Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, Electronic Games

Ahhh. Death, destruction and extreme violence: how better than to spend a cold winter's evening. In fact, it's a great way to spend any evening. Blowing stuff up generally appeals to our inner warrior, and the more spectacular the explosion, the more compelling this psychopathic indulgence becomes. Hence, Pandemic's latest blow 'em up, Mercenaries, has us cackling incessantly in a blood-curdlingly menacing fashion. It's a free-roaming stomp around a pseudo-fictional Korean war zone and it boasts a propensity for violence even greater than those kids who hang around launching fireworks at stray cats. As much as Mercenaries is its own game, if you were to envisage a cross between GTA, Hitman and an actual war, you'd be picturing a similar sort of thing. However, it is more than just a mosaic of proven successes and the idea as a whole does actually feel like something new and innovative. After a seemingly endless procession of sequel releases and shamelessly plagiarised concepts, that is a truly satisfying thing. Although the content of the game itself isn't revolutionary, the richness and immersiveness of the tense atmosphere marks this down as something quite special. All-in-all, we're extremely impressed with Mercenaries. The graphics are excellent, and although there is a lot of fog and smoke, it can certainly be construed as atmospheric in this particular instance. Technically, it's comfortably ensconced on the top tier of Xbox releases. At its core, the action is relentless, and thanks to the sheer scale and ferocity of the continuous explosions, it's all extremely satisfying for those with a penchant for large-scale destruction. All this is packed into a chaotic, destructible world that is fundamentally fear-inducing; and that works for us... on many levels.

Buy Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction for 9.99 GBP

Duke Nukem Advance
The power of the GameBoy Advance has paved the way for a whole new genre of games to become portable. Up until recently it was technically impossible to fully realise first-person shooters on handhelds. When Doom came out for the Advance, it shifted the LAN party from the networked office to the sunny garden. Duke Nukem was a favourite when it was first released on the PC due to it's gameplay and ...
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64 is a showpiece of what the console is capable of. The unofficial sequel to Goldeneye (a game many would argue as one of the best ever), this is an absolutely stunning first person shooter. The RAM expansion pack is required to access all the game modes, most importantly the single player game, but it's easy to see why this extra memory was necessary. Perfect Dark c...
Scooby Doo! Mystery Mayhem
If ever a classic TV series has made for ideal video game material then it has to be Scooby Doo. Exploration, mystery-solving, creepy mansions, ghosts, and, erm, massive sandwiches (?) - all perfect ingredients for a proverbial console feast. Mystery Mayhem offers all that and more, giving us the opportunity to step into Shaggy and Scoob's quivering boots as they reluctantly embark on yet another ...
Disney's The Jungle Book 2
Ubi Soft's Jungle Book 2, a direct sequel to 2001's Game Boy Advance outing, is yet another adventure that doesn't lend itself to one particular genre, but to several, offering some of the most diverse gameplay seen on the Nintendo handheld. Jungle Book 2 sees the return of all the kids' favourite characters, including Bagheera, Kaa, Baloo, King Louie and Shere Kan, and each play their own role in...
Spider-Man
Of the five versions produced, Spider-man's Game Boy Advance incarnation is Activision's only 2D attempt at recreating Marvel's legendary human-spider hybrid. But that's not to say it's the least competent and here's why... As with all Spider-man games, the GBA version's plot follows that of the original Marvel comic book in that, bitten by a genetically modified spider, high school student Peter ...
2 Games in 1: Power Rangers Time Force + Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Power Rangers: Time Force Fast-forward to action as a new crew of superteens tackle the challenges of time and space in Power Rangers Time Force. Equipped with futuristic vehicles and gadgets, the Rangers will leap forward and backward through the ages to fight evil wherever it occurs. Where will they be sent next? What new peril awaits them? Get ready to experience the ride of your life with Powe...