Mercenaries

The Good ...

The best part about Mercenaries is that it really is like a virtual sandbox for you to play around in. The map is huge and there are a ton of nooks and crannies to explore and, just like in GTA, choosing the right vehicle and route to get from point A to point B is all part of the fun. A very enjoyable result of the vast number of weapons and vehicles at your disposal is that you can approach missions in a number of very different ways. You can attack a base by smashing down the front gate, or you can climb up a nearby hill and snipe enemies from a distance. Or you can just bomb the crap out of them. You have multiple paths to choose and different techniques to use in every single mission in the game and it is extremely fun to be able to play exactly how you want to play. There is a ton of stuff to play with in Mercenaries and everyone that plays it will likely have a different experience.

... And The Bad

Not everything in Mercenaries is honey and roses and sweetness, though. There are a few problems that keep it from fully reaching its potential. When you are in a vehicle you are disguised as the faction the vehicle belongs to. That means you can steal a North Korean jeep and then drive it straight into the heart of their territory with no problems. Once you exit the vehicle, though, the enemies go from oblivious to raging maniacs that will stop at nothing to kill you. Not a huge problem, but it is strange that you are perfectly safe so long as you are in a jeep. I'm also not fond of the fact you can kill all of the allies you want and only have to pay a few thousand dollars to make up for it.

Another issue comes from a decided lack of story and character development. Once you start the game you are given a ton of missions with no real story progression along the way. Also, despite what the commercials for the game might have shown, the characters don't really have much personality which is somewhat disappointing.

Also, the lack of multiplayer or at least a co-op mode in Mercenaries is a big let down. Working alongside a buddy to take on these missions would have been a blast, but it wasn't meant to be.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, Mercenaries is a fairly good looking game. It depends heavily upon special effects to make up for less than stellar looking textures but it looks good overall. The world you play in is absolutely huge and the only load times are before a mission, so you can't really expect everything to look polished and gorgeous. Special effects for explosions, smoke, and crumbling buildings look good and help make up for the good (but not great) enemy and vehicle models.

The sound in Mercenaries is well done and very appropriate. There is a fair amount of dialogue and it all sounds good. Your character doesn't say much, though, which is a bummer. Sound effects for all of the different vehicles and weapons and explosions and everything else are well done and it really helps to immerse you into the world when it sounds exactly like you expect it to. Also, the music in the game is very good and features a lot of military themes and epic sounding music that fits the action and works well.

Bottom Line

Overall, Mercenaries is a good game that is well worth taking a look at for Xbox fans. The game looks and sounds good and plays like a dream and will definitely satisfy your free-roaming action game itch while you are waiting for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to come out. When Mercenaries was announced it was promoted as a go anywhere, do anything, blow everything up sort of action game and developer Pandemic really delivered on all of these promises and more. With three characters, fifty-two bad guys to capture, four different factions to play off of each other, and dozens of weapons and vehicles to experiment with, there is a ton of replay value here. Some multiplayer modes would have been greatly appreciated, but Mercenaries is an excellent single-player game that is a solid purchase.