Why Mercenaries Playground Of Destruction Is An Underrated Masterpiece Game Review Nostalgia Trip
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2024
- Me talking about why Mercenaries Playground Of Destruction is my favorite PS2 game of all time and fully reviewing the game.
Erik Woods Mercenaries Orchestra: • Mercenaries Main Theme...
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Please do not post GTA related comments here. Please keep it only to Mercenaries. I had so much fun playing this game. It was a masterpiece and I hope that this review encourages more people to try the game out. It took me some time to make this video so I hope you guys enjoy it. This was a classic when I was a kid.
Ok
TheProfessional how much does the game cost?
@Tj you can get it on amazon for a few dollars
TheProfessional ok thank u
Do you think you will ever play Sleeping Dogs?
Militaries actually did that deck of 52 thing in real life. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, troops were given a special set of playing cards that had the pictures, addresses, and jobs of very important members of the dictatorship. Saddam was the ace of spades, his sons were the aces of clubs and hearts, and his presidential secretary was the ace of diamonds.
I think the deck system in Mercenaries was directly inspired by Iraq, IIRC. It was truly a great feature to give the game some direction and also accomplishment in terms of actually CAPTURING vs. mindlessly killing HVTs.
Also, sorry for the accidental dislike.
VIETNAM
I hate that zoomers don't know this. 🤮
You can still buy those decks on EBAY, they're pretty cheap to get hold of.
Leave it to the military to turn killing people into a literal game.
I miss games like Mercenaries. In the PS2 days, there were lots of games that weren't quite AAA but still had very high production value (so...AA I guess?). We don't really get these anymore, we have massive studio games and then indie titles which are miles apart in terms of scope and budget.
And yet those indie games manage to be just as good if not better, people these days love to make fancy looking games that run like crap and play like crap.
What I love about this game is that in between missions you can find big skirmishes and quell them. Always so much going on, truly impressive. NPCs were really fun to fight with.
I loved this game as a kid and still do now. I remember being intimidated by the Ace contracts and really strategizing how I was going to complete it or move past a certain section. Or how I could complete a mission where 2 factions go to war and not "directly" kill anyone and drain favorability. I also remember the ace of spades mission being so hard and long. It must have took me weeks in elementary school to finish it. At the time, most kids were playing Cod MW and hadn't even heard of this gem.
To anyone who wants to try this game out, It was given some new life when it was made backwards compatible on the Xbox One in 2018 (I think that was the year). The graphics were enhanced and really made it more accessible to people who had gotten rid of their old generation of consoles and didn't have a PC to emulate it on. I would definitely recommend it to anyone with the ability to try it out. Its like $5 to buy a game download on XB1.
Just bought the 2 games yesterday after randomly singing "oh no oh no oh no, oh no you didnt" 😂 it still holds up 15 years later and It would have probably been COD finest hour or something at that point.
I completely agree with this assessment! I first played Mercenaries when I was 12 and it has continued to remain one of my top games of all time for all the reasons you listed. I even got to visit the DMZ in 2018 and was blown away by how closely this game recreates it! Right down to the Propaganda Village haha
Y E S !
Mercenaries remaster NOW!
We need a remaster and a sequel that’s like the original!
This franchise is underloved
If it is on PC, even better. Fifteen years is too long.
No remaster
Yes, the Mercenaries Playground of destruction was remastered on Xbox TWICE. One on 360, and One on, well, One. Idk about playstation though.
Then you remember LucasArts is now owned by the Disney menace.....rip
It's also BC to Xbox One.
The politically charged story means it wont ever happen. This game came out at the end of the bush administration when USA still had a pair.
I love this game! I remember playing the hell out of it in 2008/2009 after my brother passed it down to me. Definitely a top 10 and deserves a remaster ASAP
Absolutely. There is a huge gap in the market for this kind of game.
This oldie is a gem for its time. A remaster for Mercenaries POD would be a hit in today's sales! Especially seeing that it still ties even more so in today's current events. A definite hit if it were put into production. Makes such a shame that EA loves to end any other companies they can get their hands on.
