Picked the up the other day, and haven't had a ton to time to dedicate
to it (I'm on the 3rd or 4th mission) and so far the game is an
absolute blast.
I don't want to spoil anything, but there have already been lots of

http://www.fileplanet.com/192036/190000/fileinfo/Mercenaries-2:-World-in-Flames-Demo
Also: straight link to file (don't all rush now !)
http://gamedaily.newaol.com/pub/Mercs2_DemoSetup.exe
And elsewhere no doubt.

I can't say I like the way I'm ordered around at the start.  Do this, do
that, etc.  Does it ever get to a point where I can just take missions I
want and explore at my leisure?

Some spoiler space for those who haven't played very far.
.
.
.

I tried Oblivion, but could not stand how everything had that shiny,
wet plastic look.
Are Specular Highlights the culprit?
When I played Stalker on full dynamic lighting, i loved that game -

Please read the following article:-
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/idiocy-of-games-drm.ars
A real blast of fresh air in PC gaming is coming from Poland.
Here is a copy of a public announcement that expands on the background

There (game magazines, FO3 devs) are sure talking a LOT about the
weapons.
They don't talk much about the story and content. It's a lot of hype
about all the ways to kill someone, and VATS.

So .... once again, all our video cards are obsolete.
johns

...if a little like COD4 MP...
http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/far-cry-2-/913326p1.html
Highlights include day and night versions of the same maps and being able to
use a flamethrower to burn stuff.

I think this might apply more towards MMO's as most FPS games pretty
much look like their intro movie counterparts.
The intro movies for WOW, LOTRO, etc. are incredible. Makes me wish
the in-game was the same.

I'm looking for a "decent" multiplayer FPS game that still has people
playing.
By "decent" i mean non-TF2, non-COD4 kiddie multiplayer FPS with
ducking/hopping/knifing grenading.

I quite enjoyed Rainbow Six series and Counter Strike, even though CS
was a bit more "arcadey".
I thought Stalker would be fun in multiplayer, but the maps were too
small. (at least when the game first came out).

I'm playing the game on a 8800GT with the 175.19s under Vista and I'm
seeing a grey 'mask' or band running horizontally across the lower half of
the screen
when I use the RMB i.e. when I use ironsights or scope. Nothings overclocked

Tough game on 'vietnam' difficulty!  The last couple levels have you first
travel through a bombed-out village to reach a pickup point, through hordes
of dug-in enemies; took many many deaths to figure out a reliable strategy
for that section, namely having my squad stay on one ...

No, this is not the next PC RETARD like rant. A game developer (none
that is well known, but still...) asked this question to the pirates and
he got some really interesting answers:
<http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html>