Mercenaries 2 officially furloughed until Q1 '08

Days after Ubisoft announced that Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway has taken a detour to 2008, another major game's delay is now official. Pandemic reps have confirmed to GameSpot that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is cooling its jets until the first quarter of next year. The confirmation comes three weeks after the delay was first rumored.

"We're not adding new features or content at this point," said the Pandemic official. "We are using the extra time to make sure that the game is 100 percent polished and truly shines as the best next-gen, open-world experience on any gaming system to date."

In development for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and PC, Mercenaries 2 is a follow-up to 2005's critically acclaimed Xbox and PS2 shooter Mercenaries. Like its forebear, the game will feature an open-world war zone where players may roam freely, sowing destruction as a paramilitary gun-for-hire. Set in a fictional near-future Venezuelan civil war, the game drew critical raves when it was shown at E3, as can been seen in GameSpot's most recent preview.