Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction -- The Thread

Damn, my condolences. At least you didn't have to take it back to Blockbuster today :(

Before I took it back; a lesson on Fuel Air Bombs.

1.) Have a clear line of sight.
2.) Hide behind something that doesn't have extraneous poles sticking out.
3.) Be prepared to run if you mistarget.

I messed up rule 1 and 2 together since I was hiding behind a building to take out my target, but didn't notice the SK listening post blocking my way. Rule three was when the target was confirmed and I just noticed, but didn't have a vehicle nearby ready to get the hell out. So all I could do was look up, see a pretty brown cloud and-

*FWOOM*

Amidst all the mishaps, I'll still have to buy this game later. Mercenaries is solid.
 
Man I just finished the Ace of Diamonds mission. So far this game has had the perfect level of frustration.

Question for those who've finished the game. Do you have to pick a side eventually? or do you just contine playing alll the sides against each other until you get Song and jet out? Multiple endings in there or what?


And oh yeah, Carpet bombings look BRUTAL.
 
DJ Brannon said:
a lesson on Fuel Air Bombs.

*FWOOM*
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Holy crap, you get to play with Fuel Air Bombs?! That's a shoe-in to replace my crush on Cruise Missiles. Woop.

Azih said:
And oh yeah, Carpet bombings look BRUTAL.
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I've had way too much fun with those. The only thing I've seen yet that tops it are Cruise Missiles.
 
I love playing with the copters' winch. Civilian cars become bombs when tossed from high enough, and it's mad fun dropping a jeep on top of a hovering copter. Great stuff.
 
I suggest placing a LOT of C4 right next to a vehicle (distributed evenly both sides if you you want to hit orbit, unevenly if you want to clear a mountain), stand back at a good vantage point and then watch the show. You can place up to 8 C4s before it will force you to detonate. SO MUCH FUN...must get back to trying to get info on the final ACE but this is distracting me.
 
Slartibartfast said:
I suggest placing a LOT of C4 right next to a vehicle (distributed evenly both sides if you you want to hit orbit, unevenly if you want to clear a mountain), stand back at a good vantage point and then watch the show. You can place up to 8 C4s before it will force you to detonate. SO MUCH FUN...must get back to trying to get info on the final ACE but this is distracting me.
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Yo Slartibartfast does there ever come a point where you choose one of the factions to help out, or do you just play all sides till the end?
 
Azih said:
Yo Slartibartfast does there ever come a point where you choose one of the factions to help out, or do you just play all sides till the end?
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I'd like to know this as well. Be great to totally betray the Chinese and just bomb 'em back to the stone age.
 
Azih said:
Yo Slartibartfast does there ever come a point where you choose one of the factions to help out, or do you just play all sides till the end?
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You play them all until the end (some of them do change somewhat as you progress....)
 
er....had no idea about this retarded game till I actually payed attention to stickies thread topics.

wow, this looks awesome....but is it REALLY worth 50?

after all the christmas shopping and curplunking down 65 bucks for RE4....I kinda dont want to buy a new game for a couple months and and want to invision the fact that all games coming out till then SUCK.

So...tell me this game SUCKS in some sort of way..

please?
 
If there is a weak point, it is in the relatively shallow way the factions work. I would like to see this element expanded upon in the sequel. As it stands, the faction stuff is fun (and it is really fun driving around the map when EVERYONE is hostile to you), but it feels somewhat superficial in that money can be used to make people happy again so the consequences of your actions are relatively short term. Still, it's a great addition to the game and I'm sure there are many more elements that could be expanded on in a sequel. I just hope this sells well enough to secure a sequel, because for such a polished and fun game it certainly wasn't on my radar until I read the first impressions here.
 
