Mercenaries

"Who says guns aren't toys?"

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is considered to be a GTA clone, at it is, to a certain point. You are free to work for who you want, take any vehicle you want, and basicly do whatever you want. And, what's a playground without toys? This is a great game that supplies lots of those. On to the review:

Story: 8/10
You are in North Korea, trying to capture it's leader, the most dangerous man in the world, General Song. YOu must work for different people while searching for the wanted "Deck of 52" Prety decent story.

Control: 7/10
The controls are a bit confusing and take some getting used to, especialy if you're used to playing GTA, but once you get used to them, you'll be mowing down North Koreans like dandelions.

Sounds/Graphics: 10/10
Nice graphics. Really nice. The environment is detailed and beautiful, the people look great, and the destruction is nice, thanks to the game's physics engine. When a building is destroyed, smoke rises from underneath and debris flies about, and you can actually be hurt by the debris. The shouts of the foreigners sound neat, and the voice acting is nicely done. The music fits in with who you are working for and what you are doing. The theme song is great, and the guns and ricochets and explosions sound real. The cash register sound you hear every time you blow up a North Korean vehicle adds some humor. No complaints here.

Gameplay: 10/10
This is one fun game. Think of it as a more serious, more realistic, military style GTA. Like GTA 2, you can work for several people and working for one of them will make others mad at you, and killing members of a faction will naturaly have them regard you as a threat and have desires that include seeing you in a body bag or full of holes. Basicly, make one faction angry, and they will cap you and then you'll be really sorry. North Koreans are always hostile to everybody, so causing them or the faction they hate misfortune in front them will make them like you again. You can also pay your way out of an early grave at the faction's head quarters. The game has a unique physics engine. If you fire a rocket at a North Korean jeep, it gets blown way away. Or, if you crash a heavy armored car into a civilian car, you're both going to fly. There are lots of "toys" (weapons and vehicles of death) that can be bought from the " online toy store"
( online Russian black market), ranging from pistols to bunker buster air strikes to portable air strikes. You are free to use these however you want, and when you find a member of the Deck, you can take him in dead or alive, so that means if he's standing under the roof of a building, you can bring it all down on and crush him like an ant underneath a boot. If you need extra cash, you can blow up North Korean vehicles for a small reward or bring in cars for the Russians. While not as deep as GTA, it is still very enjoyable. It's nice to be able to actually blow up buildings for a change. A very fun game that will keep you hooked.

Replayability: 9/10
Awesome, awesome game that is worthy of a greatest hits title. Finding all members of the Deck will take a while, and so will completing all of the missions. There are two full maps in the game, and once you beat it, there's the Playground of Destruction mode, where you keeps all of your stuff from the last game. You could be hooked for some time.

Rent or Buy: It's worth at least a rental before shelling out the full price of the game, there is no guarantee that you will like this game, but if you do, buy it. You won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/05