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| Game: |
Mercenaries |
| Genre: |
Shooters |
| Developer: |
Pandemic Studios |
| Publisher: |
Activision |
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| Related Links: |
Coming Soon. |
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Hands On Preview:
When I first heard about Mercenaries I thought to myself what a cool sounding game. Hijack and drive whatever vehicles are to hand including tanks and air based craft. Wield a variety of weapons on foot including assault rifles, heavy weapons, sniper rifles etc and on top of that be able to demolish any buildings. Playing the game as a free roaming mercenary who works a number of factions in a fictitious war seems like an interesting mix especially when played out in free roaming style environments. Well I have managed to play a short demo of the title which from the offset looks to be shaping up quite well.
The demo thrusts you into a mission from the off, with little introduction (well it’s a demo after all) whereby as a lone operative you are to infiltrate a heavily guarded base and destroy a facility within. Mercenaries uses a third person viewpoint and plays pretty much like any other. The game’s onus is very much on action as opposed to gritty realism, as from the beginning of this mission you are able to call in air strikes to bombard the front gates; although you are able to take a less direct route and sneak inside with less noise if you desire. As you enter the base more objectives appear and in this case the destruction of various SAM (surface to air missiles) sites is the order of the day. How it works is that you will no longer be able to call in extra air drops with the SAM sites still operational so taking them out is not necessarily a must but will obviously make things easier for you.
What is clear from playing the demo is the integration of the vehicles which is quite impressive. Simply stand in the correct area next to a vehicle (indicated by a circle on the ground) then take control of that vehicle. One instance of this was where I was approaching one of the SAM sites, C4 explosives in hand. Next to the SAM site there is a helipad complete with stationary helicopter and of course a number of guards. Once alerted to my presence (me letting off a few rounds with an Ak-47) one of the guards makes a dash to pilot the helicopter. However I take him out before he can reach it. With the coast clear I plant the C4 next to the SAM site, move away and then detonate, finally piloting the helicopter to reach the next SAM site on the radar. There are loads of vehicles on this map including tanks, helicopters, supply trucks, jeeps and their use is purely optional.
What is also apparent from playing the demo is the use of support, which upgrades as you carry out objectives. I think these will be based on how much cash you have in reserve but you can call in support of various descriptions such as weapons and vehicle drops as well as those air strikes. Either way these play out pretty well and will be interesting to see how they develop in the final game.
Mercenaries plays quite well although there are a few instances of negativity such as the AI of the guards who seem oblivious of anything around them unless you are close by. Then there are the poor animations when enemies are shot which look comical at best. I also noticed that I was able to shoot through solid objects which I hope will be sorted for the final release. Graphically Mercenaries looks adequate but offers nothing that looks like its pushing the capabilities of Xbox. The game reeks of multi-platform release lets just hope the graphics are touched up a little when the game is finished. Although to Mercenaries credit the game play seems to push all the right buttons and might just beenough to not care so much about the game’s looks. If Mercenaries can remain as engaging as the demo and not become too repetitive then perhaps we could have a desirable game here. That said, on the surface Mercenaries seems like a cool game despite some minor bugs and sub par graphics for Xbox. Hopefully these issues will be addressed when the game is released at the beginning of Jan or the beginning of February if you are in Europe.
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