Mercenaries : Playground of Destruction (PS2)
Mercenaries is another game that I had seen numerous times in the stores, but was never interested enough to pick it up. Once I started really collecting, and I think I've mentioned this in another review or two, I started looking up Top X amount of games for each console I owned, and this one popped up on a couple PS2 ones. It made it's way into my library, and I finally decided to see what it was all about.
The AN attempts to reestablish control in South Korea, so they create and distribute a list of most wanted men that share some connection to Song, and they call it the "Deck of 52". Each person on the list is assigned a card in a suit, with the Ace's being the higher most-wanted targets, one of which is Song who gets a $100,000,000 bounty placed on his head. Executive Operations, a secret black-ops military group, catches wind of the huge bounty and decides to swoop in, lending their hands to the South Koreans in hopes of collecting on a huge payday.
The controls in Mercenaries are very straightforward, and while they can feel a bit sluggish at times, they're very easy to learn and quick to adapt to. But how is the game itself?
The games main objective is taking down all of the "cards". However it's not as straightforward as just taking them all down. Mercenaries comes across sort of like a Grand Theft Auto game. You have full access to the world. Go where you want, play the missions in whatever order you want, or just cruise around causing any amount of destruction that suits your desires. However the game does progressively reload things as you get a certain distance away from them, or if you happen to die, or shut off the game and reload it at a later time.
To go after any of the targets, you must first gain intel on each card, which is done by completing other missions in the world. Each of the factions is set up in a set location on the map, and you can visit them whenever you want to do a job for them, which will earn you a cash reward as well as information on one of your targets.
Your arsenal throughout the game is always at your fingertips, and the only thing separating you from the guns is the money you need to purchase them. But you'll need everything you can get your hands on, as the enemies in this one are plentiful. The enemies are more common in the missions, but they're still present in the overworld when you're traveling from place to place.
While on your missions, you're given jobs such as assisting the local army in fending off the North Koreans, destroying important pieces of equipment, or locating an item/vehicle/person and eliminating or returning them. When dealing with the card targets, you have two options. You can either capture them and return them alive, or kill them and claim the kill. Either way, you'll still get a paycheck, but it will (obviously) be a bigger reward if they're captured alive.
Lastly, there are some side objectives placed throughout the game world, but during my time playing this one, the only ones I came across were timed sprints. You enter a vehicle and it gives you the challenge of making it to a certain location in a time limit, and you can either accept or reject the challenge. If you accept, you'll follow a series of checkpoints until you get to your goal.
There aren't a vast amount of areas of gameplay in this one, but the few that are present are quite expansive, with each offering endless opportunities in themselves. Let's take a look at how challenging Mercenaries can be.
The exploration is pretty straight forward, get from where you are, to where you need to go, using the road system and any vehicle you see fit. However, what this game lacks is a custom waypoint system on the map screen. When you're traveling for an active mission, a waypoint bubble will be on your radar, but if you want to just go somewhere on your own, you'll either have to perfectly memorize the route in one shot, or stop at every crossroad to see if you need to turn at all.
Despite their being different types of enemies (the ones in the sandbox, the 2-K cards, and the Aces) there's really nothing different about them. They're all just people, and they all go down with bullets (or explosions). The only challenge that comes from any of them is if you're seeking a bigger paycheck and you want to capture the Cards alive. This will require you to get in close to capture them, which means you need to clear out any other forces in the immediate vicinity, and also make sure that the card themself doesn't take you down. But, if you just want to take care of them, then pumping them with bullets will be a much easier option for you.
Finally, the side objectives can be at a moderate difficulty, but are on the easier side of it. Again, I was only able to discover a number of timed sprints. I don't know if there's a certain point in the game you need to reach to unlock other options, or if there's something special you need to do, so I am not saying that this applies to all side objectives.Anywho, for the sprints, you're given just enough time to make it from the starting point to the goal.
It's not a big challenge playing this game, but it isn't a cake-walk either. But let's see what was good and bad about this one and then wrap up talking about it.
- Full Destruction. I did just hint at this in the other pro, but it's so well done that it deserves it's own nod. Whether you use the vehicles, or any of the explosives on your person or placed in the world, there's almost nothing that can stand up against you. The game does progressively reload things, so you can't make a permanent wasteland, but it's still a complete blast to do...slight pun intended. However, there is a slight negative side to this which I'll discuss below.
