It's (last name of character). Attack!" Explosions and rubble crashing sound effects are appropriate but overall the game seems very quiet for such an explosive action title.

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