Mercenaries
Posted June 28, 2005
The Plot:
"Mercenaries" is certainly not a flawless game, but it also has to be one of the most incredibly addictive games that I've played in ages. Developed by Pandemic and produced by Lucasarts, "Mercenaries" puts the player in control of one out of a group of mercenaries that are available to choose from when the game begins. The mercenary is then dropped into North Korea, where they have to fight their way through a mission and then work their way back to Allied HQ. After that, the entire game opens up.
Gameplay:
Essentially, "Mercenaries" is a third-person shooter that offers elements of "Grand Theft Auto", but still feels original enough to stand out on its own. Your character is after the 52 North Korean militants that make up the deck of 52 "cards" that are your list of targets. They are scattered all over the landscape - sometimes you run into them randomly while in the midst of fighting other forces, sometimes you'll get information about them after completing a mission and sometimes, they'll be the target of a mission. Taking them out will get you a hefty bonus, but you get the full amount if you can bring them back in alive. This requires getting close enough to smack them, then take them down and handcuff them. After that, you signal for a pickup, throw the bad guy in the back of the chopper and then continue fighting as they're flown off.
Yet, there's so much else available to do in the game. The player can venture to the Allied, Chinese, Russian Mafia or South Korean HQ at almost any time in order to see if there are missions available. The completion of missions results in cash, potential information and more. However, although many of the missions are against North Korea, some are against another country, who will now be rather ticked at you and may consider you an enemy to fire upon if they spot you. However, you can always smooth things over if you make it to the country's HQ and bribe them. The only one to be really concerned about is the Russians, who will stop allowing you to order supplies from them if you become their enemy.
But wait, there's more - you can collect blueprints, lost treasures and more in order to get rewards. These objects are scattered across the landscape. The whole thing works extremely well - there's a lot to do (and I almost forgot timed solo races and other odd jobs to earn money) and a lot to choose from. When you're not doing any of the above, you're bound to run into opposing forces while just driving around - there's many times where you'll just be driving along and suddenly be confronted with a massive battle as you drive around a corner.
You travel with two weapons, which include many various kinds of guns and rocket launchers (including anti-air and anti-vehicle rockets) and two kinds of grenades, but once you unlock the shop in the game, you can get weapons and vehicles delivered to you, as well as order increasingly larger air strikes. You can grab any vehicle in the game and, once unlocked, order helicopters.
Furthermore, just about anything can be demolished in the game. Buildings can be taken down, statues exploded and bunkers busted. With the ability to do targeted strikes (resulting in an incredibly powerful blast, especially the carpet and cluster bombs) and use C4, anything can be demolished. Enemy vehicles blow up and spiral through the air like something out of a Michael Bay movie.
So far, so good...right? Well, "Mercenaries" is incredibly fun for the most part, but there are things that take away from the experience a bit. The main issue would be the enemy AI, which are good enough to present a mild challege, for the most part. However, they also do some incredibly dumb things, like shoot you with rockets when they're standing right next to you, taking themselves out in the process. Essentially, sometimes they'll be pretty bright at putting up a fight, sometimes not. Some other minor concerns include the controls for driving, which don't feel entirely natural, using the buttons to start and stop. The other major issue is that there's no multiplayer.
Overall, mild faults aside, I really dug "Mercenaries". There's a LOT to do here, the action is intense and the game is remarkably fun and addictive.
Graphics:
"Mercenaries" plays great and also, looks pretty terrific. The game's universe is pretty vast, and there are plenty of different areas. There's some pretty nice green areas, but there's also areas of smoggy, gray cities and brown, shelled backroads. The look of the game adds a great deal of atmosphere and is handled perfectly here, as there's a lot of detail and texture present in every single area. Character models are solid, and the vehicles look a little gritty, but good. There's minimal load times here, with the only real load times being if you don't make it and have to restart, starting missions and when you start the game - and even those are pretty minor. Framerate remains smooth, despite the fact that there's often a lot of action going on.
Audio:
"Mercenaries" offers a terrific audio presentation, with an epic-sounding score, well-recorded and forceful sound effects and clear dialogue. The dialogue is presented well by the series of voice actors, but some of the writing is a little corny. Overall, the audio presents the explosive action well and the score is definitely a key element in generating excitement.
Conclusion:
"Mercenaries" is rated "T" (Teen) for violence that's frequent, but not graphic enough for the "M" (Mature).
Final Thoughts: "Mercenaries" is highly addictive and incredibly entertaining. There's constantly a pretty wide selection of things to choose from to do, and the action is tense and terrifically presented. There's only a few issues, such as the enemy AI and that there's no multiplayer. Recommended.
