Non-Star Wars games from LucasArts are becoming rare birds these days, but they exist. Mercenaries eschews the conflicts in a galaxy far, far away from battles closer to home.
On the eve of the reunification of North and South Korea, a coup staged by a ruthless general takes place and threatens to bring the world to the brink of nuclear war. In an effort to stabilize the region, a global task force is assembled. As diplomacy fails, a hefty bounty of one hundred million dollars (insert Dr. Evil laugh here), is placed on the head of the Korean general in charge of the despotic new regime. You take the role of one of three private mercenaries in the employ of a company called Executive Operations. Each member has their own specialties, providing new play styles. Chris Jacobs is ex- US Military and will provide the speed for your team. Matthias Nilsson, a Swedish soldier, acts as your team's sniper and Jennifer Mui, a British op, handles stealth operations.
It's up to you to collect on the bounty.
So far, Mercenaries is turning out to be a very cinematic experience. Just as in big budget Hollywood action films, Mercenaries lets you inflict all sorts of collateral damage. Environments are massive and completely interactive. Not only can you blow up nearly everything you see, but you can also use objects in your environment and drive vehicles.
Taking a page from current, real-life operations being conducted by the US Military, one of the driving forces for Mercenaries is the inclusion of a deck of 52 cards. Just as in Iraq, the main goal of the game is, of course, to catch the Ace of Spades, but you can also try to catch all 51 of the other cards in the deck. This structure provides a base for the game's open-ended structure. Not only can you go nearly everywhere in the game's environment, but you will also have to carefully choose you alliances between the forces of China and South Korea as well as the Russian Mafia. You can even choose to play all sides, although this will become harder as you are sucked deeper into the conflict. Tabs will also be kept on the choices you make during the game -- something that will influence the rest of the game.
A slew of weapons and vehicles will be at your disposal. In addition to side arms like pistols and assault rifles, you will have access to over 30 weapon types like rocket launchers, grenades and shotguns. As if that weren't enough to satisfy your itchy trigger finger, 20 vehicles will be available, ranging from jeeps to artillery units to even a helicopter. Rounding out the destruction, air-strikes will also be available for call.
So far, Mercenaries is looking good and sounding better. Composer Michael Giacchino, known for the Medal of Honor series has been tapped to provide the game's soundtrack. Mercenaries is slated for this fall on the PS2 and Xbox.