Thanks for making this video. Nostalgia overload. One of my favorite games of all time. The building destruction was one a kind for it's time. Can't believe there aren't video essays on TH-cam with millions of views about Mercenaries
This game deserves so much more attention than it got
Why r people disliking it they haven’t even watched it
Some people dislike just because they do not like me . Others dislike at times because it’s not a gta video . I have had people tell me they dislike videos just because it’s not gta . I don’t mind people disliking my videos . The only thing I would ask is they watch the video first and then tell me why so I can improve .
Taker Weilert because their haters but disliking means nothing it actually helps he’s videos
@@theprofessional155 lol but y?
This game is better than gta... I am glad they remasterediton xbox twice.
@@theprofessional155 you forgot to mention that this game was one of the few open world games that had little battles sprinkled around the map that you could either take part in or watch from a far. mercenaries 2 completely lacked that.
I loved this game when I was young. Haven't played it in years. Hopefully my old disc isn't damaged. Thank you for reminding me of this.
Get a ps2 emulator it makes the game look better if you have a pc
I just got it for $10 on xbox one again
Yup. You can buy it and play it on Xbox One now. The framerate is damn near flawless. It's butter smooth.
The first time I played this game was also the first time I tried Adderall 😂 I played for 11 hours straight...finally managed to fall asleep lmao
This game is one of those rare games where you can start playing and not stop till the software crashes the software rarely crashes. Plus every time you play through it you develop a different style of game play.
Man! I played this game so much in my childhood. I see it as kind of a predecessor to far cry in a way, but mercenaries did some things with the factions and all of that that I don't see open world games do even to this day.
One cool thing you forgot to mention is that the three characters all speak a different language. Jacobs speaks korean, Mui speaks Chinese and Nilson speaks russian which allows gives you subtitles when those languages are spoken. Just an example of the incredible attention to detail this game had.
What’s up 1:50 am release gang
I just remembered about this game earlier today, which is weird because this was the first game that I spent a whole lot of time playing and having fun with as a kid. It was my first experience with fully destructible environments in video games, and it was so addictive.
Yep, one of the only games with a balanced money system. Great balanced faction system which had you constantly thinking about your choices, atmosphere was awesome like a gritty NK war zone, what about Lo those bombs and missile strikes you can employ all over the premise of taking down the cards. If this was reimagined/ remastered be my favourite game
Hi Liam how did you find my video if you mind me asking . You searched up mercenaries . Thank you for stopping by and watching my video .
Hey pro, keep up the good work. I’ve been watching for a while and I love your gta 5 content
I bring out this game and play it every year around Christmas. Just like I did when I was 10yrs old.
The just cause franchise kinda reminds me a lot of the mercenaries series, its so nostalgic.
Now THIS is a game that needs remastered
Nice review mate, I used to play this game all the time back then. Those where the days...
I also like the fact that you compare ingame and real life monuments, this was one of the reasons why I liked this game. Have a good day! :D
Nice video pro, i would love to try this game one day, keep up the good work!
We need a Remaster. Goddammit EA!
Yeah they might be the only barrier to a remake/remaster. Destroy All Humans was remade and it's also a Pandemic game.
This game was soooooooooo fun. There’s never been anything like it since. Being able to destroy buildings and call in any manor of military vehicles was unbelievable. Why lord can’t they make something like it again . Just cause tried but it got waaaay too goofy
I first played this game when I was too young. I didn’t even know English at the time so I didn’t understand a thing besides kill the top guy, and this game has unsettling vibes. But I so glad to have stumbled onto this gem on my PS2.
I just loved the attention to detail and functions in the game. Every building could be destroyed. Cheat codes were diverse. You could command troops to get in your vehicle, drive into a North Korean base, and then tell them to get out and help you engage. There so much detail as to even tell the troops to leave even without having to get out the vehicle. That giant artillery gun that you have to destroy, and is used in only one mission, you could get in that gun, and use it. They didn’t have to do that, but they did. The little things matter.
