Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D (Nintendo 3DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Way back at 2010's E3 Nintendo announced it's new handheld console and while the enhanced visuals and 3D capability was well received, it was the games line-up, which really had gamers excited. Nintendo was embracing the more mature gamer and titles such as Saints Row, Assassin's Creed and Metal Gear Solid helped to highlight just how strong 3rd party support was for this new platform. Capcom also indicated that they were working on not one but two new titles for 3DS. The soon to be released Revelations and this: Mercenaries. The publisher was up-front from day one though explaining that this was not a full adventure but rather a series of mini-games. Clearly this misses one of the main reasons the series has been so successful in the past and if you remove the rich storyline what are you really left with? Read on and see...

Gameplay

Mercenaries propels you into a series of makeshift arenas with the focus on action and, completely overlooking the fact that this latest Resident Evil outing has no plot whatsoever, shooting zombies is incredible fun. It's fitting that this simple objective works so well and while this doesn't have the same atmosphere we've come to expect from a survival horror it does have a generous amount of heart-pounding gameplay. In addition to simply staying alive you'll also have to seek out extra ammo and 'time extensions'. This adds an extra element to the missions making you more mindful of when and how you use your various weapons and all-important health. While this all seems very basic for a full price game, it is, and the only replay value is provided by revisiting each level to improve your score. I say 'your' score because there's no way of resetting the save slot so once you begin playing this game, it's only your progress which is documented with absolutely no room for guests. You can play the game with a friend via a local or on-line play but sadly, you'll both require a copy of the game. Choosing this Multiplayer mode is not without its problems too and the experience is plagued with sluggish loading screens, which is incredibly frustrating for a game of this nature.

In addition to the main game there's also the much publicised demo of next years RE: Revelations. This is certainly something we'd like to see other publishers adopting and Nintendo followers have been overlooked in terms of playable previews for some years now. Unfortunately this is only a sneak peek and while you do get to lap up the games atmosphere and a smattering of gameplay it's not nearly enough to convince any gamer to fork out for the game if they were still undecided.

Controls

While most DS shooters have required a combination of d-pad and stylus, Revelations takes an entirely different direction. This is thanks in part to the circle pad but rather than using this in conjunction with the touch-screen, the face buttons are used instead with weapons equipped by holding down the 'L' shoulder button. This all works surprisingly well and is intuitive without getting in the way of the gameplay.

Graphics

Mercenaries certainly lives up to all those initial screens we've all been enjoying over the last few months and it's arguably one of the best looking games on the system. The environments are detailed and atmospheric and the character models incredibly impressive both in terms of construction and movement. Sadly this all comes at a price and not only do the enemies occasionally disappear for no reason at all there's also a little problem with the frame rate which doesn't always manage to keep up with what's going on, even in 2D mode.

Sound

While there's a suitable soundtrack, which plays throughout the levels, it's the sound effects, which really weaken the games atmosphere. This is because most of the enemies sound very similar indeed and there's little difference between their moans and groans regardless of their size and weaponry.

Special features

As we've already mentioned, the touch-screen is not required for control although you will be required to tap the screen every now and again in order to select your various weapons. Turning on the 3D does add to the games enjoyment giving the various areas extra depth and making the zombies attacks all the more terrifying.

Final comments

Before we begin to list the considerable downsides of Mercenaries 3D, let's begin by stating just how much fun this game is and if the mindless shooting of zombies is your thing: there's lot's of it here. It also looks great helping to create the type of atmosphere the series is best known for. Sadly, it's short, very short and with only 20 missions available, you are likely to complete the game in only one sitting. To make matters worse, this is the game which caused a great deal of ill feelings, earlier in the year because of the lack of deletable save function meaning you can't start from the beginning once you have played it. The Revelations demo is also a little too short and the Multiplayer requires each player to have a copy of the game. It's still tremendous fun but its £40 asking price is incredibly steep for what's on offer here.

Pro: Looks Great, Fast and Furious Fun Gameplay
Con: Too Few Levels, Undeleteable Save Slot, Poor Revelations Demo
Final score: 6.8

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