Mercenaries (Xbox, 2005)

Mercenaries is perhaps the most missed game in XBox history. This free-roam third person shooter is one of the deepest of it's genre, and just plain fun to play every time I pop it in.

Set in a (so far) fictitious military standoff in a DMZ between North and South Korea, you take the role of one of three mercenaries...airdropped into the DMZ to make as much money and raise as much dust as you can. In this area you will find and partner with several factions like UN Command, Russian Mafia, Chinese, among others. They form the basis of most missions, and anyone who has played the GTA series will be familiar with mission launch points as a start to the storyline. Peppered among those are challenges, triggered by entering certain vehicles or talking to personnel.

Weapons are very detailed and varied, no pistols but everything over and above. Anti-air, -tank, assorted rifles, snipers, and RPGs are among the offerings. But the coolest thing may be the PDA you carry...it allows you to check emails, maps, get target updates, and order supplies AND weapon strikes. You're never really alone, as long as your account has enough for a Cruise missile or laser guided precision bomb strike. Or some well-placed C4 can brighten your day. You can blow up pretty much everything, including hi-rise buildings and monuments. Too fun!

Vehicles are deep, too, and you can commandeer anything you come across - provided you don't blow it up trying to jack it! Various tanks, APCs, helicopters, and road vehicles scattered around can be had.

Some small gripes are there's no way to go prone and shoot, your Mercenary can't swim (duh!), and it features no shoot-from-cover...but otherwise, this game is solid and deep with great unlockables and growth of character. Definitel pick this one up, whether you fancy freeroam driver/shooters or any type of combat game.

Probably one of the most underrated GOOD games made for the Xbox. I never heard a lot about it when it was new, and after a year or two, it had all but dropped off the face of the planet for all I could tell. Yet, this remains one of my all-time favorite games for the Xbox. With a unique sandbox-style play, it allows for hours of endless roaming about in various vehicles ranging from small, gun-toting jeeps to several styles of tanks to assault helicopters, as well as getting around on foot.

The ability to call in over a dozen different kinds of airstrikes adds a very interesting element to the game, as do several different weapon and supply drops that allow you to order a package that suits your current battlefield needs.

The main story of the game has you hunting for 52 different renegade military officers and their leaders. As you capture (or eliminate) each one, you earn bounties that help you pay for more supplies in future missions. Can't afford a vehicle? Perhaps it's too dangerous for the support helicopter to move in? Simply hijack an enemy tank or civilian car.

There are five factions in the game: the North Koreans, who are your enemies throughout the entire game, and the Chinese, UN, Russian mob, and South Koreans. Depending on which missions you decide to pursue, or your actions during those missions, you will gain or lose "friendship" points with the factions. If the meter dips too low for a particular faction, you might be listed as an enemy of them until you make reparations.

I could go on, but I think this review gives you a good idea of how the game works. Needless to say, I am a huge fan of the game, and I cannot wait for Mercenaries 2 to come out. :)

THis is definently a like. I am not a very big fan of sandbox games like GTA , but this one has potential. There is enough story to keep the fires burning. Plus there are tons of things to do aside from the main missions. With the main objective being to capture your way up the deck of 52 you have a lot of options. The 4 different factions add a nice bit of variety especially if you try to play them of against one another. There is a great variety of weapons ranging from the m-16 to rocket launchers . grenades , flame throwers , .50 cals , tanks and helicopters. There is always a variety of Destructive forces at your fingertips. I also like the email log of mission that let you put the game down and come back to later without having to wonder what you were doing. All of the dialogue in the gave is voiced and the voice acting is above is far above the average. The special effects are also a big plus with more explosions that you can shake a fist at and even tiny details like tracer rounds to help you aim. The difficulty level starts of fair enough so as not to dissuade the more causal gamer but also ramps up at a nice even pace. Character models look good and well featured if a little stiff on the npcs. Another nice addition is being able to transport npcs with you to a battle site in the various vehicles to act as your back up. The ai foor your allied npcs is far above par and seems to match with the enemy ai. Combatants will seek out shelter and take cover when you assault them they throw grenades back and if they see you coming with an rpg they make themselves scarce. This holds true with you allies as well. There is a great variety of missions including rescues , defensive position , all out assaults , and even stealthy assassinations and more. There does not seem to be a lot if different methodology in the 3 playable characters but options are always nice and you do get slightly different stories. Some local multiplay would have been nice but you can't have it all. This game really has some good longevity with all the missions and side quests and players could easily 10-30 hours of their time depending on how they want to play. In my opinion this is a want to have game for the XBOX one you can sink your teeth into. id give it 8.5 on a scale of 1-10

This is a fun combat blow them up, steal their jeep,or heli., and blow them up again kind of game. And if you want, you can break out the machine guns.
Its pretty much an open ending game. Great graphics and killer game play. You are a free lance merc and get jobs from various people around you. you run for the mob, good guys, and everyone in between. you have to watch who you do missions for. allies and enemies stay all in your business. You rack up money fast and can buy killer hardware from the underground.
The only plot to this game is stay alive, kill, and make the money. It is a true free for all. Although you do run missions, Its not like a Tom Clancey mission based game. You can be selective about what missions you take or just get distracted tearing up the country.
You do have a set hit list of 52 people to knock off to end the game. The order you do them depends on the side missions you take. There are days of killing and sore fingers with this game. A great title to add to your collection.

Great free roaming FPS with lots of explosions that will blow you away. You decided which how to complete missions in your own style. You decided which factions you want to support (and get support from) and which ones you decide you don't like. This game will keep you busy for hours. Not only do you have missions to complete for different factions but you have the "Deck of 52" which will bring you big bucks. And with big bucks you get BIGGER EXPLOSIONS. This one won't leave my possession for some time. I never grow tired of massive explosions. You even bring down buildings. Not shacks! Not houses! BUT HUGE BUILDINGS! And you better get out of the way of the rubble or you may get hurt. And watch out for the friendly fire especially if you call on some assistance. Oh and did I mention there are a lot of explosions. There are also some smaller missions that can make you some cash. So lets see, 3 different ways to make cash, free roaming and all decisions are mine, choice is mine how I complete missions and who I complete them for, and BIG EXPLOSIONS. That would make this the best ever FPS game and a five dashes (Excellent) rating here on EBay. Although I don't believe anyone is reading these.