'Mercs Inc' officially announced, developed by Pandemic at EALA
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Nov 24th 2009 at 3:48PM } 
According to EA senior VP and group GM, Nick Earl, the swift announcement "demonstrates our continued commitment to Pandemic's rich catalog of intellectual properties." As the press release innocently points out, "Mercs Inc will also be the first Pandemic game" to be released after this December's The Saboteur, the last Pandemic game. Oh, the previous one, we mean.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ben @ Nov 24th 2009 3:51PM
So that makes 3 mercinary style games by EA. Talk about an egg heavy basket.
The Pirate @ Nov 24th 2009 4:01PM
MW2 makes it 6 Call of duty games for Activison, Guitar hero van Halen makes it...9, 290 Guitar hero games for Activison
Ben @ Nov 24th 2009 4:07PM
First off i never said Activision is'nt guilty of this too. Secondly, i don't care.
No Kill Tayler @ Nov 24th 2009 4:07PM
isn't*
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 24th 2009 4:08PM
Well you cared enough to comment soooooo....shut up?
Dreaded Fear @ Nov 24th 2009 8:38PM
Looks fun, I'll play.
There are:
4 God of War games
9 Ratchet and Clank games
8 Battlefield games
5 Halo games
13 Mario games
14 Zelda games
etc...
Ask someone who enjoys those games if they care that there are a lot of sequels, and they will tell you to fuck off.
The Aquacharger (PSN:Elvenmonk) @ Nov 24th 2009 9:36PM
BULLSHIT to 14 marios! There's no way there's that few.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 24th 2009 3:52PM
Give it to me at a budget price and I'm down ... no more than $29.99 and I'll buy it assuming it's fun.
Sly @ Nov 24th 2009 3:53PM
so we're getting this but not battlefront 3? WTF?!
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] ATDFs Financier and Batman @ Nov 24th 2009 3:54PM
they know just how to cut to my core
Ben @ Nov 24th 2009 3:56PM
A live compatible Battlfront 3 would get me off MW2. Thats really the only thing that can.
Sandmonkey @ Nov 24th 2009 4:06PM
Didn't they already announce it? And anyway they JUST announced this game, that doesn't mean they totally forgot about BF3 (Which is a must buy for me), they might just have another team working on it. 24 of Pandemic's staff was transfered, so maybe there is like, 12 on this game (with help from EALA) and 12 on BF3 (with help from EALA).
Sly @ Nov 24th 2009 4:08PM
if battlefront 3 had:
-32 OR 64 player online (doesn't matter which, both would be good)
-ground to air to space combat (fight anywhere you want)
-customization like renegade squadron (i thought it was cool)
then it would probably take me away from MW2, which is much easier said than done.
Sandmonkey @ Nov 24th 2009 4:08PM
@Ben
Aren't you forget about the awesomeness that is VIVA FUCKING PINATA 3?!
Sly @ Nov 24th 2009 4:08PM
and no, they didn't announce anything. a listing was on amazon for a while, but that's pretty much it.
Ben @ Nov 24th 2009 4:09PM
yeah that totally slipped my mind.
Sandmonkey @ Nov 24th 2009 4:13PM
@Sly
Oh, my mistake, so yeah, now I am pissed. I think I might take it out on my Cinnamonkey piñata.
AoE @ Nov 24th 2009 4:25PM
Sly.... you, um.. you DO realize that EA doesn't own the rights to the Battlefront series, don't you? I just ask because I am wondering why EA would work on someone else's IP, an IP by the way that was last worked on by Rebellion (who for the record are not Pandemic and are not owned by EA)? Is this just the vogue thing on game blogs now, mentioning franchises developers no longer have any ties to when a franchise the developer in question does still have ties to is brought up?
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 24th 2009 4:33PM
@AoE
I believe the long standing rumor was that Pandemic had taken the reigns of the SW Battlefront series from Rebellion.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172336
Sly @ Nov 24th 2009 4:59PM
the rumor was that pandemic was in charge of BF3. that, and the BF games by pandemic were better than the rebellion ones.
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] ATDFs Financier and Batman @ Nov 24th 2009 5:17PM
i thought free radical had the BF3 rights along with rebellion, and then the rights went exclusively to rebellion after FR closed?
Sly @ Nov 24th 2009 5:20PM
oh yeah, i remember the free radical one too. strange that the older pandemic one came to my mind before that...
Filthy Assistant @ Nov 24th 2009 8:49PM
Ben, that makes 5 Battlefront games by Lucasarts. Talk about an egg heavy basket.