Hmm....I hate the Halo-style targeting, but it's a testament to the strength of gameplay that I'm persevering with Mercenaries regardless. I haven't had this much balls-out, just messing about fun with a game since San Andreas. Voice acting is topnotch and the Xbox graphics are creamy-dreamy. Bringing down cards and handcuffing them is like Police Quest amped to the nth degree. The ability to take on different scenarios however I feel is best had me replaying certain missions over and over again just to see what I could do differently. Big ups to Pandemic.

What I don't like - the factions and disguise system is FARKED. The Shadow had it nailed - as long as I'm inside an enemy vehicle (like a tank) where I can't be seen, the enemy should assume that I'm a member of that faction until I jump out and expose myself. If I'm inside a tank and happen to drive past an enemy officer, there's no way on earth he should know that I'm a merc in disguise. It doesn't ruin the game, but it definitely needs to be fixed for the inevitable sequel. Look at GTA 3's "Waka-Gashira Wipeout" mission, where you need to kill Kenji without the Yakuza finding out it's you - as long as you stay inside the vehicle when running him down, you're disguised. Mercenaries would be the better for it if they followed this logic.

All in all though, damn good game.
 
bishoptl said:
Hmm....I hate the Halo-style targeting, but it's a testament to the strength of gameplay that I'm persevering with Mercenaries regardless.
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Just out of curiousity: what's so bad about the targeting system?

I'm guessing you've just been too locked down with GTA's console-style system...heh. :p


As for covert shit-exploding, let's hope Mercs 2 gives that option. I've never put too much of a worry on it, but it seems all y'all other guys think it's a big to-do. :-|



edit pt 3: the reckoning--

I hope my roommate gets this disk resurfaced tonight. :-|
 
bishoptl said:
What I don't like - the factions and disguise system is FARKED.
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The stealth/disguise thing definately needs to get reworked in a sequel, I agree. I spend a lot of time exploiting the faction system to avoid negative hits. Usefull ways to wreak havoc espionage-style would be a welcome addition.
 
Up the aiming speed in the control options and Mercenary shooting is butter. Also guys, headshots work in the game so if you're at the correct range for the weapon you're wielding (mid range for most assault weapons) and you pop a guy in the head, he will go down in one shot. Aiming for the feet is most effective when trying to take out infantry with rocket launcher types.
 
Does anyone know what happens if you capture everyone alive?
I'm just starting this game and I'm wondering if I should bother.
 
except for trees

and apparently exop agents are made out a special material. You can take a RPG to the face and not die, but don't come near the water!

they should arm the NK with water guns and we would be fucked!
 
Yeah I don't like the trees either in the game.


But making the game a two shot kill helps it I think, you always have a panicky two second of 'where did that rocket come from?' before the second one kills you. Because dammit the most frustrating death in the game for me is when somebody drives over me from behind. No warning it's just vrooom *squelch* dead.
 
explodet said:
Does anyone know what happens if you capture everyone alive?
I'm just starting this game and I'm wondering if I should bother.
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Well, you only get 1/2 the full bounty if you go for the kill instead of the capture. Making money is easy though....
There's also a rumor floating around that you unlock something if you capture all 52 cards alive, but I can't confirm this.
 
GashPrex said:
except for trees

and apparently exop agents are made out a special material. You can take a RPG to the face and not die, but don't come near the water!

they should arm the NK with water guns and we would be fucked!
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This is the other thing I'd like to see in a sequel- the ability to swim and waterborne vehicles. Zipping around in hovercraft and boats would be fun. Mercenaries: Apocalypse Now edition. It would make those amphibious assault vehicles (BMP, etc) more usefull, as well.
 
I never really paid that much attention to the blood. :-|

Although thinking of them vomiting sunny d whenever---well, just vomiting sunny d is kinda funny.
 
This game continues to be a lot of fun just to play around with. It;s one of those games that I just enjoy playing, the mechanics of the game just seem fun to me. My new favourite trick is attaching C4 to passing motorists. Seems to make them drive a little crazy (but then again I guess that is natural), but makes for a great involuntary travelling bomb.
 
