So as 2004 came to an end, as did the intense barrage of games. So what did we have to look forward to? Well a rather surprising month that I like to call January, and almost every game released in that span of 30 days was great. Mercenaries was the first of which that I played. So keep on reading to find out what I thought of the first 2005 X Box game.
Who Needs Story When You've Got A Playground?
Mercenaries is set in a fabled future and places you in the middle of a war between North/South Korea. It's your job as a the hired help to get to single handedly bring down a corrupt regime. You accomplish this by accepting contracts from different factions and in return are given intel on who to go after, and where they're hiding out. Each terrorist involved, captured dead or alive will give you more intel on where the top dog is.
Like the case in Iraq, each terrorist leader is shown as a number/suit of a deck of cards, making 52 obviously. Your task is to capture enough of the small guys, until you know enough of the whereabouts of the ace. Think of the ace as your big 'boss battle.' Beyond this however, there really isn't too much story in the game, which might not matter at first when you're having a blast blowing things up, and driving around. But after you've played it for awhile, and no sense of reward or progress seems to be made due to the lack of story, it starts to hurt the game as a whole.
Freedom Costs A Buck 0' Five
You begin the overwhelming experience as one of three Mercenaries. You can go for the girl who can sneak her way better than the two, or you can go for the deceivingly aged white guy, sporting a hip fo-hawk who's ability is his speed and overall physical abilities. And lastly, the tough black guy, who can take on some more damage, but is a little slower. Once you've selected who you want, it's time to enter this war torn 'Playground of Destruction.'
It really is overwhelming as I said, once you start up the game and see how large this land is that they give you, it's just incredible. And it's all given to you right off the bat, and it's up to your to start to memorize and get yourself familiar with it, because in no time at all you'll be flying down the roads in a jeep escaping the grips of death, and it really is best to know 'if I take a left... does that send me over a cliff.. or is it the right.'
They do a good job at first making you drive to all of the different factions which are spread across the entire map, just to get you used to the surroundings. It'll take awhile, but soon you'll begin to know where you are without having to switch to your map every second. But yes, that map you see, you really do get to go anywhere you want, at anytime. If you don't feel like doing a mission and just wanna screw around, then go for it. But beware, for every choice..a consequence. Hey, that sounds kinda' like fable, except it actually happens in this game.
What To Do, What To Do...
Like I said before, their are 4 different factions. Five in total, but only four that you can work with. There's the Chinese, South Korea, The Allies, and the Russian Mafia for the gangster in us all. So let's say you wanna help the mob out, knock off a few guys, steal a car or two. If you accept a mission from them, you'll most likely rub one of them the wrong way, or all three factions. But in return, you'll please the Mafia, and they control the black market which gives you aid at your command. Stuck hiding from a few North Korean tanks and a helicopter with nothing but an ammo-less gun and no health? Well send the Mafia a request using your handy PDA, and have them deliver you some supplies, and while you're at it, maybe a tank of your own! But be careful, because having the Mafia drop off stuff for you while surrounded by enemies, risks the chance of the supply helicopter being shot down.. which results in a huge debt, and yes, the Mob will be mad.
If it seems like everybody is after you and generally doesn't like you, and in fact you swear you saw that allie of yours try and shoot you when you weren't looking... then there's a good chance you're being a wreckless maniac. But there's nothing wrong with that if that's your style, nobody said a good ol' bribe would hurt. Yes, if you look at the menu, which conveniently shows you where you stand with each faction, and you notice the Chinese are not too happy with you, then hey, got money? Drive over to the Chinese camp, dodging fire, and bribe the guard and he'll let you in, and you can do one or two missions for the Chinese and you'll be back on there good side in no time. You don't have to play the game making everybody happy, but if it's possible then I'd go for it. It just makes things easier for you when going from place to place.
Grand Theft Auto 5: War Frenzy!
Yes, this game is a military version of GTA. Now I'll be the first, and maybe the only person on the planet that doesn't like the GTA series. I think it's the most over-rated anything that has ever been created. But that's another review. But why do I hate it so much? Well to me the GTA style of play tends to get old, very fast. To me you have too much freedom that you don't ever feel like you're really accomplishing anything because there's really no story linking one mission to the next. And there's even less story in Mercenaries, which you can guess I wasn't too pleased with.
Luckily, I think Mercenaries does a much better job with the free roaming aspect than GTA. I'm going on record to say that Mercenaries is better then every GTA game. No really. Now if you're still reading this, I'll tell you why. It's just too darn fun. The military scene suits this kind of game-play much better in my opinion. Using all the different guns, vehicles and gadgets along side your buddies as your whippin down the country side in a stolen Chinese jeep, trying to lose a fleet of helicopters while dodging mini wars that have broken out on the street between the Mob and the Koreans, is just simply amazing. They really did a good job at capturing the whole 'war scene' and giving you an intense feeling that this is all really going on. There's always something to dodge, or something exploding and that keeps things exciting.
Ever Tried Throwing A Jeep? Seriously.