"Mercenaries" is certainly not a flawless game, but it also has to be one of the most incredibly addictive games that I've played in ages. Developed by Pandemic and produced by Lucasarts, "Mercenaries" puts the player in control of one out of a group of mercenaries that are available to choose from when the game begins. The mercenary is then dropped into North Korea, where they have to fight their way through a mission and then work their way back to Allied HQ. After that, the entire game opens up.
Gameplay:
Essentially, "Mercenaries" is a third-person shooter that offers elements of "Grand Theft Auto", but still feels original enough to stand out on its own. Your character is after the 52 North Korean militants that make up the deck of 52 "cards" that are your list of targets. They are scattered all over the landscape - sometimes you run into them randomly while in the midst of fighting other forces, sometimes you'll get information about them after completing a mission and sometimes, they'll be the target of a mission. Taking them out will get you a hefty bonus, but you get the full amount if you can bring them back in alive. This requires getting close enough to smack them, then take them down and handcuff them. After that, you signal for a pickup, throw the bad guy in the back of the chopper and then continue fighting as they're flown off.
Yet, there's so much else available to do in the game. The player can venture to the Allied, Chinese, Russian Mafia or South Korean HQ at almost any time in order to see if there are missions available. The completion of missions results in cash, potential information and more. However, although many of the missions are against North Korea, some are against another country, who will now be rather ticked at you and may consider you an enemy to fire upon if they spot you. However, you can always smooth things over if you make it to the country's HQ and bribe them. The only one to be really concerned about is the Russians, who will stop allowing you to order supplies from them if you become their enemy.
But wait, there's more - you can collect blueprints, lost treasures and more in order to get rewards. These objects are scattered across the landscape. The whole thing works extremely well - there's a lot to do (and I almost forgot timed solo races and other odd jobs to earn money) and a lot to choose from. When you're not doing any of the above, you're bound to run into opposing forces while just driving around - there's many times where you'll just be driving along and suddenly be confronted with a massive battle as you drive around a corner.
You travel with two weapons, which include many various kinds of guns and rocket launchers (including anti-air and anti-vehicle rockets) and two kinds of grenades, but once you unlock the shop in the game, you can get weapons and vehicles delivered to you, as well as order increasingly larger air strikes. You can grab any vehicle in the game and, once unlocked, order helicopters.
Furthermore, just about anything can be demolished in the game. Buildings can be taken down, statues exploded and bunkers busted. With the ability to do targeted strikes (resulting in an incredibly powerful blast, especially the carpet and cluster bombs) and use C4, anything can be demolished. Enemy vehicles blow up and spiral through the air like something out of a Michael Bay movie.
So far, so good...right? Well, "Mercenaries" is incredibly fun for the most part, but there are things that take away from the experience a bit. The main issue would be the enemy AI, which are good enough to present a mild challege, for the most part. However, they also do some incredibly dumb things, like shoot you with rockets when they're standing right next to you, taking themselves out in the process. Essentially, sometimes they'll be pretty bright at putting up a fight, sometimes not. Some other minor concerns include the controls for driving, which don't feel entirely natural, using the buttons to start and stop. The other major issue is that there's no multiplayer.
Overall, mild faults aside, I really dug "Mercenaries". There's a LOT to do here, the action is intense and the game is remarkably fun and addictive.
Graphics:
"Mercenaries" plays great and also, looks pretty terrific. The game's universe is pretty vast, and there are plenty of different areas. There's some pretty nice green areas, but there's also areas of smoggy, gray cities and brown, shelled backroads. The look of the game adds a great deal of atmosphere and is handled perfectly here, as there's a lot of detail and texture present in every single area. Character models are solid, and the vehicles look a little gritty, but good. There's minimal load times here, with the only real load times being if you don't make it and have to restart, starting missions and when you start the game - and even those are pretty minor. Framerate remains smooth, despite the fact that there's often a lot of action going on.
Audio:
"Mercenaries" offers a terrific audio presentation, with an epic-sounding score, well-recorded and forceful sound effects and clear dialogue. The dialogue is presented well by the series of voice actors, but some of the writing is a little corny. Overall, the audio presents the explosive action well and the score is definitely a key element in generating excitement.
Conclusion:
"Mercenaries" is rated "T" (Teen) for violence that's frequent, but not graphic enough for the "M" (Mature).
Final Thoughts: "Mercenaries" is highly addictive and incredibly entertaining. There's constantly a pretty wide selection of things to choose from to do, and the action is tense and terrifically presented. There's only a few issues, such as the enemy AI and that there's no multiplayer. Recommended.