Mercenaries

"This is your chance to go commando on evil Korean people!"

Introduction: This game was anticipated, highly. I was thinking So com with vehicles. I was wrong. In this game, you can go anywhere on a huge map, and fight just about any one. You can commando a small team of men and fight back thousands of people with one machine gun. This game has to be one of the best shooters. And you'll find out why if you read on!

Graphics: The best. I'm going to say that right up front. You won't find anything better looking then this game. Cars look so real, I almost spit out the soda I was drinking. Tires are 100% round. And the characters look so life like it isn't funny. The mouths move when your characters talk, even outside of cut scenes. And all the guns sound so real, its like guns were shot in a sound room for this game. Even the bazooka! There is zero slow down, well, besides when its you with a jeep of men vs thousands of swarming Koreans with bazookas flying everywhere. But in machine gun only battles its all fine. Helicopters look grand. The blades spin in the air, and you even can see the side guns move as the allied soldier inside moves the turret. The only problem I have with the graphics is when you fire the Gatling guns on the side of a transport helicopter, the rotating barrels don't move. The environment in this game has to be the most detailed environment ever made in a video game. The mounts all look real. Wind kicks up and leaves flutter through the air, wind blows dirt and sand in all directions when you land on sandy ground while trying to drop of soldiers to hold off enemies. The buildings all can be blown up, and that looks fantastic. The explosions are real, its weird. The explosions are real explosions with a layer of 3D added to it, or so the makers said. Just picture real life in a video game. Thats what you get in this game. 10/10

Sound: The sounds in this game are good. Think So com gun sounds. All the gun sounds are perfectly made. The cars sound perfect, and the voice-overs are the best in any game. You won't find any better. From shooting a bazooka into a marine to crashing a jeep into a lake, all the sounds are wonderful. You might find some flaws, like tires spinning out and making large squeal noises when you turn slightly. And also the Gatling guns sound strange. But, basically, they pwn. But who doesn't want to hear thousands of people scream as you lay down a carpet bombing on a city? Thats the best. 8/10

Story: Your a Mercenary (Commando looking for money) on a mission to take down the deck of 50 (Terrorists) and win one hundred million dollars. You can work for many different company's, or just travel around and fight as much as you want. Your main objective is to take out all 50 terrorists in combat, capture or kill them, and call in evacuation to take them away. Pretty cool plot. 7/10

Game play: You haven't played anything like this game before. You pick one of 50+ vehicles, take some marines, Mafia members, or any other allied soldiers, and drive around mowing down all who oppose you. If you do jobs for say, America against the Mafia, the Mafia won't like you as much because you killed some of their men. So everything is on a level of friendship. So if you are 100% allies for the Mafia, and then go to an American outpost for a Job, and they tell you to fight the Mafia, the Mafia won't like you as much. And there's the Chinese, and the South Koreans. Not just America and the Mafia. I just can't explain the game play. Its like a real war. You can die easily. Bombs land near you, wind kicks up, bullets fly, vehicles go boom. The only problem is you can't man a weapon while a fellow soldier flies the plane, or car! But of course their are some missiles and machine guns you can control, but most of the time, in vehicles, your allies man them. The AI in this game is great too. Allies jump behind dirt mounds, cars, boxes, or whatever is there for protection. They throw grenades, and jump into un-manned machine gun turrets in the battlefield. And whats so cool about this game is that say 15 marines are fighting back 200 North Koreans, and your losing, you can always jump into an APC and go to an outpost and fetch more soldiers. This game is just so good. 10/10

Replay: Okay, I can say this very shortly. There is so much, it sky rockets through the roof and destroys the moon while flying out of this Universe. You won't stop playing this game!

Final Recommendation: Buy it! Now! Don't rent it, you'll just buy it after then. Believe me, you will need to get this game. Now, stop reading this review and buy it, now!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/08/05