NitroMikeo @ Nov 24th 2009 4:06PM
Yeah.. erm.. Good luck with that..
Cj @ Nov 24th 2009 4:10PM
After the shittastic Mercenaries 2, I will never even consider playing another Mercs game.
Sandmonkey @ Nov 24th 2009 4:14PM
I don't think it was that bad, I thought it was like GTAIV, but with cheats activated at all times.
Cheesus Crust @ Nov 24th 2009 5:19PM
This is a different game by a different developer. Considering the old dev was pandemic, this game can only be better
Brent Schmidt @ Nov 24th 2009 4:17PM
Is this based on that old MERCS game on Sega? If so... awesome. I friggin loved that game, especially the flame thrower weapon.
Sandmonkey @ Nov 24th 2009 4:21PM
No, its based off EA Mercenaries series,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenaries:_Playground_of_Destruction
There yah go.
AoE @ Nov 24th 2009 4:28PM
Brent Schmidt, I have EXCELLENT news for you, the Mercs you remember (aka Commando) actually did get an excellent sequel in 2008 in the form of Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3. It's, i think a $10 download title for XBLA & PSN. It's awesome, and has co-op. Here's the wikipedia entry for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_3
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 24th 2009 4:16PM
EA, making properties off of dead franchises isn't the way to go back to profitability...
Sandmonkey @ Nov 24th 2009 4:22PM
Well, I guess you could call this one a Zombie.
HighFiveJesus @ Nov 24th 2009 4:25PM
Needs to be very multiplayer oriented and possibly online or else the wii crowd will not care.
Bobs @ Nov 24th 2009 4:26PM
I can't believe I bought Mercs 2 when it came out ... I loved the first one so much that my inner 5 year old douchebag wanted the game really badly ...
fucking eh man ... fucking eh....
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] ATDFs Financier and Batman @ Nov 24th 2009 5:51PM
the first one was incredible, i beat that more times than any other game. There was nothing quite like flying in on a chopper, killing a bunch of guys, and then loading an HVT into your hummer for exfil. Man, what went wrong with the 2nd?
The Aquacharger (PSN:Elvenmonk) @ Nov 24th 2009 9:40PM
Is the first one good? I t ried the demo to the second one, and hated just everything about it. Especially when I'd kill someone in a tank, take over it, then hop out. Turn the camera away from the tank then back to it and the tank is shooting at me.
Alex @ Nov 24th 2009 11:19PM
#1. Horrible hit detection hit boxes
#2. EA servers will have major Lag problems
#3. Go ahead buy a buggy game from a Studio that has been shutdown don't expect any patches
#4. Another example of EA buying a studio then ruining the IP like they did with Westwood and C&C and
#5. That game looks horrible
#6. Guy on foot with a hand gun survives a chopper shooting him wonderful
#7. $59.99 for that??? plus tax
#8. Need I remind the gaming community of our secret not so secret Embargo against EA IP's Its been 10 years plus and I have never purchased an EA game or given money to EA.
#9. Wait 2 months and Mercs Inc. will be $19.99 Bargain bin.
#10. During the launch window in 2010 there will be 3 other way superior games
Hooch @ Nov 24th 2009 5:04PM
You're a tool, that was a pre-development trailer, hence why it looked lacking in the graphixs department. Also, the game most likely would be supported with patches as the members of pandemic working on it have been employed by EA.
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] ATDFs Financier and Batman @ Nov 24th 2009 5:04PM
Our embargo? It seems like it's just you crazy man. EA's had some great IPs. Maybe if people bought more dead space, mirror's edge and the actual good games, there'd be less madden and less this. You reap what you sow. But seriously, horrible hit boxes? What the fuck? Is that suppoed to apply to every EA game ever?
PandemicFan @ Feb 5th 2010 6:37PM
Well, I think this game might have a chance, especailly since its by Pandemic(originally anyway) which, may I be the one to tell you, made a great series with Destroy All Humans 1, 2, and 3/4. My main complaint? It on Xbox/PS3. WHY IS EVERYONE FORGETTING ABOUT PC!!!!! Oh well, anyway my other complaint is that theres so many people complaining about graphics(and spelling it wrong half the time, wtf?) its a demo, stop complaining, besides in my veiw HL1 didnt have prahics like today and thats STILL an awesome game, along with CS 1.6. Hopefully EA wont f*** this game up like they did some others(however they do have some great titles).