Mercenaries preview ups the pressure

Mercenaries is Lucas's forray into Grand Theft Auto land. The Land of Luke impressed Joystiq with a hands-on preview of Mercenaries a few months back; but the folks at Gamespy have spent even more time hitting the controller. They like what they see. Actually, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they love what they see (even though they shy away from the word)...

"There really isn't much not to like about Mercenaries. The action is fast, inventive, and oftentimes downright crazy,
and the graphics and music are both top-notch."

Could it be that Lucas has actually entered into a new genre (not of their making), and hit a home run? What I mean by that snide comment is simple — Lucas is great at certain types of games, and mediocre at others. They're best at the genres they helped to create. FPS adventure games (Dark Forces), adventure games (Sam & Max) and action sim games
(X-Wing). They cornered the market early, and ruled the roost for years. On the other hand, they haven't done as well breaking into other areas, such as racing and real time strategy.

Recently, they've been showing signs of expanding their repertoire. Gladius was a great turn-based strategy game. KOTR
is a classic RPG experience. If Mercenaries proves as good as the buzz, Lucas has pulled a coup.