Killzone : Merceary (PS Vita)
This week we're going handheld for the 2nd time on the blog (and almost exactly a year after the last time we went handheld). Our stop on the Vita brings us to Killzone : Mercenary, a spin-off from the console based series exclusive to Sony. A lot of franchises try to pander to multiple platforms to expand on their fanbase and, of course, their profit. Some of these expansions pay off, while others fall heavily short. So let's see where Killzone lands.
The main button interface covers just about everything you'll need to do. The joysticks allow you to move and look/aim. D-Pad is where you can switch weapons (right), toss grenades (down), or activate your special weapon (left). X is your jump button, which also allows you to vault over cover, O makes you crouch, or if you're already moving will let you sprint, and if you're already sprinting, pressing it again makes you slide baseball style across the ground. △ triggers melee attacks, and also acts as your action button throughout the game, and □ is your reload button. L aims your weapon and R fires.
The cool thing with this one, is there are button prompts on the touch screen for a lot of these controls as well. You can touch a specific area to trigger melees (and all melee attacks will bring up a Quick Time Event where you'll have to swipe in a specific direction), send out your special weapon, switch weapons, arm grenades, and its also used to play the minigame for hacking terminals throughout the game. And it also brings into use the rear touch pad, which allows you to adjust the zoom level for your scope if you're using a sniper rifle.
Each level greets you with an obective : Reach this area/person, shut down this system, and once your main objective is obtained, you'll usually have to make your way to an extraction point to completely cap off the level. To reach your objectives, you'll be faced with a ton of enemies and obstacles that you must overcome. For the most part, you're on your own but there are times when you have an AI ally with you laying down cover fire to assist you.
Your main currency in this game is something called Valor, and you earn it by killing your enemies. But, more specifically, it's earned by how you kill them. Simply loading them up with bullets gets you only so much, but if you can chain multi-kills together in quick succession, or take them down with headshots, or even silently sneak up behind them and assassinate them, these will earn you more valor per kill. You can then use it at the in-game shop to purchase all your weapons from your guns and armor, to your grenades and the special equipment weapons too. The weapons don't need anything else to be unlocked other than the Valor, so there is no needing to wait until you reach a certain level or rank. As soon as you've earned enough, go buy what you want.
The one specific weapon-type that I do want to explain more is the only one that really needs it : the special ones. In game they are called Vanguard equipment, and they give you a certain boost while you're fighting, and it all depends on which one you get. There's a drone that can shoot out arcs of lightning, one provides you with an invisibility cloaking device for yourself, another spawns a shield in front of you. There's eight different ones to choose from, and they can fit into any playstyle regardless of how you play FPS games.
The enemies you'll come face to face with are all Helghast. They really only differ in the type of weapon they carry. Most tote a simple assault rifle, while others are posted up in more high-rise positions with sniper rifles and rocket launchers. There's also a type that carries a flamethrower, and there's even some with extremely heavy armor on. At a few points throughout the game, you'll have to take down tanks, drones, or Helghast armed transporters, but again for the most part it's just ground troops.
Lastly, certain terminals in the game can be hacked, whether it's to unlock a door or shutdown an enemy system. When the hacking mini-game starts, you are presented with a honeycomb-style array of hexagonal panels. Inside of the panels there are shapes created by different triangles based on which side of the hexagon they are locked on. To unlock everything, you have your own set of hexagon pieces, and you have to figure out how to place them so the triangles with your pieces line up with the ones for the terminal.
Overall, Killzone : Mercenary is a pretty good game, the story flows and you get to just vomit bullets at your enemies. But how difficult is it?
All the enemies you face aren't much of a challenge, but some of them can be at most a moderate one. They aren't too overwhelming, but there are definitely scenes where it seems like they won't stop coming. One chapter has you escorting another character through a zone where the Helghast keep attacking, so you have to clear one area and let them move up, then clear the next and so on pretty much throughout the entire level. This one spot in particular seems to pit you against an infinite number of Helghast soldiers, with all types of weapons on their side and it starts to seem a bit stacked against you, but as long as you keep pushing it's not too bad.I'm also roping into this the one single boss that's in the end of the game. He's not too bad as long as you're persistent. But with it only being one boss, and there not being anything all that special about him, I didn't think he was worthy of his own section.
