War open world with mercenaries set in a fictional war-torn Korea. The freedom to choose missions, factions to support and massive environmental destruction are exhilarating. One of the first war sandboxes on PS2, often compared to GTA for its freedom of tactical approach.
Your verdict
Category
Open-World4 players16+
Description
A Pandemic Studios and LucasArts military open world released in 2005 (US, France, Germany, Europe, Japan). Mattias Nilsson, a mercenary in a post-coup North Korea, must capture 52 targets from a "deck of cards" inspired by the Iraqi most-wanted set. Free destruction and called-in airstrikes: a large-scale sandbox.
The Western release of Mercenaries, Pandemic's destruction sandbox published by LucasArts, where you hunt a deck of target cards across an open, fully demolishable North Korea, turned cult for lack of a true sequel. Still common, its interest rests on this status as a genre oddity and a stubborn nostalgia rather than scarcity. A prime piece for open-world action fans of the PS2 era, still easy to find boxed.
Better with friends
An explosive sandbox on a war-torn battlefield, also lived together around the screen, the crew calling the next target while one player sows destruction. The shared fun springs from the spectacle of collapsing buildings and the dares you invent: who causes the biggest chaos with the fewest means? With no competitive mode, it's the gleeful freedom to blow everything up that gathers the evening.
Is Mercenaries still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2005 on PS2, Pandemic's project offers a military sandbox of rare freedom for its time, where you hunt targets across a North Korea in the throes of civil war. The destruction of the environments, the piloting of varied vehicles and the management of rival factions deliver real tactical latitude. The tone, at once serious and bent on jubilant chaos, gives each mission a particular flavour. The graphics engine and an uneven artificial intelligence show their age. An endearing forerunner of the open world action game, recommended for fans of explosive sandboxes and freedom of approach who enjoy improvising their own mayhem.
