Mercenaries Review

Okay, something new. No, this isn’t your typical WWII remake, in fact, it barely feels like an army game at all. A lot of shooting goes on, and a lot of explosions. There are many vehicles, including tanks, but you aren’t a soldier, but a mercenary (duh). You start off arriving in North Korea. You’re going after a nuclear mastermind and ALL his lackeys. The story isn’t very good at all, featuring no cut scenes except every Ace you catch. The lackeys are divided into a deck of 52 cards, depending on rank. There really is no story except go to North Korea and catch a bunch of guys. But, the game play makes up for that I guess.

Game play is the saver for this game. You can go anywhere you want, anytime you want, do whatever you want. However, there are restrictions. You can’t leave the boundary for the map, and this is where consequences kick in. There are 5 “Factions” in the game. They are like teams. Each one likes you a certain amount. This reflects how friendly they are with you, and they will even attack you if they dislike you enough. Making them like you isn’t a quick task. You must help them in battle, do certain kind of annoying mini-games, and you must beat a record for it to work. To make them hate you, blow their men up. Also, especially the United States, they will suddenly turn on you. If you harm civilians, you’ll not only be sued $1,000 - $5,000, but put you alliance with all but the Russians in jeopardy. The Russians don’t care, as long as it isn’t their men. You do missions, for whichever team you want (good way to boost faction mood). You receive tips on the lackeys locations from a team for doing contracts. You can search suspicious areas and discover a lot of extra stuff. There are about 300 collectibles in the game, so you’ll stay occupied. The big area is good to explore, especially in purchased vehicles. Stuff is expensive, but worth it. Everything else rides pretty smoothly, with the exception of a few bumps. There is a pretty big selection of weapons, although most of them are variants of the machinegun. The enemies are very accurate but you can take a lot of bullets and disguise yourself by driving certain vehicles. There are some annoying tunnels that spit out infinite enemies, some spit out Tanks. Overall, it’s okay, but basically all adventure, no story, and big action.

Audio is good, but basically gloomy background music. Voiceovers are great, and sound like real Chinese, or whoever. Gun effects are great, and missiles sound real when they zip past you. Overall, I can’t say much, but you’ll probably be too busy playing anyway.

Graphics are awesome, especially in the beginning. (I actually think its real!) Bullets and rockets look real, and buildings look like they could exist in real life. Everything looks great, without trying to look too much like real life (like some of the new PS3 titles).

Replay value depends on whether you like other free-roam titles such as some adventure games (without levels).

So, in the end, it all comes down to this.

On the Positive side:
+ Ultimate free-roam game.
+ Good combat, firefights.
+ Good graphics and sound.
+ Pretty addictive gameplay.

On the Negative side:
- Barely any storyline.
- Repetitive.
- Doesn’t stand out.

Overall, I give it a 7.5 / 10.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to add any comments.

This review was added on 19th August 2005 by Joey Cusimano.