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Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction for PlayStation 2
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction for PlayStation 2 casts you as a hired soldier in a fictional conflict on the Korean peninsula. You choose one of three characters with differences in speed, weapon handling and language skills. The main goal is tracking the Deck of 52, officers and leaders with ever higher bounties. You decide which contracts, cards and targets to tackle first.
The open areas contain tanks, jeeps, helicopters and roadblocks. Vehicles can be stolen and disguises help pass checkpoints until enemies recognize your behaviour. Earned money buys weapons, vehicles and air strikes. Buildings can be destroyed, but reckless attacks damage faction relations and may temporarily close missions. Capturing valuable targets alive pays more than eliminating them.
The campaign is single-player and has no local or online multiplayer. You work for the Allied Nations, South Koreans, Chinese forces and Russian mafia, whose interests regularly conflict. Progress is saved on a PS2 memory card. This page covers the first Mercenaries from 2005 and does not add features, locations or cooperation from Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Pandemic Studios developed Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction after gaining experience with large-scale combat and vehicles. LucasArts released it in early 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The fictional conflict used a collapsed North Korean government as backdrop but gave the player no fixed military rank. As an independent mercenary, you could accept contracts from competing parties.
The Deck of 52 gave the open structure a clear final goal. Lower cards were spread through the world, while important officers became reachable only after larger missions. Pandemic combined this with destructible buildings, helicopter deliveries and vehicles that could be seized immediately. Reputation meant attacking one party affected later contact, although information or money could repair relations.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames followed in 2008 for newer consoles and in a different PS2 version. The sequel moved to Venezuela and added other systems. Playground of Destruction remains the original Korean adventure with three mercenaries, the Deck of 52 and four main employers. The PS2 disc is a standalone single-player game and differs technically from Xbox without losing its core structure.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
San Andreas also offers large areas, stolen vehicles and free exploration, but tells a crime story with cities, activities and character growth. Mercenaries uses military vehicles, faction contracts and destructible targets. GTA lets you explore a society; Mercenaries makes almost every trip part of war and bounty hunting.
Just Cause also takes place in an open conflict zone and lets you use cars, boats and helicopters. Its grappling hook and parachute make movement more acrobatic. Mercenaries is heavier and more tactical, with air strikes, faction reputation and the Deck of 52. Both allow free approaches to objectives, but their tools feel clearly different.
The Godfather uses an open city, vehicles and missions for crime families. Mercenaries replaces businesses and extortion with military contracts, tanks and bounty targets. In both games violence affects relationships with groups, but Mercenaries lets ordered attacks erase complete buildings and rewards capturing officers alive.
Global Storm leads a fixed team through separate tactical missions and lets you switch among four specialists. Mercenaries controls one hired soldier in open areas and relies on vehicles, deliveries and changing factions. Conflict rewards squad orders and careful routes; Mercenaries gives more freedom to approach an objective with explosives or heavy equipment.
GUN uses a smaller open area with horse riding, bounties and story missions in the Wild West. Mercenaries places the same sense of free assignments in a modern war zone full of tanks and helicopters. GUN emphasizes revolver combat and characters; Mercenaries destruction, reputation and planning large attacks.
