similar environments over and over again. That’s all fine and well, but the missions themselves aren’t particularly varied, and it instils the game with a feeling of grinding. Even more frustrating is that every mission is timed; while this doesn’t often become a problem, sometimes the player will get lost in the sprawling levels, looking for an elusive final goal or item to complete the mission. It can get quite painful, and there is no way to quit a mission… leaving the frustrated rage-quitter to either exit the game entirely, or run around until the mission timer runs out. The play dynamic has good and bad points. It is reminiscent of the great arcade platform shooters, both in looks and dynamics. The player will use platforms and things like elevators and zip-lines to move around levels, and will pretty much need to shoot everything that moves. The controls are extremely simple, which is great. But the
player can only shoot in four directions (even though the valuable diagonal shooting that the player character cannot do is available to certain enemies). Additionally, switching between equipment can be a clunky procedure; quickly switching to a grenade or health pack isn’t an option, and can often lead to frustration and cheap deaths. Still, Mercenary Kings is not without its charms. It is full of the overblown bravado and high-grade cheese that made the classics from ‘80s arcade gaming so lovable, and its surface homage to those games belies a depth that is surprising. As it stands, Mercenary Kings is a great, quick-hit time killer. It takes a well-loved, classic genre and breathes new life into it really rather respectfully, and provides the player with a fun experience that is deeper than just killing bad guys. But it also leads to a lot of frustration. g
AT A GLANCE: Platform Shooter
Although often frustrating, Mercenary Kings is a great homage to classic platform arcade shooters.
Developer: Publisher: Distributer:
Tribute Games PSN PSN
Parental Advisory
16+ gamecca59
Violence Language Sex Drug Use Prejudice
Accessibility Hard-Core Medium Casual
Reviewed on:
PS4 Platforms
Genre:
PC X360 X0 PS3 PS4 Wii U PSV 3DS AND iOS
Score
73 65