- Wonky Physics. This is the negative side to the destruction that I mentioned. I can't even count how many times I was driving in an armored vehicle, and I would clip something, and fly backwards about 15 or 20 yards. It didn't matter if I hit the wall of a building, a lamp post, or a tiny little road block, the reaction was always the same. Hit the object either head on or with the corner of the vehicle, and get sent backwards. Then, as soon as I'd regain traction, I'd move forward at a much slower pace and whatever was in my way would fall down.
What helps this game even more is that it draws from something so realistic. It's this realism that draws the player in more to the tension and strife that is raking across the world you're playing in. If you're not a fan of shooters, though, then this game will not be for you, as it's the main and only aspect of the game.
Whether you're picking it up loose or CIB, for PS2 or Xbox, you shouldn't be spending much more than $7 or $8 on this game, and if you enjoy the shooter genre, getting your moneys worth out of this one won't be difficult.
As of now, I haven't finished this game, but that's due to how fun and enjoyable the world is. I have gotten side tracked so many times just driving around and into buildings or people. It is a game I do want to finish eventually though, and will keep chipping away at it until it's done.
The Story
For decades, there has been a great tension between North and South Korea. The President of North Korea has seen enough of it, and seeks to unify the two countries under the "Sunshine Policy". However, his military sees it as a sign of weakness, and that their President has lost sight of North Korea's vision. Choi Song, the North Korean military leader, decides to lead a coup inside the South Korean borders and ends up assassinating a number of higher ups from both countries. He then discovers a freighter that was loaded up with nukes and begins threatening to use them, which gives birth to the Allied Nation Task Force, dedicated to stopping Song and his nuclear threat.The AN attempts to reestablish control in South Korea, so they create and distribute a list of most wanted men that share some connection to Song, and they call it the "Deck of 52". Each person on the list is assigned a card in a suit, with the Ace's being the higher most-wanted targets, one of which is Song who gets a $100,000,000 bounty placed on his head. Executive Operations, a secret black-ops military group, catches wind of the huge bounty and decides to swoop in, lending their hands to the South Koreans in hopes of collecting on a huge payday.
The Controls
While in control of your merc, the game plays out as a third-person shooter. As usual, you move with the left joystick and look/aim with the right. R1 fires your weapon while R2 switches between your firearms, and L1 and L2 throw grenades or switch between grenade types. X will reload your weapon □ is your melee attack, △ is the action button and O let's you jump. Other than this, the only other control option you have is through the D-Pad, where pressing up or down can access a special weapon menu for things like C4 and a laser targeting system which can call in an air strike.The controls in Mercenaries are very straightforward, and while they can feel a bit sluggish at times, they're very easy to learn and quick to adapt to. But how is the game itself?
The Gameplay
Mercenaries wastes no time dropping you into a massive sandbox, fully destructible universe. The first small chunk of the game is extremely linear, forcing you through a tutorial-like setup where you get to learn each of the controls and your full capabilities with them. You learn about the world around you, the things you can do, and most importantly the Deck of 52.The games main objective is taking down all of the "cards". However it's not as straightforward as just taking them all down. Mercenaries comes across sort of like a Grand Theft Auto game. You have full access to the world. Go where you want, play the missions in whatever order you want, or just cruise around causing any amount of destruction that suits your desires. However the game does progressively reload things as you get a certain distance away from them, or if you happen to die, or shut off the game and reload it at a later time.
To go after any of the targets, you must first gain intel on each card, which is done by completing other missions in the world. Each of the factions is set up in a set location on the map, and you can visit them whenever you want to do a job for them, which will earn you a cash reward as well as information on one of your targets.
Your arsenal throughout the game is always at your fingertips, and the only thing separating you from the guns is the money you need to purchase them. But you'll need everything you can get your hands on, as the enemies in this one are plentiful. The enemies are more common in the missions, but they're still present in the overworld when you're traveling from place to place.
While on your missions, you're given jobs such as assisting the local army in fending off the North Koreans, destroying important pieces of equipment, or locating an item/vehicle/person and eliminating or returning them. When dealing with the card targets, you have two options. You can either capture them and return them alive, or kill them and claim the kill. Either way, you'll still get a paycheck, but it will (obviously) be a bigger reward if they're captured alive.
Lastly, there are some side objectives placed throughout the game world, but during my time playing this one, the only ones I came across were timed sprints. You enter a vehicle and it gives you the challenge of making it to a certain location in a time limit, and you can either accept or reject the challenge. If you accept, you'll follow a series of checkpoints until you get to your goal.
