[ps2] Mercenaries

[.saint]

January 18th 2005! mercenaries will hit the shelves!

look at this footage this game looks incredible!
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=738

LucasArts is about to introduce us to a new kind of playground, and it's looking stellar.

"Playground" isn't the word that comes to mind when I think of a war zone, but with LucasArts' upcoming Xbox and PS2 title, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, it's certainly apropos. This gorgeous PS2/Xbox shooter gives the player an unprecedented level of freedom in a war game, making each level one huge sandbox. However, unlike a sandbox, playing nice isn't recommended.

Inspired by real world events, Mercenaries is a third person shooter that has you tracking down a maniacal North Korean general who's interrupted Korea's unification and is threatening the world with nuclear war, and somewhere along the way, the Chinese and Russian mafias are also causing a ruckus. To combat these threats (after a previous attempt fails), the rest of the world places a $100 million-dollar bounty on this psychopath and his advisors/other bad guys in the form of a 52-deck of playing cards, and that's where you come in. You're a mercenary, working for a private organization called Executive Operations, and seeing dollar signs (as well as the opportunity to save the free world...ahem) you move in to collect your bounties, each of them connected to their respective signature card, so, although they each have individual names, they're also known as the 5 of Hearts, Jack of Diamonds, and the King of Clubs, among others. In addition to them, the game's three playable characters also have tag lines of The American, The Swede, and The Brit. Each excels in various areas, so the British-trained Jennifer Mui's greatest strength is stealth, while Matthias Nilsson (the Swede) is super fast. As for the American (Chris Jacobs), he's a tough-as-nails ex member of the Delta Force who has a high level of endurance.

Unlike other games of this type, Mercenaries isn't your standard linear combat game but rather an open-ended blast fest whose missions can be completed in numerous ways, and this all starts with the level of environment interactivity. Basically, whatever you see you can blow up, so if you've got some explosives and that building across the way is giving you dirty looks, you can level it to the ground. If there's a jeep full of enemies, you can kick out the driver and take the vehicle, blow it up with a rocket launcher, or silently creep up behind it, plant an explosive, and detonate it from a safer location. A helicopter's gunning after you? Simply blow it out of the sky. There are no rules and certainly no limits, and LucasArts encourages you to show no mercy! It's the one game where you're actually encouraged to make a mess, and you'll have numerous weapons at your disposal, including a wide assortment of guns as well as your own body, as you're able to employ stealth tactics to take out the enemy. Also, in addition to jeeps you can "borrow" any vehicle you see, so you can leap onto passing helicopters and chuck out the pilot or take control of a tank. How you complete your many objectives is up to you, and the game's fantastic level of freedom means replaying levels in different ways will be one of Mercenaries' top selling points.

Since you're not a "good guy" per se, you're free to make some extra cash by selling your weapons and vehicles on the black market, and the money can then in turn be used to upgrade to more powerful equipment. You'll also make money every time you turn in your latest scum bag, so the ability to buy stuff is an added incentive to completing missions. I just hope there's a wide assortment of stuff to purchase.

If you love eye candy then you'll be in heaven while playing Mercenaries because it's one of the best-looking PS2 and Xbox games ever designed. Everything about it, from the highly-detailed character models to the gorgeous explosion effects set it apart from just about every game on the market. Rockets zing through the air and turn planes/helicopters into spectacular-looking comets that crash to Earth and consume hapless enemies. Buildings and other structures are brought to the ground with authority, and assorted gun fire, bodies flying every which way (the game uses the Havok physics engine), and impressive weather effects really make this game a benchmark by which all future games of its type will be judged.

There are a slew of quality January 2005 releases and LucasArts' Mercenaries is at the top of the list. Everything about the game, from its graphics to its explosive combat looks superb, and how everything will come together remains a mystery, but not for too long. If you have some holiday cash burning a hole in your pocket, definitely consider Playground of Destruction.

[DEATH]

Own it. Not very good. Not very bad. It doesn't suck. But it does suck. Don't bother buying this.

[BRYCE]

hmm i was intrested in this game but i dont know it sounds like it would get old in a bit

[DEATH]

It does...Very Very repedative. Suicide seem fun when I turned on the ps2 to sit down for a game.

Anyways, it has been replaced by the Punisher and NBA live 2005 now. No complaints on either of those.

[.saint]

It does...Very Very repedative. Suicide seem fun when I turned on the ps2 to sit down for a game.

Anyways, it has been replaced by the Punisher and NBA live 2005 now. No complaints on either of those.

if u got a gamecube check out resident evil 4.