Gh, I'm stuck on the mission where you have to destroy the crashed plane and retrieve the pilot before he's taken to the black gate--how do I stop the truck without killing him?
 
You have to intercept the truck, block its path and hijack it. No bullets here; it's all about speed.

OR if you're flying, wench it up and drop all the way away from the Fortress; that's always fun :p
 
Hrm, dammit. :p

I could take the APC up the hill and over the rocks (MAYBE) to get there a shitload of time before it gets up there...but I dunno.
 
You might have to steal a faster vehicle en route first, or have one ready when you begin the chase. The game does a good job of leaving your delivered vehicles where you park them.
 
For that mission I just grabbed a sungri scout, raced the truck down, jacked the truck, honked until the ruskie got in, and drove off. Wasn't too bad.
 
Matlock said:
Hrm, dammit. :p

I could take the APC up the hill and over the rocks (MAYBE) to get there a shitload of time before it gets up there...but I dunno.
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I tried catching the truck with a tank and an APC (both tracked) and couldn't do it. Ended up running the bastard off the road in with a humvee.
Another trick that might work would be taking the mission, then blocking the road beforehand with big trucks of some kind. Not sure if the game would reset the vehicles while you were away, though.
 
Matlock said:
Gh, I'm stuck on the mission where you have to destroy the crashed plane and retrieve the pilot before he's taken to the black gate--how do I stop the truck without killing him?
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I just did it yesterday: with an helicopter (the one made for trasporting troops), it was a breeze. You only need to stay away from the anti-aereal launcher near the crashed plane. Once blown up the plane, go back to the helicopter and land in front of the truck. Then hijack it, kill the driver and re-take off with your passenger :)

Now I'm doing the Seoul mission, damn I almost made it, and god killed soo near to finidhing it! However great game! I'm doped by it ^__^

However some things I don't like about it:

1 - If you get or buy a vehicle and then save the game, when reloading it is no more! Too bad, I'd have liked something like GTA's garages, for safely storing my vehicles and helicopters.
2 - You can't save in mission. Some missions are quite long and difficult, so being killed near the end makes me furious. If not saving, at least a checkpoint system would have been good
3 - NPC AI!!! They've got a very very bad path finding algorythm, so when I have to be followed by someone, I must continuously check if they're still following me: they often get blocked by crates, rocks and so on.
 
I am noticing a ramp up in the difficulty. Especially wth some of the Mafia missions. I'm kinda stuck on the assassination mission... mainly killing the guy in the hummer before he makes it to his base.

Any tips? I've tried rocketing it, blocking it, but the hummer survives the rocket attack and drives drives around me when I attack. I'm thinking of using a tank and say screw the bonus and blow the holy hell out of everything.
 
Gorey said:
I tried catching the truck with a tank and an APC (both tracked) and couldn't do it. Ended up running the bastard off the road in with a humvee.
Another trick that might work would be taking the mission, then blocking the road beforehand with big trucks of some kind. Not sure if the game would reset the vehicles while you were away, though.
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All you have to do is pop the driver through the windshield.
 
Got this game a couple of days ago and it's made me stop my frenetic viewing of my movie backlog and everything. I'm having too much fun right now, even though I'm feeling it's kind of lagging right now. Haven't seen a really cool mission since I had to bomb the shit out of those huge missile silos, steal a heli and hunt that mofo on the roof down. That was some goodness. :D
I'm perfectly sure it'll pick up again, though.

I have a problem, though. When I finished with the ace of clubs, I got a couple of e-mails from some dude implying he'd pay me for finding national treasures and blueprints. Where do I meet him? It just says his name and I have no clue as to who he is. Tried going to the AN headquarters but all I see there is the option to pick up a new contract. Or perhaps it's just a clumsily worded e-mail and I won't get paid at all?

