Score
Gameplay:	8
Graphics:	7
Sound:	7
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	8
Overall:	7.6

Mercenaries Review
March 9, 2005 by Simon Priest

by Simon Priest - March 8, 2005

North Korea, a hardened communist slice of Asia ever determined to forcefully reunite Korea, finally extends a promising gesture of co-operation. President Kim whilst in hot negotiations for the 'Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea' to accept much needed foreign aid and investment, is allegedly killed by his own ambitious son; General Choi Song. With a new insidious dictator at the helm, all foreign workers and embassy staff are expelled and peace talks cut, but the new leader’s regime itself is soon on the hot plate as Royal Australian sailors discover a dark nuclear secret. Allied forces smash their way into North Korea, securing deadly silos and engaging insurgent troops all the way. But the threat has arisen again, but with everyone wanting a piece of the DPRK pie, it’s time the private sector takes action away from prying eyes of the public. ExOps, has chosen a mercenary to single handily spearhead their presence and bring General Song to an end, with a cool rewarding $100 million pay check.

See you on the playground, Mercenary.

Mercenaries is an Action Shooter game. Set in North Korea, you take the role of a mercenary in the employ of ExOps, a privately funded mercenary group with money on its mind and yours. Cash talks, but it also buys lots of cool weapons and cars, there is certainly no exception here. A simple matter, the more $ you earn, the easier the life of your chosen mercenary can become later in the game, should you decide to call in an air strike, perhaps an artillery barrage or maybe a bunk buster? You start off being deployed in the most dangerous area of the demilitarised zone, with your immediate goal to reach and make contact with the Allied Forces. After violently despatching with a troupe of NK forces I valiantly approach more friendly lines under artillery bombardment. I felt the tension and conflict of North Korea summed up in this short time and knew there were plenty of good times ahead of me. Each main 'bad guy' has been designated a number and suit from a deck of cards, its up to the player whether they choose to kill the target or go for the more high risk approach and bag ‘em, securing you top dollar for your work. Now I must admit I prefer to capture all the targets myself, not only for the bounty but because you get to call in an extraction helicopter. A word of warning to players, don’t call in for a hot LZ, in fact even watch out for the cold ones. The number of times I was just about to load aboard the captive and the helicopter AI suddenly forgets their flying lessons and collides with something, possibly wiping you out along with it!

The AI in the game is good, but also at certain points can be an area for concern. Though humorous at times, I have witnessed one or two air units play a game of 'air chicken' resulting in death for anyone caught below. Stealth can be a great asset, especially when dealing with a deck of 52 and their varying posse. Another strength of sticking to the shadows is that you can crack of a few well placed shots at your friendly factions without incurring their wrath, except this area is still rather grey as after a while it may decide to deduct faction points without you actually having been caught. On a general note the interaction between factions is commendable, with one second filled with peace and tranquillity, then the next out of nowhere an entourage of NK troops come face to face with Allied Forces, let the expensive rockets and good times fly! You can truly immerse yourself among the playground when you come across numerous hotspots, once such area is a volatile mixture of South Koreas, Chinese and North Koreans, the fun is almost limitless for those who enjoy dabbling in a little battle lust, me for one.

A somewhat rare element to such a game is 'disguise', should you enter a factions vehicle without notice you can adopt their colours. A brilliant addition, allowing you to sneak into faction restricted zones or just to penetrate enemy lines without drawing too much attention, though careful with the horn. You can rally nearby friendly units with the sound of the vehicles horn, though this will immediately take away your cunning façade. Depending on the type of transport you’re in, your new friends can either be passengers or mount available weapon or turret points ready to do battle. Hijacking is another intricate part of the whole game, without it quite frankly sir/madam you’re cooked! The amount of times this move has saved my bacon, well I certainly couldn’t accurately count the number of times I pulled these moves on the enemy or indeed allies. Much to my frustration, when your mercenary takes critical damage you enter an 'adrenaline' mode, where the game slows down allowing you a few seconds more to assess your situation and act accordingly, well at least in theory. The trouble is, though this has allowed me to high tail it; it can be a hindrance just as much as several times have I been smashing my controller button almost screaming at the screen to hijack that damn tank remodelling my facial area to no avail. Dealing me a final blow and ending up at the Allied M.A.S.H., I also felt certain areas notorious for NK spawning are a little too hard to break in, though certainly a wash of satisfaction has overcome me once I captured the smug little 52 Decker! Controls are easy to pickup, they feel well into the player and you’ll be up and running full steam in no time. Vehicle handling is very well thought out, though careful with the handbrake as it can lead you to places you don’t want to go.

So many explosions, so many pretty flames.

This game graphically is not on the cutting edge of technological prowess, this isn’t about to knock Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 about. Yet the engine and detail bring enough power and creative potential to make the realm around you feel comfortably plausible. It may not have developers putting in a single blade of grass one piece at a time on a large field, and yes most of the terrain is a flat texture, but you certainly wouldn’t notice it to be disappointed. There is plenty of foliage, trees, and rocks enough to make you think; hey this is one place I’m kinda love kicking the cash out of!

