Don't forget to enjoy the sights after killing your 1000th North Korean soldier.

User Rating: 8.7 | Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction XBOX
By Vormav | Review Date:
Blowing things up has never been this much fun. That, in a nutshell, is the main attraction for the title. But looking beyond all of the massive demolition which you can unleash on the unsuspecting civilians, there is a very solid game to be found. Think of Mercenaries as "Grand Theft Auto in a war zone" and you get the main point. The games story consists of taking jobs from various factions to further the plot. The goal is the capture of the various Deck of 52, and in particular, the Aces or top North Korean leaders. While this game may not have the depth or length of the Grand Theft Auto games (particularly San Andreas), it does not seem to need it. The whole initial map is available from the beginning, and one can spend many hours traversing the countryside looking for various artifacts or statues to destroy. Thus, exploration is key to getting the most out of the game.

The only issues of note are related to gameplay. The physics seem a little off. Not that I've tried, but it doesn't seem likely that the average Korean sedan could scale slopes and ridges like these seem too. Also, I know that some trees are very sturdy and well rooted, but I'm not so sure that they would be able to stop a tank dead in its tracks like these seem to. And not just big trees, but little ones as well. They must make excellent tables. Lastly, and I do not know if this is just a specific disc specific problem, but, when driving a tank or other tread vehicle over a bridge, they would occasionally pop into the air veering left or right. This made driving tanks on bridges worrisome as more than once they bolted into the air and right, then plunged into the water below.

Overall, a fun if not realistic game. There is plenty to do and destroy even if you do not want to complete one mission (well, gotta do the first one). The story is tolerable, and the dealings between the factions becomes interesting near the end. This is a game that is definitely worth your time.

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