The hacking is a bit challenging at first, but once you figure it out it gets easier. It essentially works like the boardgame Perfection. You have a time limit, and a certain number of shapes to mess up, but if you get a shape wrong in this one you lose time of the clock. And the challenge from this one honestly all resides in the clock. It makes you think you have to go a lot faster than you really do and it almost creates a sort of panic-mode for the player. But again, once you figure it out and realize that's not the case, this gets a ton easier to deal with.
In the end, not a whole lot of a challenge for the player, but let's talk about what's good and bad about this one before we slap a verdict on.
You can probably assume from how many times I said in this review that I stated I love this franchise and the universe within it, but I have definitely completed this game. One thing I left out of my review is the length. This one is beatable within 4-5 hours, and I've seen a lot of downvotes on this game because of that. It didn't bother me though because it's a handheld FPS. Most games in that genre, whether they're console based or handheld, usually clock in around that time anyways, so to hold that against this game makes no sense in my mind.
The Story
The world of Killzone drops you in the middle of a war between an Earth-like planet, Vekta, and a nearby planet, Helghan. In the midst of war, though, there always exists a third side that goes unnoticed : The Mercenaries. Their loyalties lie only with whoever's supplying the biggest payday. You take on the role of Arran Danner, a mercenary who's been hired by the ISA (Interplanetary Strategic Alliance) to track down their Admiral, Alex Grey. When they arrive at her location, they are forced to stand by as a Helghast Colonel, Kratek, attempts to assassinate her, but Danner and his partner are able to rescue her in time and extract her. Throughout the course of Mercenary, you'll see yourself playing through events from the rest of the Killzone franchise, seeing them from a different perspective. But, when the dust settles, which side will Danner end up on, and will it even matter?The Controls
A first-person shooter just like the rest of the series, Killzone : Mercenary makes excellent use of every aspect of the PS Vita with it's controls.The main button interface covers just about everything you'll need to do. The joysticks allow you to move and look/aim. D-Pad is where you can switch weapons (right), toss grenades (down), or activate your special weapon (left). X is your jump button, which also allows you to vault over cover, O makes you crouch, or if you're already moving will let you sprint, and if you're already sprinting, pressing it again makes you slide baseball style across the ground. △ triggers melee attacks, and also acts as your action button throughout the game, and □ is your reload button. L aims your weapon and R fires.
The cool thing with this one, is there are button prompts on the touch screen for a lot of these controls as well. You can touch a specific area to trigger melees (and all melee attacks will bring up a Quick Time Event where you'll have to swipe in a specific direction), send out your special weapon, switch weapons, arm grenades, and its also used to play the minigame for hacking terminals throughout the game. And it also brings into use the rear touch pad, which allows you to adjust the zoom level for your scope if you're using a sniper rifle.
The Gameplay
Mercenary is broken up into nine different levels, all of which are connected, but are extremely linear with just about no alternate routes or opportunities for exploration. You'll have access to a good sized arsenal to mow down your enemies with, and how well you kill your enemies will let you grow your arsenal much faster.Each level greets you with an obective : Reach this area/person, shut down this system, and once your main objective is obtained, you'll usually have to make your way to an extraction point to completely cap off the level. To reach your objectives, you'll be faced with a ton of enemies and obstacles that you must overcome. For the most part, you're on your own but there are times when you have an AI ally with you laying down cover fire to assist you.
Your main currency in this game is something called Valor, and you earn it by killing your enemies. But, more specifically, it's earned by how you kill them. Simply loading them up with bullets gets you only so much, but if you can chain multi-kills together in quick succession, or take them down with headshots, or even silently sneak up behind them and assassinate them, these will earn you more valor per kill. You can then use it at the in-game shop to purchase all your weapons from your guns and armor, to your grenades and the special equipment weapons too. The weapons don't need anything else to be unlocked other than the Valor, so there is no needing to wait until you reach a certain level or rank. As soon as you've earned enough, go buy what you want.
The one specific weapon-type that I do want to explain more is the only one that really needs it : the special ones. In game they are called Vanguard equipment, and they give you a certain boost while you're fighting, and it all depends on which one you get. There's a drone that can shoot out arcs of lightning, one provides you with an invisibility cloaking device for yourself, another spawns a shield in front of you. There's eight different ones to choose from, and they can fit into any playstyle regardless of how you play FPS games.