For a 2005 open world game on PS2 generation, it was incredible. I miss Pandemic.
I have the Xbox version, and am actually doing another playthrough right now. It's too bad so few people remember this one. Sure it shows its age, but it never fails to put a smile on my face when I smack down a NK helicopter with an RPG. I would be super worried about a remaster though. Those don't always turn out so well.
THQ Nordic has done incredible remasters and has even done pandemic games. I pray they take this one on soon.
You have over 800k subs yet this video has only 15k views. This game needs more love.
I just found your channel and I love your videos on this game. I was playing this game maybe 3 hours later and actually beat it. I was 5 when this game came out and got it when I was 8. I have never beat it before until now. I personally love your videos on this game from what I've seen. Keep up the great work. God bless you have a great day/night.
Mercenary 2 I played the hell outta but this one I just bought I started to play it I can't believe I've missed this as a kid
Well, you've officially become my favorite gaming channel on TH-cam lol I didn't even know you made a playthrough of Mercenaries. I'm currently watching it right now lol. This game brought back so many memories. I loved the Ace missions
just saying, thanks for putting orchestral version of the game's theme in description, made my day better
wow so nice that such a big channel is talking about mercenaries !
I had this for ps2, it was a lat america version and I couldn't understand the dialogue but I still played it.
Wassup my boy Professional
Dude I just got this game back for my old Xbox I'm playing it now its still my favorite
Also this game as a whole was WAAAAAAY ahead of it's time and offers features and aspects that alot of more modern games don't or if they do fail at delivering and integrating them well.
I like the way you talk and explain and continue, my friend. 👍🏻🖤
It was the game that got me into warfare games in general. I remember listening to the soundtracks while going to the gym back in 2018
I loved this game growing up. It's fun and has an amazing soundtrack. It also got me interested in learning more about North Korea. It's pretty impressive how many details they nailed about NK seeing how it's the hermit Kingdom.
The second game was decent too and did some things better like the grapple and how you could prevent rep loss by killing the reporting soldier. However, the first one outshines it; I just like the tone, setting, soundtrack, etc better. Sucks that Pandemic got killed by EA.
Been playing it since a little after its release, someone in my family used to joke: "If it doesn't mean Mercenaries, it means don't wake up." In reference to how much I played it.
Playing this game right now love it glad to see others that enjoy it really
I want to play this so bad. I can’t get it on my Xbox though :(
CarMan 324 You can buy yourself a physical Xbox copy off of eBay or amazon for a cheap price and play the disc into Xbox one.
Damn really? I got it for free a few months ago on xbox one
Carl brutananadelewski it was free for gold members at one point.
1960s Cartoons Yeah. I can’t buy it on the store because you have to have a credit/debit card to purchase backwards compatible games.
CarMan 324 get one man
Loved that game as a kid , I searched for familiar games and the Just cause series is the closest to the chaos the game creates
I’ve only played the second game and I really enjoyed when I was a kid same pandemic aren’t around anymore
@Austin McCanless also in mercenaries 1, there are little battles sprinkled around the map which mercenaries 2 lacked.
@@vice2versa it didn't completely lack those battles but they were far and few between in comparison.
@Austin McCanless totally agree the second one is more like the just cause franchise rather than a serious game
I remember this game and would love to get a remake. My favorite was calling in air strikes and the fuel bomb/carpet bomb.
Mercenaries one my favourite games am playing it right now. Wish made more gams like this. I was 21 years old in 2006 when I first played this
Impressive, pretty good game! Thanks for showing us this underrated gem.
If they did a remake or remaster, I would buy that!
I was 10 when this game came out. It absolutely blew my mind. My brother and I used to take turns playing it all day. I remember using the Han Solo cheat, which was awesome.
I recently got it for my PS2 again, and it still holds up, framerate aside.
Amazing game so many memories! Please do a playthrough for Merc's 2 Playground Of Destruction! Loved this series!
