Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

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Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D review
Liam Edwards

Review

Same old zombies, smaller screen

Not You Again


The gameplay in Mercenaries 3D is one of an unchanged formula. If you have played the Mercenaries mini-modes previously then you have already played Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. Without much change or variety it is hard to justify why such a game could be one of the best titles available on hand-held consoles. But it is addictive and getting the best scores and finding all the time bonuses will keep you coming back for more. With eight characters in total to play with, and each having their own set of skills, melee attacks and weaponry; one play through of the five sections could be completely different to another. Some missions can be extremely easy with one character, yet could be a complete pain with others. It is this change in on the fly tactics that is so enjoyable, what works with one character won't necessarily work with another, add in the fact that the different sets of enemies all have specific ways of being taken down, the title does add the element of asking players to think. But with all this said, there is one key formula that is the same across all characters and all enemies.

Five-second time bonuses can be gained by defeating enemies with a melee attack. This means the missions can become a compulsory repetitive strategy of shooting enemies in the legs to stun them and then knocking them clean out with a swift melee attack. This becomes boring, but without these five-second time bonuses, high-scores are almost impossible to gain. It is nice to be able to pass through the whole game by using these effective tactics, but unless you go back and replay levels using your own strategies the gameplay certainly becomes repetitive. Luckily, part of the fun of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is finding out how to kill enemies effectively and by using your given weaponry and environment.

There are five available sections that are all split into smaller missions. The first two sections involve tutorials, which makes the content seem even smaller. Each mission involves you racking up points to gain a letter ranking, players must gain a B or higher to unlock the following missions. Many sections end with a challenging boss fight or difficult wave upon wave assault styled time-attack. You can use any character to play any of the missions, there is not an alternative story for each character or goal, just personal preference when choosing. I tended to play with Jack Krauser (Resident Evil 4) more than other characters because of being able to use his bow and arrow. It allowed for one shot kills on lower enemies and had infinite ammo, which made many tedious missions easier to play and more fun than using a regular handgun and having to run round and find ammo.

Just Like Crack


For all it is, the expensive price tag is embarrassing. Capcom would have been far better making this a reasonably priced e-shop download then the fully boxed title it is. But it is easily the second best game on the platform to date, with the highly-addictive gameplay and continued quest to always better your scores and times, you will find yourself flipping open your 3DS anywhere you can to play a quick mission or two.

Capcom are continuing geniuses, they have allowed themselves to make a game so low on content, yet with such highly-addictive gameplay and charge consumers an astronomical price for it. It is a game everyone with a 3DS must play, yet paying full price seems like the most stupid idea ever. If you cannot wait for all of Nintendo's first-party titles later this year and need something to convince yourself buying a 3DS now was a clever idea, then I guess you have no choice but to go out and give so much of your hard earned cash for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. But if you can wait for the price to inevitably drop then Mercenaries 3D warrants a purchase in the future.

It has a long list of problems (did I mention the one-time save, you can't delete? No? Well I am sure you must have heard about it by now), yet it is something any Resident Evil fan would enjoy immensely and desperate 3DS owners must add to their collection even if it does not match the asking price.

7.0

fun score

Pros

It is Resident Evil on a hand-held. The same highly-addictive gameplay featured in the original mercenaries modes. Graphically superb at times.

Cons

Very low on content, long list of continuing problems. And no variety in missions or modes. Has a hefty price tag for what is available.