There aren't a vast amount of areas of gameplay in this one, but the few that are present are quite expansive, with each offering endless opportunities in themselves. Let's take a look at how challenging Mercenaries can be.
The Challenge (or lack thereof?)
We only have a few areas to break into for this game, between the exploration of the world, the enemies you face, and the side objectives (at least the time trial sprints that I kept finding). I've put them all at a moderate difficulty rating, so let me explain why.The exploration is pretty straight forward, get from where you are, to where you need to go, using the road system and any vehicle you see fit. However, what this game lacks is a custom waypoint system on the map screen. When you're traveling for an active mission, a waypoint bubble will be on your radar, but if you want to just go somewhere on your own, you'll either have to perfectly memorize the route in one shot, or stop at every crossroad to see if you need to turn at all.
Despite their being different types of enemies (the ones in the sandbox, the 2-K cards, and the Aces) there's really nothing different about them. They're all just people, and they all go down with bullets (or explosions). The only challenge that comes from any of them is if you're seeking a bigger paycheck and you want to capture the Cards alive. This will require you to get in close to capture them, which means you need to clear out any other forces in the immediate vicinity, and also make sure that the card themself doesn't take you down. But, if you just want to take care of them, then pumping them with bullets will be a much easier option for you.
Finally, the side objectives can be at a moderate difficulty, but are on the easier side of it. Again, I was only able to discover a number of timed sprints. I don't know if there's a certain point in the game you need to reach to unlock other options, or if there's something special you need to do, so I am not saying that this applies to all side objectives.Anywho, for the sprints, you're given just enough time to make it from the starting point to the goal.
It's not a big challenge playing this game, but it isn't a cake-walk either. But let's see what was good and bad about this one and then wrap up talking about it.
PROS
- Open World Playground. You can go anywhere, you can do anything. Complete freedom within a game is really a beautiful thing. On top of that, you have complete control over how you see the story play out. You can go after whichever targets you want, whenever you feel ready for it. Or, like I mentioned in the Gameplay section, you can just drive around and lay waste to everything around you.- Full Destruction. I did just hint at this in the other pro, but it's so well done that it deserves it's own nod. Whether you use the vehicles, or any of the explosives on your person or placed in the world, there's almost nothing that can stand up against you. The game does progressively reload things, so you can't make a permanent wasteland, but it's still a complete blast to do...slight pun intended. However, there is a slight negative side to this which I'll discuss below.
CONS
- Sluggish Controls. There are times when you're trying to look around that it feels like the camera is moving through water. The same goes for when you're aiming your weapons. The reticle doesn't move completely smooth, it seems to move in chunks. And any minute movements you try to make either don't happen, or get over exaggerated. So you'll spend a good amount of time aiming as close as possible to an enemy, and then doing a short spray-and-pray to kill them.- Wonky Physics. This is the negative side to the destruction that I mentioned. I can't even count how many times I was driving in an armored vehicle, and I would clip something, and fly backwards about 15 or 20 yards. It didn't matter if I hit the wall of a building, a lamp post, or a tiny little road block, the reaction was always the same. Hit the object either head on or with the corner of the vehicle, and get sent backwards. Then, as soon as I'd regain traction, I'd move forward at a much slower pace and whatever was in my way would fall down.
Final Verdict
Mercenaries is a fun and enjoyable game, but it's not meant for everyone. The sandbox world created in this game is a blast to explore, and having the freedom to play the story (or not) as you wish makes this game that much easier to slip into. This is definitely one of those games that you don't need to play consistently. You can take long breaks from it, then drop back in, refamiliarize yourself with the controls, and then dive back into hunting down the Cards.What helps this game even more is that it draws from something so realistic. It's this realism that draws the player in more to the tension and strife that is raking across the world you're playing in. If you're not a fan of shooters, though, then this game will not be for you, as it's the main and only aspect of the game.
Whether you're picking it up loose or CIB, for PS2 or Xbox, you shouldn't be spending much more than $7 or $8 on this game, and if you enjoy the shooter genre, getting your moneys worth out of this one won't be difficult.
As of now, I haven't finished this game, but that's due to how fun and enjoyable the world is. I have gotten side tracked so many times just driving around and into buildings or people. It is a game I do want to finish eventually though, and will keep chipping away at it until it's done.
