Shadow Ops: Red Mercury

Shadow Ops: Red Mercury is an action-oriented first person shooter based on modern military weapons and equipment, although presented as a "summer action movie" rather than a hardcore realistic military simulation. It is similar in feel to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, although it pre-dates the first game in that series by 3 years. Players proceed through linear levels while battling terrorists and hostile Russian soldiers, using an assortment of modern firearms.

Like many games from the time period, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury does not have regenerating health, with the player instead relying on health pickups found throughout each mission. At the beginning of each mission, the player is assigned 3 weapons (typically a sidearm, an assault rifle, and a special weapon such as a shotgun, sniper rifle, or light machine gun) and cannot obtain different weapons during the mission. The player can aim down their weapon's sights for increased accuracy (presented with a stylized zoom, the player relies on the crosshair and does not truly aim down the weapon's iron sights, although telescopic sights are utilized correctly from a first-person perspective); while aiming down sights the player is unable to move, but can lean in order to fire around corners or over cover. Combat options include firing the player's held weapon, throwing grenades, and melee attacks utilizing the butt of their firearm. One unique gameplay element is the ability to roll grenades along the floor, instead of simply throwing them through the air.

The player takes the role of Captain Frank Hayden, an elite Delta Force operative and the former leader of Black Saber, the President's personal black bag unit. Hayden and his team are attempting to recover a briefcase nuclear bomb code named "Red Mercury" from terrorist mercenary Vladimir Styanovich, known by his Nom de guerre "Vlady the Vicious", who is operating out of a coastal Syrian town. The team's Black Hawk is shot down immediately upon insertion, and they fight their way through the streets in pursuit of Vlady. Hayden is too late to stop Vlady from escaping via helicopter, but manages to damage the helicopter's rotors with small arms fire.

Vlady, escaping over the ocean, states he is nobody's martyr, and attempts to disarm the nuke and "re-evaluate". To his dismay, the bomb rearms itself seconds later. Vlady leaves the bomb on the helicopter and leaps into the ocean in a futile attempt to escape the blast. S.

Shadow Ops: Red Mercury received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.