The enemies you'll come face to face with are all Helghast. They really only differ in the type of weapon they carry. Most tote a simple assault rifle, while others are posted up in more high-rise positions with sniper rifles and rocket launchers. There's also a type that carries a flamethrower, and there's even some with extremely heavy armor on. At a few points throughout the game, you'll have to take down tanks, drones, or Helghast armed transporters, but again for the most part it's just ground troops.
Lastly, certain terminals in the game can be hacked, whether it's to unlock a door or shutdown an enemy system. When the hacking mini-game starts, you are presented with a honeycomb-style array of hexagonal panels. Inside of the panels there are shapes created by different triangles based on which side of the hexagon they are locked on. To unlock everything, you have your own set of hexagon pieces, and you have to figure out how to place them so the triangles with your pieces line up with the ones for the terminal.
Overall, Killzone : Mercenary is a pretty good game, the story flows and you get to just vomit bullets at your enemies. But how difficult is it?
The Challenge (or lack thereof?)
In Mercenary, you'll be dealing with a ton of enemies, and you'll have your hacking that needs to get done as well. Let's look a bit more into these two areas and see how each one is. Keep in mind too that this game offers a sliding difficulty scale which you can change, so it all depends on where you place it for yourself.All the enemies you face aren't much of a challenge, but some of them can be at most a moderate one. They aren't too overwhelming, but there are definitely scenes where it seems like they won't stop coming. One chapter has you escorting another character through a zone where the Helghast keep attacking, so you have to clear one area and let them move up, then clear the next and so on pretty much throughout the entire level. This one spot in particular seems to pit you against an infinite number of Helghast soldiers, with all types of weapons on their side and it starts to seem a bit stacked against you, but as long as you keep pushing it's not too bad.I'm also roping into this the one single boss that's in the end of the game. He's not too bad as long as you're persistent. But with it only being one boss, and there not being anything all that special about him, I didn't think he was worthy of his own section.
The hacking is a bit challenging at first, but once you figure it out it gets easier. It essentially works like the boardgame Perfection. You have a time limit, and a certain number of shapes to mess up, but if you get a shape wrong in this one you lose time of the clock. And the challenge from this one honestly all resides in the clock. It makes you think you have to go a lot faster than you really do and it almost creates a sort of panic-mode for the player. But again, once you figure it out and realize that's not the case, this gets a ton easier to deal with.
In the end, not a whole lot of a challenge for the player, but let's talk about what's good and bad about this one before we slap a verdict on.
PROS
- Mercenary Contracts. After you complete each mission, you can unlock three optional contracts for that mission, each of which has a short list of special objectives to be completed in addition to the main ones. The categories for the contracts are Precision (complete in a designated time limit, achieve a specific number of headshots or total kills with a specific weapon), Covert (different ways to insure you're undetected through the mission such as using smoke grenades on a certain enemy or destroying all security cameras), and Demolition (these focus on just using brute force and leaving nothing in your wake as you complete the mission). It's a cool aspect because it appeals to the whole mercenary side of things where you get your payday, but you get a bigger payday if you do these extra things.CONS
- Not A Completely Original Story. While the specifics of what play out through this game are new, they aren't totally new. The whole game covers aspects of Killzone, Kilzone : Liberation, and Killzone 2 (essentially everything leading up to Killzone 3), so everything you do ties into big points from previous games. It would have been nice to get an entirely new story because the universe in these games is incredible, so not getting to see more of it and instead rehashing stuff you've already seen, is a bit upsetting.Final Verdict
This game is pretty fun. It isn't spectacular by any means, but it's most certainly not horrible. The graphics are great, the use of the systems touch screen and touch pad options is pretty cool, and the mercenary contracts help out greatly in the area of replayability. However, whether you get just the cartridge, or a CIB copy (used or sealed and new) you'll be throwing down about $25. As fun as this game is, and as great as the entire Killzone universe is, I still don't feel like this game holds a $25 value to it. If you are a Playstation Plus user though, and you don't mind a digital copy, definitely keep your eye on this one in the store as it usually ends up with a discount on it, and at one time it was a freebie for a month. So if you can find this one for under $20 (I'd honestly say closer to $15) definitely pick this one up.You can probably assume from how many times I said in this review that I stated I love this franchise and the universe within it, but I have definitely completed this game. One thing I left out of my review is the length. This one is beatable within 4-5 hours, and I've seen a lot of downvotes on this game because of that. It didn't bother me though because it's a handheld FPS. Most games in that genre, whether they're console based or handheld, usually clock in around that time anyways, so to hold that against this game makes no sense in my mind.