(Favorite hidden items: the blueprint for the "l33t d1ct1on4ry" and the national treasure "sci-fi RTS". :lol Nerd humor rox.)
 
aku:jiki said:
I have a problem, though. When I finished with the ace of clubs, I got a couple of e-mails from some dude implying he'd pay me for finding national treasures and blueprints. Where do I meet him? It just says his name and I have no clue as to who he is. Tried going to the AN headquarters but all I see there is the option to pick up a new contract. Or perhaps it's just a clumsily worded e-mail and I won't get paid at all?

(Favorite hidden items: the blueprint for the "l33t d1ct1on4ry" and the national treasure "sci-fi RTS". :lol Nerd humor rox.)
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You don't have to talk to anyone- just run over 'em when you find 'em and it automatically credits you.
 
This game is definitely a sleeper hit... went to buy it yesterday and it was sold out at Gamecrazy and Best Buy. Went to a 3rd store before I found, but there was only 3 copies available.

LucasArts is on a roll. I went to the website and then realized that I have bought every one of their games since Indiana Jones, but things really picked up for them after KotoR. In fact, Republic Commando is going to be a must purchase as well. and possibly Episode III.
 
Jack of Diamonds mission was kinda easy: I took the transport heli that I used to extract the pilot in the mission right beforehand and flew to the artillery guns that were nearest the center of the placement...then...bam, took 'em out with one shot apiece from artillery rounds.

Then, of course, I cruise missiled the son of a bitch, clubbed him over the head, and took him in.

"Cheat code enabled"

!!

I went through the cheats to see which one it could be--and apparently, I could now buy anything in the store. Cheat Crate!


Cheat Crate has: portable airstrike, portable artillery, street sweeper.

Port Airstrike = Rocket launcher that shoots a rocket...WITH AIRSTRIKE STYLE DESTRUCTION. I tried taking down the bigass statue in front of the Russian Mafia's hideout, and accidentally leveled the entire block.

Port Artillery = Grenade launcher, artillery damage and splash.

Street sweeper = SMG with the fire-rate and damage of a heli's vulcan. :D

omg omg omg
 
Just finshed that mission, too. All I did with the Jack of Diamonds mission was take a NK scout and FLEW past the open fortress gate, grabbed the helicopter that was parked past the narrow bridge, and flew up to the highest artillery cannon and worked my way down.

20,000 casualties, though. Koreans Am Cry.
 
I think I finished with 9,000. I coulda finished with ~2,000, but I was too busy dicking around with destroying everything else I saw.
 
This game was too easy for me. I was done with it in less than a week. Wasted 50 bucks on it too meh. Matlock i listened to you on Psi-ops and this game too. They're good but not woth the 50 bucks of admission at least in my eyes. Other than that blowing shit up kicks ass.

I love blowing shit up. Even cheat codes couldnt extend the life of this game that is after i completed it.
 
haha :lol :lol :lol :lol how did you know :D Yeah it was good for a week. The cheat items were great i blew up the complete map every damn building blown to ruble. But damn was it cool blowing shit up.
 
I bought this game nearly two weeks ago, but due to various reasons, including trying to play it on a friends fucked up Xbox and finishing KOTOR II first, I didn't get a chance to really sit down and play until last night. All I can say is... WOW!

This is game is just a blast. Capturing the face cards is great and all the side missions are cool so far too. I have even enjoyed the little money missions you get when you find a vehicle with the dollar sign over it. The GTA influences are obvious, but Merc puts it's own spin on things own things as well. I just can't get over the environment either. The game does a great job of creating the feel that you are in a war zone with smoke and fog everywhere, creating a great ambient environment as well as hiding the draw distance. Driving is alot of fun once you get use to it and the variety of weapons are awesome, not to mention the air strikes, artillary, etc. Very cool game. And just when you think you're starting to get comfortable in the game, you realize that everything can be blown up. :D

Can't recommend this game high enough. If you like the wide open game play style of GTA, in a military theme, with more action and mayhem, you have to get this game. I just hope it sells very well so we'll get a sequel down the line. Judging from the stores I've been to, it's a nice hit for Lucas Arts.
 
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