When you’re talking about development teams with a top-notch back catalogue, your mind immediately jumps to the Far East and the likes of Capcom, Konami, Sega and Nintendo. If not, the likes of Rockstar might come to mind. Few of us, however, would find Pandemic Studios popping into our heads, and that’s a wrong that has to be corrected. Pandemic are responsible for the amazing Full Spectrum Warrior, the solid but flawed Star Wars: Battlefront, the forthcoming Destroy All Humans! (which looks like its shaping up very well) and now, Mercenaries. Not a bad list really, is it’
Mercenaries is under the microscope today, bringing with it the promise of Grand Theft Auto-style freedom to the theatre of war. As the title suggests, you play as one of three selectable hired guns, with the idea being to wipe out North Korea’s General Choi Song, who in three short weeks, will have amassed enough power to launch nuclear attacks on any of the seven continents. General Song features as the “Ace of Spades” in the most wanted “Deck of 52” given out by the Allied Nations. Progression through the game focuses on capturing these targets and removing them from the pack.
What is most interesting about this not-entirely-original concept is the way in which the game allows you to go about your overall mission. Your targets must be taken alive and to accomplish this, you must stun the enemy, put the handcuffs on them and then call in a chopper to remove them from the battlefield and take them into custody. Now, should you wish to take on a side-mission (racing through checkpoints, taking out other enemy placements etc), you can do so at will. Indeed, if you think that disguising yourself as a South Korean trooper and taking the pilot of an allied helicopter out with an SMG is the best way to progress, then you can do that too. If the chopper has a soft landing, like with every other vehicle in the game, you can take over the controls to aid your progress through enemy territory.
Much like in the generally overlooked Grand Theft Auto 2, your ability to pick up paid work from the warring factions (bear in mind that you are a neutral force) relies on how your relationship with them stands. If you shoot an member of the Russian Mafia, don’t expect them to be hiring you until you do something to make it up to them later. This risk/reward combination can be intriguing as you get further into the game, as it can often become a toss up as to who you kill. Which faction will pay you more or provide more information on the deck of fifty-two’ That’s a decision that is up to you, but you’ll have a whale of a time working it out.
After a short while of playing alone, your first mission with those Russians opens up the “Merchant of Menace” web store, which allows you to purchase weaponry, vehicles and airborne assistance, wherever you are on the map. In addition, the majority of the Russian’s missions are arguably the most enjoyable in the game, especially when they provide you with a kitted-out helicopter with which to take out a target. Of course, this one is much like the other missions in that if you fancy a quick detour, you can land and disembark from the chopper and go and grab another vehicle, remembering that if you don’t wander too far, you can come back to pick up the bird to return to the Mafia once done. They don’t seem to like it if it doesn’t come back – somewhat understandably.
Graphically, Mercenaries isn’t the tour de force that I was expecting. Some dodgy textures and episodes where your character can walk clean through pieces of scenery are apparent at specific points in the game, although the explosions and effects are very cool at times, with the right weapon causing that North Korean scout vehicle to pop up and fly over your head in a ball of flames. The control system is as you would expect, with your right trigger firing your primary weapon, and the left lobbing a grenade or other ranged weapon. Driving the vehicles is simple enough too, although I would have liked to have seen the right hand analog stick controlling the accelerator, rather than the X and A buttons. One interesting point with some vehicles comes from the mounted gun emplacements. If you stand towards the back of the vehicle (and the gunner is absent), you can take over and use the heavier machinery to take out your opposition, but if you stand next to the door, you can jump in and drive as normal. This innovation is far from the only one present in Mercenaries, but what would you expect from Pandemic’ A copy-cat shooter’ A bland experience’ These guys don’t do bland.
Mercenaries isn’t the longest of titles, even if you do have fifty-two targets to take out. Most of them don’t involve a great deal of gunplay, but those that do when you get further into the deck can be a real pain in the backside to take down. Fear not, the application of some solid tactics will aid you well when you’re getting frustrated. One of my favourites is to hijack a civilian flatbed truck, head for the enemy, jump out whilst still speeding along and then add the finishing touch – a grenade or two as cargo. A special delivery, indeed.
And that kind of experience is why I can’t hesitate to recommend Mercenaries to all. I imagined that I could pull that move off with the truck, and where most games wouldn’t have allowed it due to technical limitations, Mercenaries allowed me to do it first time. There’s no action to be had over Xbox Live, which is a crying shame, but all in all, Mercenaries is an incredibly solid title, and one that keeps Pandemic’s run going strong. You’ll be coming back once you’ve completed the game, just to play with the vehicles…
