LORD HAVE MERCENARIES!

 Even though the reason I finally went out and bought a used PS2 years ago was because of the game Crazy Taxi, the 2005 Lucas Arts game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction remains one of the bigger reasons I often recommend people to own a PS2 console. Oh sure the game was also available on the Xbox platform, but at the time Sony had the bigger library of games than Microsoft, at least in my mind. It may be of note to mention at this point that I don't even own Crazy Taxi anymore.

               

So what is it about Mercenaries that has kept it on my gaming shelves for so long? Well, simply put, it's fun blowing shit up. At the time I got this game I had never really played any "sandbox" games. I had heard of Grand Theft Auto, but had never played it. I understood the concept of open world video games, and had played a few of them, but had yet to really experience it on the level that was available in Mercenaries. The day I bought it and put it in to my PS2 system my life changed forever. There was no looking back, I was immediately hooked on this whole sandbox/open world gaming design. From that point forward I wanted all video games to be like this.

I will openly admit at this point that I have never completed Mercenaries. Not once, not even a little bit. The big reason why I have never beaten it is due to the reason why I like this game, it’s fun blowing shit up. I find that it's a lot more fun to just run around blowing up the NK force's buildings, and vehicles. Oh sure, I stumble upon the members of the "Deck of 52" while I am out running around, but I have never actually gotten to all the cards, and I have yet to complete all the different missions and side missions available through the various factions within the game. I guess you could say that I am easily distracted, and get caught up just exploring the streets and country sides of South Korea.

When you toss in the additional cheat codes that are available for this game, plus some of the un-lockable items that Lucas Arts included, it really makes it tough to want to try and complete this game in a point A to point B type of fashion. There are just so many fun things to do. I know I always try to find fun new ways of what I call "Car Farming" With monetary bounty available for all destroyed North Korean vehicles it can be fun to gather large quantities of various ones and arrange them in a line or large group setting, set some C4 explosive nearby, and detonate it for a little extra money. Plus it’s a lot of fun to watch the cars and debris go flying all over the place. For examples of that, please see the following videos:

CAR FARMING 1
CAR FARMING 2 

Even though I have yet to complete this game in full, I still find it to be one of my favorite games from the PS2 era. There is something that just never gets old with running around randomly blowing things up in a fictional military setting. There are just so many areas to explore, and the NPC's inside the game will often times provide additional comic relief. Amongst the funnier actions, I have actually seen citizens and military people alike just walk off cliffs and drown in the lakes/rivers below. What will you see while exploring this land? LORD HAVE MERCENARIES!

The Entirely Too Early To Call ALUNDRA Blog

              I recently discovered Alundra on the PS1. I can hear you asking, "really...you just found it?" And yes, I just found it. Having gone the direction of Nintendo while growing up, I never owned a PS1 when it was introduced to the US market back in 1995. And as such, I missed out on a large number of superb games, including the 1997 Zelda clone, Alundra. Wait... a Zelda clone? on the PS1? You read that correctly. The initial descriptions I found online all commonly referred to Alundra as a Zelda clone. More specifically, a clone of the 1991 Zelda game A Link To The Past (Zelda) from the Super Nintendo (SNES).

                So what makes this particular game a clone of Zelda? Well to start with, the main character, Alundra, has a very familiar look about him. He's an elf, or so it has been said, and as such he has pointed ears, very similar to the hero of the Zelda series. But to be fair, this game is

said to be the spiritual sequel to the 1993 Sega Genesis game Landstalker, a game that also depicted an elf with pointy ears. Having never played that game, I really cannot comment any further about any similarities from that particular game. I can however, say that from the few screenshots that I have seen online it does appear to be very Zelda like in it's own respects, but I digress.  The other features of the game that seem to resemble Zelda include, but are not limited to:               

                - Whacking bushes with your sword to collect coins/life

                - Upgrades in lifebar abilities.

                - Weapons/Upgrades (including bombs).

                - Dungeons with puzzles to solve, and a dungeon boss.

                - Large open world gameplay.

                - Top-down viewpoint.

                - Live action combat style (so called Action RPG).

                - Similar graphic/character design (i.e. character sprites).

                I will admit that at the time of this writing, I have yet to complete the game in it's entirety, but the few hours I have spent playing it has given me a very similar gaming experience as compared to that of Zelda. I find that I am intrigued to find out what happens next in the story. What new items/weapons will I aquire along the way? I have puropsely avoided walkthroughs and let's play videos so as to not spoil anything. Even though this game is almost 20 years old (17 yrs.) I want to experience it unspoiled, like I would have back when the game first came out. From what I have gathered from opinions both online and in the real world, I am not going to be disappointed.

                What the game has given me so far is vibrant graphics, with simple, yet elegant detail. Controls that are responsive and uncomplicated. Sound and music that is sufficient in providing that in-game ambiance that I enjoy in my gaming experience. I will say this, I don't feel like the music is anything spectacular (i.e. the tunes are not catchy and do not get stuck in my head), but they are still very good, and capture the emotion of what's happening on the screen quite well. The only exception to this is the highly energetic opening sequence set to a pretty awesome hard rock piece.

                When all is said and done, this game has been nothing short of delightful so far. If you get a chance to play this gem from the early Playstation years, I highly recommend it. If you have played it, I think it's time to put the GTA 5 away for a few nights and get back in touch with your roots.

Here is a short video I made with some of the gameplay. I think it will speak for itself.
  
ROM With A View: ALUNDRA 

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