Mercenary Kings

Mercenary Kings is a slick old-school inspired shooter that has one foot in the past, and the other firmly planted in the present. Its high level of difficulty, catchy tunes, and pixelated graphics meld nicely with its emphasis on loot, customization, and online play. While some control issues get in the way, it comes highly recommended to those looking for a fun side-scrolling shooter to play, or folks simply looking for a taste of the games of yore.

When certain games release, you find yourself wondering why more developers haven’t done the same thing before. Mercenary Kings is one of those games. While few inherently new ideas are at play in Tribute’s latest project, the combined whole is an impressive effort that mixes classic shooting (inspired by games like Metal Slug or Mega Man) and injects some of the customization, storytelling, and ancillary mechanics more prevalent in modern games. Whether playing alone or with friends, this massive adventure should keep most players busy for hours.

You'll constantly wish the annoyances would recede so you can wallow in the good stuff - because the good stuff is really good. It's just not enough to lighten what is ultimately a heavy and time-consuming experience. If I could freeze time for that moment, a few hours in, where everything fits into place and Mercenary Kings is my new favourite game, I would. We're so conditioned to equate quantity with quality in gaming that it feels counter-intuitive to criticise an otherwise great game for offering too much, but Mercenary Kings would be twice the game if it were only half the size.

Mercenary Kings has a lot of interesting mechanics, but some are definitely stronger than others. There are moments of brilliance in its battlefield, but those looking for the next big thing best look elsewhere -- this king is merely a prince.

Old school remixed.

Mercenary Kings builds on the simplicity of classic run-and-gun shooting gameplay in an elegant way. The game is actually overflowing with content, but it's in the form of tweaks to the formula rather than giant shifts — a new enemy here and there, a gun part that completely changes your approach and so on. The repetition central to the game rarely bothered me; it's key to the sense of mastery over each piece of content, and it makes each small change all the more significant.