Many times in life, you finds yourself doing the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason. Such is the dilemma—actually the thrill—of Mercenaries, where you complete tasks for opposing factions solely in pursuit of monetary rewards. Morality be damned in this land where cash and gunpowder reign supreme.
Mercenaries straps the gamer into the combat boots of one of three professional soldiers in an expansive environment loosely controlled by an open-ended storyline. Read: It’s Grand Theft Auto in a war zone. As an independent contractor, players can make and break pacts with the Chinese, South Koreans, Allied Forces and even the Russian Mafia. Or just blow up everything in sight. It’s hard to imagine how satisfying it will be to blow up your own supply helicopter until it comes down in a blazing fireball. Have no fear, however: there is structure to go along with the war of attrition. Mercenaries is rooted in missions to capture 52 North Korean evildoers with the old fashioned boss-battles that were so popular back on the NES.
Unfortunately, Lucas Arts, the game’s publisher, shortchanged gamers a bit by omitting online play as well as any multiplayer option. Moreover, there are hundreds of buildings out of which pour enemy combatants but which are off-limits to gamers. So panty raids on thatched-roof huts and late-night trips to the mess hall for tapioca pudding are over before they even have the chance to begin.
The game’s tagline, “If you see it, you can drive it, fly it, steal it, destroy it,” manifests itself in several varieties of trucks, tanks, helicopters, armored personnel carriers, mobile surface-to-air missiles, buses and even that cart that carries your luggage at the airport. On top of that, the weapon arsenal outnumbers pizza toppings at The Loop, and each anti-hero has the option of calling in aerial strikes—for a price of course. Beware, though: the same characteristics that make Mercenaries enjoyable will be the same ones that make you barricade yourself in your room, stay up until all hours of the night, and miss classes and/or extracurricular activities.
A Ball of Fun
I shall endeavor to describe Katamari Damacy in 10 words or less: Campy, Japanese, Contagious, Offbeat, Refreshing, Colorful, Zany, Simple, Humorous, Unconventional.
The controls consist of only the two analog sticks, making for intuitive navigation requiring next-to-no learning curve. Gameplay is further facilitated by a well designed camera system that automatically adjusts scale and perspective as necessary.
As this frantic puzzle game progresses, the tasks become more specific, requiring the little prince to grow his ball to a particular circumference while absorbing only particular types of items while avoiding others. The multiplayer mode can be a lark, especially when you are rolling in more ways than one. Although the game can easily be completed in a single day or weekend, the soundtrack alone is nearly worth the $20 purchase price.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.