The drought of playable games on Nintendo's revolutionary 3DS handheld is slowly coming to a close, and next up is Capcom's Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, a $39.99 title based around the series' highly popular mini-game. Is it worth the price-tag to slay zombies against the clock, or should you conserve your ammo (and money) for something else?
As noted, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is not your typical Resident Evil title. This time around, things revolve around the game's "Mercenaries" mode which debuted in Resident Evil 4 and returned in Resident Evil 5. This time-attack mode pits you--and perhaps a buddy--against both the clock and a ton of infected beings as you aim to get the highest score possible. A fairly simple premise that can ultimately end up providing an insane amount of replay value.
The biggest concern many people have about Mercenaries 3D is whether or not this one particular mode warrants its own game. Is there enough "meat" in this title to make someone want to buy it? Well, the answer is yes.
To me, the ideal portable game, be it on a handheld or iOS devices, is one that allows me to get in and out quickly while also providing a satisfying gaming experience. Angry Birds is a prime example of this, as depicted by both its popularity and my personal experience. Now, don't get me wrong--The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is great, and I am certainly going to be first in line to purchase Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D when it releases later this year, but those games require too much time and devotion for me to want to play it consistently. I can easily pick up a game of Angry Birds before I say to myself, "I want to play Zelda on my 3DS." Unless you are consistently on the road, handheld games don't necessarily have to be epic masterpieces that are on par with console games.
So, to wrap up the last two paragraphs, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries is the ideal handheld title.
Let's talk some details, shall we?
Mercenaries 3D offers quite an extensive tutorial, so even the most novice Resident Evil player can quickly learn the ins and outs of the series. After you learn the ropes, the game consists of levels where you take down zombies while fighting the clock. At the end of each round your numbers are tallied up and you are given a score--D,C,B,A,S,SS--and from there more levels are unlocked. That's about all the "meat" there is to the game, but you know what? That's ok.
The game features a handful of unlockables--characters, outfits, skills, uh, characters--that shouldn't be too hard to acquire for anybody, making the game rather accessible. Each character has their own weapon loadout which gives the game a lot of staying power by seeing how different each level plays out with each particular character. You may rack up a high score in one level while playing as Chris, but you can then find out that playing at Claire won't produce the same results.
For a handheld title, or more importantly, a Resident Evil title, Mercenaries 3D controls very well. Inventory swapping, reloading, and map utilization all work well with the touch-screen, making Mercenaries 3D a breeze to play. Reloading can be done either by aiming the weapon and pressing B or by double-tapping the weapon's icon on the screen. Aiming works extremely well for the device, and Mercenaries 3D now gives the option to aim in first-person perspective, and finally, the ability to move and shoot simultaneously; this sounds good on paper, but the end result is a stiff mess, and you can't adjust your angle while shooting, you just look straight. Odds are you'll end up never using this mechanic.
The game's visuals are real strong and certainly impressive for a handheld. The 3D effect adds a lot of depth to the visuals, but as with most 3DS games it doesn't add much to the gameplay itself. However, being such a white knuckle, frantic game, the 3D effects tend to make the visuals look distorted due to the constant jerky motions when playing.
There are a few other downsides to Mercenaries as well. For one, the frame-rate takes a dip every now and then, most notably with the enemies that are in the background. Probably in an effort to keep things in front of the player running smooth, enemies in the background tend to show their pixels and have stiff, rugged movement until they cross a certain point in the level where they fully load up and walk normally. A minor gripe, but one that should still be noted for the graphics department.
The sound design is simply abysmal, and perhaps on par with the Pokémon games' Pokémon battle cries. Voices, gunfire, and music sound muffled, low, and scratchy. Don't bother trying to help the matter by inserting headphones into the 3DS port, because that just amplifies the horror. This is probably the biggest issue with the game entirely, and one that could've been easily avoided.
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries features both online and offline co-operative play, but after almost a week being out the online servers were still unplayable.
Despite a few shortcomings, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a solid 3DS title, and those looking to dust off their handheld--in addition to Zelda, that is--should look no further than here. Mercenaries features fast-pasted, zombie killing action, great visuals, and hopefully at some point great online co-operative play. Sure, its $40 price may be a bit too steep for what it offers, but at a price drop the almost unlimited replay value it can provide certainly justifies a purchase. Be on the lookout for a sale on this one.
