Mercenaries can be pretty difficult at times, but when it's good, it's really good.
Story (9/10):
Mercenaries takes place in the near-future in North Korea, where a NK general by the name of Choi Song, in a bloody coup, killed his father, who was the NK president, as well as many NK and SK political leaders, after the president tried to develop Democracy in the Korea, and reunite the penninsula, but Song killed him in order to prevent this. An Allied-Nations task force is formed, which invades North Korea and captures several launch sites, however, it is proven that Song has more nuclear missiles, ready to launch in three weeks. The AN distributes a wanted list in the form of a "Deck of 52" playing cards, with Song as the Ace of Spaces. Every card has a price, with Song's being $100,000,000. You as one of three mercenaries, are hired by Executive Operations, to eliminate the Deck of 52, and disarm the missiles.
Gameplay (9/10):
Mercenaries is a third-person open-world game, much like Grand Theft Auto, but also more linear. Your job is to capture or kill the Deck of 52 members, and find the missiles. You can run, shoot, jump, steal vehicles, destroy buildings, and do pretty much anything else GTA would allow you to do. It can be somewhat difficult at points, mostly due to the aggressive enemy AI. While the AI is not all that smart or tactful, it's very aggressive, and causes some frustrating missions, especially when they have rocket launchers, choppers, tanks, and much more explosive weaponry. It can be hard, but it's really fun. Controls are standard for a third-person shooter, and relativley simple to control, though some physics feel unrealistic.
Graphics (9.5/10):
Mercenaries, for a PS2/Xbox game, looks pretty good. It's emphasis is on explosions, and destroying buildings and vehicles is the name of the game. While some textures don't look all that great, everything else is fantastic, and the frame-rate is pretty good overall. The Xbox versions looks a little better than the PS2 version, but they both look pretty identical.
Sound (9.5/10):
The audio, much like the graphics, is also quite good. The voice-acting sells the script, and performances from actors like Carl Weathers and Peter Stormare nail the characters they play down perfectly. The sound effects, like gunfire and explosions, are equally great. Though sometimes, the voice-acting and gunfire can cut out randomly, but otherwise, it's all good.
Fun Factor (10/10):
Plenty of things to do, people to kill, deck members to capture/kill, and buildings to destroy, are all fun.
Replayibility (9.5/10):
The fact that you can play as three characters, and the ability to achieve different endings, and just going back and destroying entire cities, gives the game plenty of replay value.
Final Score:
9.0/10 (Superb)
Final Thoughts:
Get the game, it's really good.
9/10.