As if 52 main missions weren't enough, and forgetting about the secondary objectives, side missions, and the fact that you can pretty much create your own missions by causing mayhem, there's also bonus missions you can do at anytime. On your map you'll see these dollar signs, if you drive to them you can speak to a soldier, or get into a vehicle and be given a little side mission for some extra cash. Some are normal and fun, like race from here to here and get x amound of dollars. Some are just bizarre. I was flying this helicopter around some mountains when I saw this jeep sitting on top of the flat of the hill. I got out and read the mission. It was to take the helicopter, pick up the jeep using it's mechanical arm, and see how far I could throw it. Definately cool.
There's also a bunch of bonus things you can do, like find blueprints, or destroy monuments. There's hundreds of these things. But the best part is, by destroying these, you can unlock playable characters like a Mob leader, but things get really interesting when you unlock Han Solo! And even Indianna Jones, how cool is that?
As for the main missions, how are they? There are pretty much four sections to the game each seperated by a different suit: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades. The process goes as such. Pick a faction you wanna please or just at random, and accept a contract. They can range from rescueing an officer who's been captured by an enemy, or blowing up a complex. Each of these is given a secondary objective that you can choose to do for extra cash. Cash is important in the game as you can use it a lot but I'll touch on that later. Once completed, the faction you helped will give you some info on where a card is located. From there, you go after him by breaking into a complex, or quietly sneak you where into a hidden hideout atop a hill and either A) Kill the card, and take his picture for proof. Or B) Knock him out, call for an extraction helicopter and carry him the extraction point. Either way you get paid, but you get more for having him a live. Plus it's a heck of a lot more challenging and fun.
But the Ace missions are where it's at. For an ace, you are flown to a completely different area, where you can freely wreak havoc and not care about any consequences, because you won't be coming back to what's left of it anyway. I like them a lot more also because they feel more confined, like an actual mission. If the entire game was less GTA, and more mission to mission, and less freedom. I think it would have been a lot better. But that's just me, I know there's a world of you GTA punks out there. So if GTA is your thing, you should really dig this game.
13 Down, 39 To Go...
Yes, the process does get a little tedious like you're doing the same thing over and over again. Especially with the first set of cards because they are so easy to capture. But once you move onto the second, you'll almost wish they were as easy as before because some of them are just down right challenging, if you want them alive that is. But really, if I were to pick out the bad of the game, it really would be the double edge sword that the game-play is. Sure it lets you do whatever you want, and go where you wanna go.. but after awhile I couldn't help but get a little bored of the whole process and it gets pretty tough too. I wouldn't mind the difficulty so much if the saving system was a little better. If you could save anywhere and start at the exact place you saved, that would have helped a lot, but dieing and then starting over way back at the last base you were at, regardless of if you saved or not was a tad annoying. But that's about all the big gripes I have.
War Has Never Been So Appealing
So with so much to do, is it nice to look at while you're shooting down the Chinese? Oh yes. The area you have to explore his absolutely huge, and it looks great. They have volumetric fog that looks really cool, and everything just comes together very well. Hop in a helicopter and fly high as you look down at all the small buildings, or call an air strike while on foot, and run away keeping the camera looking back at the massive explosion. Dust, and pieces of metal, wood and soldiers will be flying about. It really looks amazing, maybe some of the best explosive effects I've seen. There's also your standard weather effects, rain, and wintery goodness.
But if it isn't enough that the game looks great, it also sounds fantastic as well. They've got a fully orchastrated soundtrack that serves as a lovely side dish to all the mayhem you're creating. From subtle country-side driving tunes, to the action packed theme that kicks in sometimes during a heated battle.
Guns, Tanks, Air-Strikes: A Day As A Mercenary
So in the end, there isn't too much to complain about Mercenaries, but the fact still remains that even though a lot of you out there will love the game-play, I however get tired of it after awhile. Thankfully half-way through the game you're put into a completely new area that you get to re-learn all over again, keeping it semi-fresh, but new surroundings can only go so far. The basic game-play is still there, and the sense that you're doing it all for nothing is too heavy for me to ignore. If the game was more confined, or just had a really engaging story to give off the feeling of progress, well we might have a golden gem on our hands.
That, and the fact that going through this game with a friend would have been really cool, but sadly there are no multiplayer aspects at all, or online stuff either. I won't hurt the score of the game too much because I do enjoy a solid single player experience. But this game seems like it could have really benefitted from some co-op at least.
I find it hard to give a final score for this game, because I know I'm a rare breed who finds the GTA style of gaming too dull, but in the end this review is of my opinion. But everything is so well done, and well presented it's hard to give it a low score. But in the end, game-play is what I think matters most in any game, and even though it's fun, it's only fun for awhile, to me at least. I'll be giving it a 3 out of 5, but it's just barely under a four. I really do recommend you give this game a shot, especially for people who want a different take on the GTA approach. Good job Lucas Arts/Pandemic!
Flexible, action-packed missions as you go after everyone on the Most Wanted list Explosive combat as you draw from a huge arsenal - you have the fire...More at Amazon Marketplace
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