Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
LucasArts | PS2, Xbox
The setup: Following a military coup in North Korea, three elite soldiers of fortune are airlifted into the country to kill or capture 52 officials, criminals, scientists and generals that play key roles in the new regime. To get information on their targets' locations, however, they'll first need to take on lucrative jobs for the Chinese, the South Koreans, the "Allied Nations" and the Russian mob, all of whom have their own agendas for the peninsula.
The rides: Humvees, Hummer H3s, tanks, Stryker assault vehicles, jeeps, pickups with machineguns mounted in back and a few beefy attack helicopters. You can also have just about any vehicle (or weapon) air-lifted to you, courtesy of the Russian mafia, so long as you're willing to pay.
The violence: Fairly bloodless, but then this is a T-rated game. Like Master Chief, the mercenaries are confined to carrying two weapons at a time, along with a handful of grenades. But the havoc they can wreak with that is awe-inspiring, and entire cities can crumble to the ground if you know how to call in a few well-aimed airstrikes or artillery barrages.
