'Mercenaries 2: World in Flames' is on a movie-like mission

— -- Think of Mattias Nilsson as gaming's Rambo. While their motives differ, the two action stars thrive in insanity and create chaos.

Mattias' latest outing is Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, an open-world war zone packed with the explosions and fireworks of summer blockbusters.

The sequel to Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction shifts the action from Korea to another hotspot: Venezuela. Hungry for oil, a dictator overthrows the government and seizes control.

Throughout the game, your character works for different groups, playing them against the other all in the name of profit.

When you first begin, you choose to be one of three mercenaries: Mattias, the heavily-armed Chris Jacobs, and the speedy Jennifer Mui.

You arrive in Venezuela with your own private military corporation, accepting contracts from factions like oil companies and resistance groups.

Much like the original, Mercenaries 2 sticks to the core goal of blowing things to smithereens. The surprising part is it never gets old, thanks to the spectacular explosions on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. When you decimate a building, it slowly crumbles to the ground as waves of smoke seep from the wreckage. A thunderous boom and bright flash follow fuel tank blasts, leveling everything in the vicinity.

The game also makes you feel like you're in an action film. You could be in a summer blockbuster as you rescue a top-level official with Universal Petroleum. The mission: Protect him as he collects key files from a nearby outpost.

Of course, Venezuelan forces are not pleased by your presence. They surround the area. While the official takes cover, you scale a multi-tier platform to find a grenade launcher. Explosions litter the landscape as you wipe out oncoming troops, but they're still pushing hard. Head to the very top of the platform for a better view.

That's when an enemy helicopter approaches. Normally, the reaction would be to shoot. But a grapple icon appears. Fire away to hitch a ride, then hijack the chopper in mid-air. After finishing off a couple more opponents, rush the official onboard and zip away.

That's another highlight in Mercenaries 2: The bevy of weapons, tools and support strikes allows you to complete missions any way you want. Commandeer tanks and mow over forces. Storm into enemy camp with guns and RPGs blazing. Need to destroy buildings? Grab some C-4, or sit back and call in a bombing run.

Missions and stockpile management are handled through your PDA. A map details faction locations and side missions, like target elimination or enemy captures. Completing missions bolsters your cash flow, which you can use to buy weapons or support requests. You can manage the stockpile and decide which commands to have ready on the directional pad.

You'll also recruit a squad to assist with the mayhem, including a mechanic, a helicopter pilot for transport, and a jet pilot for air assaults. New to the series is online cooperative play, in case you want to share the havoc with a friend.

There are some unsatisfying quirks, though. Enemy behaviors are odd. They tend to fire for a couple seconds, then stop long enough for you to kill them. Random bugs pop up periodically as well. You can detonate buildings, but it's almost impossible to walk through heavy brush.

The checkpoint structure is annoying too. If you die after reaching a checkpoint, you restart from the beginning of that mission, not at the spot you fell. That forces you to waste time traveling back past all the work you've done.

Mercenaries 2 is like that outrageous action movie that isn't impressive for its story but will wow you with its over-the-top battlefield antics.