A strange one to review, a great one to play
User Rating: 8.8 | Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction XBOX
Mercenaries is really quite unique. The game by all standards is really quite average, but it is a... developed average. For such an innovative idea, it doesn't exactly have any innovative gameplay, but the gameplay is extremely solid and thoroughly enjoyable, based around capturing the North Korean Deck of 52 in a military GTA style fashion. Along with around 50 objective based missions, there are an extra 36 bonus ones, which are collecting the number cards of each suit. There are also a large number of 'challenges' in the game which see you carrying out small tasks for random soldiers, each with a small cash reward. And if that isnt enough, you even get to collect/destroy: national treasures, WMDs, SK listening posts and General Song monuments all with seperate rewards. Overall the gameplay tallys to around 60 hours. Along with this, Air Strikes and totally destructible buildings all give much fun and explosions. As far as graphics go, explosions are excellent and character models are generally very good. The vehicles and environments are also very satisfying, although on occasion, the draw distance is a little suspect. The music in the game consists of several operatic scores but appears to be missing 'The Ace of Spades'!!! Joking aside, all sounds are authentic enough, only the abysmal voice of the Swede should put you off the sound in this game. As a whole, Mercenaries delivers in almost every single area, although it doesnt try or do anything new, it still delivers a very enjoyable experience in small bursts. There isnt any dedication needed to play this game, but for the typ of game it is, that is a good thing. Without a doubt however, this game deserved far more recognition from the gaming world, as it looks like it may be one of the better releases for Xbox this year. Whilst the game is immediatley impressive, and remains so for some time, it loses its grasp on the player once the main game has been completed as they will look back on it and realise that it wasnt actually all that fulfilling after all. 