Did u play on PC with an emulator or on xbox? Also will u do a walkthrough for mercenaries 2?
Good video Pro! 😃😁
Never been this early my whole life
I'm replaying this on my hacked PS3 via the PS2 emulator and I just made it to the northern province I find it interesting since I never got far enough to realize there was a second map when I played this as a kid
I miss this game… I don’t even have a way of playing it anymore, as I don’t have a PS2.. Absolutely in need of a remaster!
I played this game when it came out, loved it. Sold it amongst other ps2 games I recently rebought it. Playing again. You literally can destroy everything in this game!
This game absolutely needs a remaster!
This game brings back so many memories
With all the hardware of the PS2, this game optimized insanely to use all the humble resource of PS2. The gameplay, the graphics, all of them were way more ahead of its time.
Playground of Destruction was always one of my favorite games, growing up. I'm with you. The soundtrack is amazing and the whole game deserves a remaster.
I played it as a demo from the Official Xbox magazine and really liked it years ago but forget about it. It had potential and I am glad that it really was a cool game and your video made me go and get it to my Xbox Series S (only $9.99)
I feel this game could have been so much bigger with later entries.
I'm reminded of Just Cause, some of GTA5, even a bit of AC Black Flag with M2WIF. Single-player makes me think of Arma, how you need to smoke single in Evacs and stealing tanks is like Battle Field. The game had so much.
Mercenaries 3 could have brought in new characters, new Mercenaries. New toys to play with. New maps. Better multiplayer (Which I've never played and sadly never can...)
It makes me sad. M3 was set up to play in India. I'd also love a prequel showing how and why they became Mercenaries. Was Fiona a known hacker? Hmph... Thinking it out loud made me remember Rebecca from Assassins Creed. God. I wish this series could have a resurgence.
Imagine if online had roles for everyone? Chopper pilot, jet pilots, mechanics, soldiers, hackers.
Each with a job to do from support to checking satellite feed and updating minimaps for everyone.
My favourite thing to do in the second game for the 360 was to nuke cities while listening to the terminator theme. Unrelated note.
You should really do a walkthrough of the second game, that would be epic
This game was amazing, you done it justice with this video.
Omg are you serious?!?! Just awesome you made a walkthrough for this old game. I played this so much i loved it. Still have it. Also mercenaries 2 was very good. Liked it a lot too
Man this was my favorite game of the entire ps2 era aswell
Love your videos
I'm on a PS2/Xbox Original games binge for the last almost year now, and this was the 56th game on that binge I played. I vaguely remember playing the second game when I was younger and liking it a lot so I thought I'd add this game to the list, see if it holds up to my memory of the second game.
But my experience playing this game was less than positive, and ended up being I would say out of those 56 games I've played so far, the absolute worst one I've played. The gameplay throughout was samey, there was only one mission that I can distinctly remember and that was the third ACE mission because it was somewhat unique with a kind of stealth approach.
Other than that this game felt like a rinse and repeat slog, that by the 30th dude I'd walked up to, knocked out, spent 5 minutes trying to find a spot the game would let me land a helicopter in, pick them up and toss them into it, I was just ready to be over and done with this game.
The environments are all dull and blend into each other. And most aggravating of all this game's difficulty is essentially how many tanks/helicopters/enemies with explosive launchers it feels like throwing at you at once, and that's essentially it. Enemies on turrets or with regular guns are absolutely ineffective toward you this game is all about avoiding being blown up by anyone or anything that's capable of doing so.
With the final level being the mother of all tank levels, a slow tedious slog of drive forward, shoot tanks, repeat until your tank is out of ammo. Then either use supports to take out tanks or maneuver yourself into hijacking another one and repeat the process. I wanted to just drop this game at so many points but was determined to finish it. Only to find out your reward is a 1 minute cutscene that tells you the nukes detonated safely in space, and that there's still turmoil in North Korea.. wow, glad I spent so much time repeating the same things over and over, in a dull and boring environment, with a bland nothing of a character who has outright awful dialogue at times.
