“Mercenaries 2: World in Flames,” a new game by Pandemic Studios due to be released next year, is already igniting controversy. With tensions high at present between the United States and Venezuela, news of the game’s plot, which revolves around a group of mercenaries invading Venezuela to guarantee oil supplies for the US, received a less than favorable welcome in Caracas. Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel called the Bush administration “a government of gangsters, drug traffickers, and criminals” upon hearing about the game. However, the game’s developer insists that “Mercenaries 2: World in Flames” is merely a game and not a commentary on the state of world affairs, even though startling similarities exist between its plot and current events.