Steve's Review: Mercenaries for Playstation 2

Mercenaries is the latest creation from the minds at Lucasarts. It's been moderately hyped and, as a consequence, actually lives up to it, at least for the most part. The similarities to the Grand Theft Auto series are more than a little obvious. The third person view. The "go anywhere, do anything" gameplay. The assortment of vehicles.  The missions.

However, Mercenaries has one simple advantage in the gameplay stakes over CJ and his homies in San Andreas.

CJ never had access to cruise missiles.

The game puts you in the role of one of three mercenaries. You?re thrust into the middle of a conflict in Korea with warring factions fighting for power, money, or just for the sheer hell of it, it seems. You receive missions from the various faction heads, and quite often find yourself in situations where you backstab the people you just did a mission for. For example an early mission involves trespassing on Russian territory. The Russian?s were upset, so I chose to shoot my way out, because that?s half the fun. This sent my relations with the Russian?s down the tubes, but I
completed the mission. Old wounds with old friends are easily healed with a bribe, however. Soon I was working for my Russian friends again. It?s all good. As Gordon Gecko once said, ?greed is good?.

Mercenaries is the most fun I?ve had with a game in a while. Instead of rushing through it, I?m taking my time.
There?s a lot of fun to be had just jumping from your vehicle and joining in one of the MANY firefights you come across in the game. You?re really given the impression this is a war zone. The various factions will continue fighting even if you don?t join in. Getting into the fighting, though, is a big chunk of the enjoyment of this game. Plus blowing up enemy vehicles earns you money, which allows you to buy bigger and better goodies from your Russian Mafia friends.

Which brings me to one of highlights of the game. The Russian Mafia-owned store you have access to after a little while. You can buy supplies,
vehicles and, the best part, air strikes and the like. The visual effects in this game (I?m running the PS2 version)
are jaw dropping. The first time you order a cruise missile strike and watch the devastation? Awesome.

Though after an airdrop, I?m left wondering why the Russian Mafia has someone with a Southern accent seemingly doing their delivery work?!

The main plot of the game sees you chasing 52 bad guys, each represented by a playing card. The way it works is you get a dollar fee for alive, and half that if they die. You will most likely find yourself in a position at some point where a bad guy you?ve captured gets killed. It?s irritating losing the money, but there you go. One capture, I had him subdued, but was pinned down by enemy fire, and had no health left. The helicopter you call in to pick up the prisoner couldn?t land in such a hot zone, so I had two options. Option two was dying and having to try again. I chose option one, and shot the prisoner, then ordered a medivac to get me out of there. Another card dealt with, another chunk of change in the bank. Just another day at the office. 

The game isn?t perfect though. The AI can be a little suspect. For example, I was driving an APC up a hill. It started sliding down. The AI controlled soldier manning the gun jumped out, and the vehicle immediately rolled over him,
killing him. Funny? Definitely. However, this cost me $25,000 due to it registering as me causing an allied casualty.
Not so funny. There are also some graphical problems at times. Flickering textures and the like. This game really pushes the hardware to about the maximum the PS2 can handle I think. These minor annoyances don?t really detract from the game, though.

The GTA comparisons with this title are inevitable. There is one big difference, I feel, between this, and Rockstar?s effort. Unlike GTA, which in most cases forces you to do a mission a certain way, Mercenaries gives you multiple options. In one mission, you have to rescue a captured spy. Do you drive through the front of the base, guns blazing? Or do you go for stealth? It?s nice to feel I?m not being herded. Rockstar could learn a thing or two from this. While it?s still linear, you?re not stuck with one course of action.

So, I love the game, obviously, but will this be in with a shot at my game of the year come the end of 2005? Probably not. Mercenaries is above average, definitely, but is it a classic? I don?t think so. Once I?ve completed it, I don?t see myself firing it up that often, unless it?s for a few minutes mindless carnage calling in cruise missiles just for kicks. Ironically, despite my beefs with GTA: SA, I still fire that up regularly, because there?s so much variety in what you can do in the game outside of the missions. Mercenaries, though, is a one trick pony, but it?s a very spectacular and enjoyable trick.

I give it a solid 8 out of 10.