Most of the missions outside of the deck of 52 usually involved driving somewhere and picking up an npc or group of npcs and bring them somewhere, else, or drive her and blow this thing up. Mostly just dull repetitive busywork. Out of the characters you talk to that give you missions I guess there's some charm in them, especially the Russian Mafia guys, them and sometimes Fiona and your character's interactions can be kind of witty and entertaining but nothing I'd really ride home about either. That was actually somewhat interesting and made me wish the game revolved around mostly them. Especially when the factions system in this game is pretty pointless. There are missions that force one faction to become hostile to you regardless, like the South Koreans want me to kill a bunch of Chinese soldiers or destroy their stuff kind of thing. So then you have to pay a bribe to them to let them give you missions again and that's it, really the system could just not be there and it wouldn't make much difference outside of hostile factions passively shooting and missing you when you drive past them in the open world.
Music in this game was also fine, I think it was desperately missing a radio system like good God I felt more lonely and bored driving around so much in this game than I do wandering the wasteland in a Fallout game, a game that's SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU FEEL LONELY AND ISOLATED.
Weapon variety in the game is pretty much non existent they don't even bother to actually name weapons by their actual names, Ak's are just labelled "assault rifle". And even at that you've got an AK, you've got an RPD as an LMG, I saw a sniper once that was given for one particular mission which I'll grant it was another standout one for the Mafia again the most interesting faction of the game. And then you've got a few different launchers because again this game is all about explosive weaponry at the end of the day and almost everything else is pretty useless most of the time in preventing you from being blown up by 4 tanks, 8 dudes with RPGs, and 2 attack helicopters. And on the topic of explosives. This game does not deliver on the destruction aspect even close to as much as I remember the second game doing. You can't even destroy regular basic wooden fences in this game. Vehicles even tanks get stuck on things very frequently you'd hope they can either go over and break or destroy that they just can't. And even then there's so much bland forrest in this game there's very little other than vehicles to destroy anyways so if you like destroying vehicles and those alarm towers with the odd guard post tower and scripted destructible building or structure then that's pretty much your "playground for destruction" here.
My main positives for the game are this,
I liked the mafia characters. The feeling of single handedly influencing this big war at times felt kind of satisfying and rewarding in and of itself. The support function as far as I now is pretty ahead of its time, and can sometimes provide unique ways to tackle or approach tasks in the game. I like that the 52 cards gimmick is based on real history just not related to North Korea, still a cool aspect tho.
All in all tho these things really didn't save the experience for me, and I honestly wouldn't recommend the game to anyone who hasn't played it when they were younger and has nostalgia attached to it. And I'd give the game a 3/10.
I never played the game but I've enjoyed watching you playing it
I agree that North Korea is a fantastic choice for the setting of the game I also played as Nilsson but mainly bc he’s kind of the rookie and I love playing as the badass rookie
I remember getting this game in 2005 (I was only 13) and a time before North Korea had nuclear weapons, back then I thought the plot was spot on and the game was pure fire! Looking back from 2022 and this game is a disturbing reminder of what may go down if war breaks out between the two Koreas.
"Hong Kong" Mercenary?
No, dear boy, she's English.
You can tell because of the union flag, the fact the game itself states she's British, and Jennifer Hale's hilariously bad yet endearing accent.
It needs a remake or remaster.
Totally agree, one of, if not my favorite game of that generation too 10/10 for sure
How did I never play this?!? I just recently purchased an original Xbox to relive some nostalgia and now I'm going to branch out and try some games I missed out on starting with this!
You won't be disappointed. It's a fantastic game.
Hell yeah!! Here’s a link to the Mercs discord community for anyone who wants to follow the game with other passionate fans ⚡️⚡️⚡️
discord.gg/qyspW3K
I wish that a 3rd Mercenaries would be made... they hinted at the next one being at India at the end of the second one, and there was trailers and gameplays of early builds of the 3rd but... was canceled.. I miss those games so much, I hope some day they could being the franchise back, hopefully in the same vibe as the first one. Eversince I played Mercenaries, ive tryed to look for games that could at least emulate how it felt but, some games could get just a little close, GTA V at some level, the newer ghost recon games, MGS V, but none could get to the same level...
