Mercenaries

"Calm like a bomb"

The demon days have come to North Korea. General Song, a nice guy who came to power by shooting his father in the head, has nuclear weapons and the desire to use them. The Allied Forces show up for a fight, but they're not alone. South Korea dreams of a unified country. China could use some more land. Even the Russian mafia skulks in. Five strong, rich powers in a single country, and each one wants the others dead.

Mercenaries drops you in the thick of it. Literally. You get dropped off a plane. While you're in an SUV. Sweet scene.

Before that, though, you have to choose one of three mercs. They've got different backgrounds. They've got different personalities and say different things. But, really, none of that matters. The bald black guy and the mohawked Swedish dude and the hot Chinese/British chick (my choice) all control the same way, with small differences in size and strength. It won't change a thing.

Aesthetics now aside, you're off to North Korea's demilitarized zone (DMZ) with orders to hunt Song and his officers, the Deck of 52. Get them, get him, get the $100,000,000 reward.

For most games, this would mean a long list of repetitive missions. Not Mercenaries. The Deck of 52 are scattered around the DMZ, but this isn't glorified hide-and-seek; there's big territory to cover. Impassable mountains, serene plains, winding valleys; some places are nothing but nature. But it's not a joyful scene; this is a war zone, and it looks like one. Crashed planes, burned buildings, craters where houses once were. It's stunning stuff, and only the fog, a heavy haze that North Korea could have in real life, mars it.

But it can be annoying. Walking anywhere takes hours. Cliffs and mountains box forces your paths; either take the low road and play it safe but slow, or take the high road and risk a fall. A ride is required, and it's simple to get; just wait on the road, hijack a passing car. But why settle for a Sedan when you could rock an SUV? A helicopter? Maybe a tank. Just look hard.

Before you decide, remember: Everyone hates everyone. Roll a North Korean transport into the Allied base, and…

BOOSH!!

…they might smoke you with a tank. You will learn to hate tanks.

The obvious answer is to jack a civilian car, but that might not be enough. You can take missions from any faction save North Korea, but the problem is that most missions have you killing other soldiers from other factions, which is bound to piss off their leaders. Working for the Russian mafia gets you in their good graces, true…but it also gives South Korea a reason to shoot you on sight, since the Russians keep paying you to blow up their bases. Making one faction happy means making another furious, and you only get back on the good foot with a little bribery.

It's not all your decision to make; the order you do the missions is up to you, but advancing the story and finding the Deck of 52 means you'll work for everyone eventually. But just because you can go random doesn't mean you should. Doing a mission for China that gets the Allies pissed might not sound like a bad idea, but what if your next mission for South Korea makes you go into Allied territory? Even if they're not your targets, they'll still hate you and they'll still shoot you. Mercenaries is about as strategic as an action game can get; every move made has to take the climate into account. It's manipulation, aggressive politics; keeping your friends close and your enemies far away.

Keep the Russians happy if you can, though. Not because they're any tougher than anyone else, but because they're your suppliers.

Need something, anything, and the Russians will provide. Health, ammo, cars, air strikes, whatever. Order it from the MERCHANT OF MENACE (love that name) website, transfer the money, and they'll send a helicopter to your position in seconds, dropping off the purchase.

It's a matter of preference; there's nothing you need, only things you think you need. Maybe you could use a rocket launcher, maybe you couldn't. Maybe a shotgun's good for the scenario, maybe it isn't. Whatever the demand, there is supply.

Observe: You're out to destroy a South Korean installation. You ride in with a SK transport so they don't notice, but that won't last once the killing starts. Can't be helped. You go for it, get out of the car and blast away with the rocket launcher, annihilating them.

Except for that tank behind the bunkers. You missed him. He doesn't miss you.

BOOSH!!

Try again. This time you smart up and bring a sniper rifle, subtler. Find a hill and start picking off the Koreans one by one by one.

Except for the tank. The one that moved away from the bunkers and spotted you on the hill.

BOOSH!!

One…more…time. Screw the rocket launcher, screw the sniping. Get near the base, call the MERCHANT OF MENACE, order a satellite strike, and watch as space missiles obliterate everything, instant kills.

Including that bastard in the tank.

Every mission is like that; every situation has a hundred approaches. Fly down with a helicopter and get the jump on them. Stroll in with one of their tanks and blow them ****less from within. Sneak in Solid Snake style, snapping necks. Hell, if you're far enough in the game and far enough from ground zero, you can forego the whole mess with a fuel bomb (a smaller, non-radioactive nuke) There's a hard way, an easy way, an easier way, a best way, and Mercenaries' is at its peak when you're figuring out which is which. Look at the situation, observe, plan. Factor in your resources, call for what you need. Come up with the best plan you can think of. Execute.

It could work or it could botch. But that's fine; Mercenaries focuses on trial and error. That'd be annoying as hell with most games, and it's not always grins here, either; Mercenaries has its frustrating moments. But it's never hopeless. There are no dead ends. There's always some way, some strategy, some spin that can turn the hardest mission into the easiest. Victory comes from ingenuity.

And it gets better. In normal times I wouldn't care much about a game's sound, at least not enough to give it much mention. But with Mercenaries, I'm giving full props. I'll be damned if something so amazing goes unmentioned.

Say what you want about George Lucas, but if a game has his name on it, that game is going to have amazing audio. No exception here. Forget the shifting musical score that changes tone to fit every situation; great as it is, you'll be hard-pressed to hear it over the rocking sound effects. The roar of jets zipping overhead. The shriek of an RPG missile bearing down on you. And when a fuel-bomb wipes some city off the map, it sounds (and looks) like hell is busting wide open. If you've got a good sound system, you need to plug it in, play this game, and TURN THAT **** UP

Great stuff, but it's just wrapping on a complete package; without the sound, Mercenaries is still a damn fine game. It's intense when you're fighting and intense when you're preparing to fight, so the substance is covered. The style comes with the vast environment and the thunderous noise you hear while tearing through it. Whether you gun's blazing or your mind's straining or your ear's ringing, the best of times are guaranteed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/27/06, Updated 01/30/06