Being a very rocky and mountainous landscape, the general job of environment handling I suppose in many ways has been made a lot easier for development; don’t take that as an insult to the game as I can assure you it’s not. Flying over certain areas or even driving about you can suddenly be hit a fog or mist, adding to the realism and feeling more part of the World. The weather effects are a nice touch, and some locations have been beautifully crafted together such as the temple within the Northern Province sporting a rather symbolic, hidden depth and mystique to North Korea that you wouldn’t normally think of past the violence and big payloads. Given the sometimes shear volume of action on the screen, one area had to take the brunt of such an element which is, yes the graphics. Without such a sacrifice, you couldn’t witness the mass mayhem and delights of watching countless scout buggies, helicopters and tanks exploding left and right, with realistic fire and explosion sequences I haven’t seen utilised for quite some time. I believe Pandemic Studios researched the right balance of graphical beauty and what they wanted the game to be able to pull off within console limitations, and knocked the combination right on the head.

Say what? I can't get this ringing out my ears.

Ah what could be better than the sound of men screaming like girl scouts after just having caught the wrong end of my grenade? Indeed the sound is good in Mercenaries; in fact in some areas it’s better than good. When action hits the screen so does the audio drama, streams of explosions, gunfire, helicopter rotor blades, tanks moving, turrets turning all add to the realism of the simulated war zone. The only part that seems to make the game stumble just a little is the lack of conviction within the voices themselves, and by that I mean the main characters. Look you maybe a Russian Mafia boss with international connections, on the verge of controlling all crime within North Korea, but you just don’t inspire me. This isn’t true for all however, but some character voiceovers could have been touched up, after all we are in the middle of a war here you know! The sound of propaganda within the towns and villages really does make you feel apart of the place, hearing Korean spouting of this and that, reminds me of the Vietnamese tactics used against the US troops. On the whole the sound does credit to the game; the music is appropriate and gives the general feel of tension in the air and how your jeep could be trash any second if you don’t keep your eyes on the road.

You charge how much for a Surgical Strike?

Fun, it's all about the enjoyment you receive. Does this game make you feel better knowing that you've invested hours and hours into it or does it give you the realisation you're wasting away your life? Well to answer that, yes this game is darn fun to pickup to either play a little bit or pours days into. Each battle is different; the chance of having a repeat performance is slim to none which gives this game its edge. Will you take them out with a tank, or assault chopper this time around? In order to give you perhaps a better insight to how fun this game can be, it would be taking a pinch of Grand Theft Auto and adding military hardware with a never ending explosionathon (yeah that word exists, somewhere).

But with every element of fun comes times of great irritation, I won’t lie to you or myself. There have been a few times when the game has gotten to me so much when I was mercilessly slaughtered again and again trying to bag the same guy that I almost blew a vein. The one downside, some areas seem to have been made perhaps a little too difficult or the challenge too high which can result in some players, younger perhaps, abandoning parts of the game through fear their parents will catch them cursing to high heaven. The other main question, does this game keep bringing you back for more, I’d give it a big fat yes. With tons of cash, tons of weaponry and tons of armoured goodness just waiting to be picked up and throw, driven or fired; who wouldn’t answer the call? Upon completing the game, you enter what’s known as the 'Playground of Destruction' section. This is not in the conventional sense; you don’t now roam round without any primary objectives with a bundle of cash and great memories, instead Pandemic Studios decided to have you go through the whole show again except this time round you only have to capture the top brass in the suits, and complete faction objectives again. At first this idea seemed greatly annoying, having just completed the game I really wanted total free roam to do as I wish but then it hit me, any bonus objective you failed to achieve first time round can be redeemed, unlocking more juicy options perhaps. You keep the bundle of cash and all previous goodies as well as faction standing, for people who like revisiting missions in games such as these, it’s what you’ll enjoy the most adding fun and then some.

Dude, where's my tank?

Amazing and fun, two words I can use to sum up the Mercenary experience for myself. This game isn’t groundbreaking but it is revolutionary in its own sense, never have I seen battles so free flowing or believable. Many others can come close, but Mercenaries hits the craving for battle right where it counts. If Pandemic Studios were to squeeze a sequel to this great game, I’d be gladly upfront with my jaw to the floor. This type of gameplay can rock players’ worlds, offering tons of interactivity, equipped with a strong and compelling storyline and you have a heavy weight contender of a title. Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is a must for those of you who enjoy a bit of non-linear styled games with even more fast paced conflict.

 

Reunification at the right cost!

This game is a must have for the XBOX, making an excellent addition to anyone’s collection. For the pinch pennies out there, I strongly urge you to bribe friends with nice cheap words and a have at it there’s too much to miss out on with this title.