How about Just Cause?
Not only one the best games on PS2, but one of the best ever. I still play this on an old PS2 I found for 50 bucks at a pawn shop. Also, you play well. Almost as good as me.😊
I played through this game so many times as a kid I know every area of the map🗺 by memory🧠 the sheer enjoyment of an open, destructive world, that you can affect relationships with the various factions that are active in the warzone. I used to play it on the PS2 but I've downloaded it on the Xbox one, and it's just as fun to play as it was back then🎮 and was only a couple of pounds on the Xbox store💷 thank got for the backwards compatability🙏🏻 Yeah you're right even though this game is still fun as hell, definitely needs a remaster to fix some of the glitches and bugs, and improve the visuals of the characters and vehicles..... A parachute would be a great idea too😅👌🏻
This and the second one are both fucking amazing games. Glad to see others love them as much as me ❤️
One of my fav ps2 games, ah the memories
this game was absolutely amazing! i played this first on the ps2 and Xbox live got this for free and I’m so glad! so many memories with the perfect game.
I literally just beat the game for the 3rd time never gets old it needs a remaster
Holy crap, I didn't realize the propaganda village part as a kid either. That is an incredible touch.
I've just finished it on Xbox Series X. Definitely more enjoyable with higher res and stable 60 fps. Game is so much fun, just like it was when I was little and played it on Ps2. I really love that game is happening in North Korea. It makes it so much more interesting.
Took me soo long to complete this game but was also soo good and rewarding
Just started this game and it is alot of fun.
Just installed at the start of the week. Holy f*ck what a blast from the past. The second one wasn't anywhere near as much fun or as good as this masterpiece.
It's not a GTA clone, if anything, the third person shooting mechanics play like Saints Row. The only real criticism is that car handling isn't great, I'd have loved a handbrake button for sharp turns. Weirdly, tank and Chopper handling is mostly on point.
Best loadout for me personally was the sniper rifle and RPG/ Anti Tank Missile.
Favourite vehicles? The NK Little Bird Chopper or the UN Bradley M3
I played the 2008 tittle that shit was a blast
The best kept secret in gaming is that the real sequel to Mercenaries isn't Mercenaries 2 OR Just Cause... it's The Saboteur.
Prequel you mean
@@fernandoorellana7768 Yeah fair point for the setting. Gameplay wise it's a true spiritual sequel though
I'd be fine with them simply re-releasing this on current gen. No need to necessarily remaster or remake. It's baffling how this game can only be played on Xbox, PS2, Xbox 360 backward compatibility(?) and Xbox One backwards compatibility, and maybe on Xbox emulators on PC, when many of the systems may not be found used in many regions. I played this for some hours on my Xbox One, and the way how they apparently made the original Xbox games be upscaled up to 1080p or 4K on Xbox One X makes the game so darn beautiful.
Back in March-ish 2018, with "that thing" having come and gone, I found it intriguing, yet relieving to play this game when I would think about the game taking place in North Korea, considering that "that thing" of the time had gone. I originally played Mercenaries 2 in 2008-2009, and looking back at my time with Mercenaries 2, I'd love to return to Mercenaries 1.
I was so esthetic when the game came out on Xbox one
My favorite ps2 game. While I want a remake there is something about the oppressive fog of war that gives this gsme its identity
Give me the original version and the ps2 version of world of flames and port them to pc
I certainly enjoyed balancing out relationships between the various factions (Trying not to upset the south koreans in particular) and the multiple ways to approach targets. However the amount of rockets casually being used by enemies in the latter half of the game hampered my experience.
Please fo the love of all that is holy do a mercinaries 2 playthrough I loved that game
This and Mercenaries 2 are one of my favorite games 🙌🏻😔