Mercenaries

"An Surprisingly Fun and Addictive Game"

Like Grand Theft Auto before it, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is a relatively free-roaming sandbox action game that pretty much allows you to do anything and go anywhere. The game takes place in a slightly altered version of North Korea, and the background for the game is basically that the fictional leader of North Korea has seen the beauty of democracy and wants to unite the two countries. South Korea is on board as well and things seem to be going pretty smoothly. However, the man's son, named Song, kills his father and takes over North Korea, ending any chance of uniting peacefully since Song seems intent to take South Korea by force. Later, the Australian Navy finds nuclear equipment on a smuggler's boat bound of North Korea and, almost immediately, North Korea is a hot zone.

The basic point of the game, aside from doing faction missions, is to find and verify(read: kill or incapacitate) North Koreans that are on the Deck of 52. Similar to the system currently in use in Iraq, there are 52 important players in the area and each one is ranked by importance, with the Ace of Spades being Song himself. Each card carries a bounty, with the bounties gradually getting higher as you proceed through the different suits. It's creative and, more importantly, it's a good system that encourages you to do some card-hunting outside of the faction missions.

Factions
A majority of the gameplay in Mercenaries involves factions. The factions are the Allied Nations(essentially the UN), China, South Korea, and the Russian Mafia. Each faction has its own goals and motives and working for one will often result in having to attack another. This can lead to a faction disliking you. The menu in the game gives you a handy little page that shows you your status with each faction. If you piss off a faction too much, they will begin to shoot you on sight. Luckily, you can easily bribe the faction's guard to get back in their good graces, or at least make it so they just dislike you.

Weapons
Mercenaries gives you a pretty decent arsenal to select from, from the standard Carbine to submachine guns, sniper rifles, several types of rocket launchers, and more. You're also given two types of grenades(frag and stun) and a healthy complement of C4. While there are quite a few different weapons, it often felt that there still weren't enough. You will likely find a decent gun early on and stick with it through most of the game.

Gameplay
This is where Mercenaries really shines. The game is, quite simply, a blast to play through. First, you pick one of three Mercenaries, although they don't really play all that differently. You're given high-powered weapons from the get-go and encouraged to plow through every enemy that crosses your path. The game is played from a third-person perspective and the aiming system works similar to a first-person shooter, with the left control stick managing character movement and the right one moving the camera. The aiming is miles above the system in use in Grand Theft Auto and makes your mercenary deadly both inside and outside of a vehicle.

The vehicles are also a blast to jack and maneuver, although the tanks control like Resident Evil characters. Also, tanks sometimes get snagged on nothing when crossing bridges, which can get pretty aggravating. Trees also become a problem where vehicles are concerned. For some reason, not even a tank can plow over a tree. When you hit one, you just stop dead, which led to more than one death during important missions. However, the sheer explosive power of the many types of tanks here make up for the shoddy control and tree issues. All of the vehicles tend to control tighter than in most other games and they definitely take some getting used to, but that definitely won't stop you from loving this game.

Probably the best aspect of the gameplay, though, is air strikes. Purchased from the Merchant of Menace(run by the Russian Mafia), there are about sixteen different types of strikes, unlocked gradually as you play through. They range from artillery to stealth bomber strikes to cruise missiles and are all damn fun to watch. However, air strikes can be very expensive, which encourages you to catch as many cards as you can to earn up enough money to have plenty of fun. Money is very easy to come by, though, as halfway through the game I had already accumulated over five million dollars.

Overall, the gameplay here is nothing that hasn't been seen before in other franchises, but it does perfectly meld the style of Grand Theft Auto with better graphics, more fire-power, and a above-average aiming system.

Story
This is where Mercenaries tends to disappoint. While you're given an intriguing back story, once you get into North Korea all you get is the occasional FMV cut scene after you capture or kill and Ace card. Really, aside from the interaction between the factions and what you read in the manual, there is no story to speak of.

Graphics
Mercenaries is a beautiful game, particularly for a game so large. While the areas are nowhere near as filled as those found in Grand Theft Auto, they look much better. The maps(there are two, with the second being unlocked after you capture the Ace of Diamonds) are large and it takes a considerable amount of time to drive from one side to the other. The draw distance is good as well. The vehicles all look great and the characters, particularly yours as well as faction leaders, are all highly detailed. Explosions are fiery and amazing, even in the physics are pretty exaggerated(it's all in the name of explosive fun). Buildings fall in a cloud of dust and flying rubble.

The only real problem with the graphics comes when you start flying a helicopter around. The ground becomes all muddled and, if you fly too high, you can't really see much of anything. However, flying close to the ground(or up to about the tops of the buildings) still looks as good as any other part of the game.

Sound
As far as sound is concerned, Mercenaries does a pretty good job. Most of the characters are voiced well, and hearing people yell/speak in other languages is always a plus in a game like this. The only annoyance here is the voice of Fiona, who is your contact throughout the game. I got used to her after a while, but at first couldn't stand her. The guns all sound pretty suitable(not great, but not bad), and the explosions sound good as well. Overall, nothing amazing but not disappointing either.

Replayability
Mercenaries is a game that will see incredibly varying play times. If you just play through the missions it is probably about a twenty hour game. If you decide to find all of the cards and secrets, though, it will easily stretch to thirty or maybe even forty. There is a ton to do here and new things are unlocked by finding the secrets, including cheats that allow you to play as Han Solo or Indiana Jones. Also, since each of the characters controls a bit differently, you may feel compelled to play though again with a different strategy, which only adds to the game's replay value. There's a ton to do here and plenty of time to do it.

Conclusion
Overall, Mercenaries is one of those games that hooked me right from the start. While it's not the best game I've ever played and it probably won't win any awards, it lets you sit down and have a genuinely good time playing. You can sit with your friends and, like in Grand Theft Auto, take turns going on rampages and have fun, or you can go through the missions and have just as much fun(there are frustrating missions, yes, but never so frustrating that I quit playing for long). Mercenaries is the type of game that would be hard to beat in a weekend, especially if you plan on unlocking everything. I would heartily recommend a purchase to anyone who loves action games or GTA games.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/05