Every day is the "End of the Week"

Publisher: Capcom
System: 3DS
Release Date: 6/28/2011

            Dive into the nightmares once more as you aim for the highest score, chain the largest combos, and prove that you can defend yourself and your partner while still getting that SS Rank.

            Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a spin-off title for the 3DS, focused entirely on the famous Mercenaries mode found in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. When brought onto the console, fans are granted a fast-paced trip down memory lane as they visit areas in both of the console games and take down all of the Majini & Ganados that stand in their path.

            The first question most fans would ask would have to be, “Does the look of RE Mercs 3D compare to that of the bonus mode found in its console predecessors?” The answer to that question is a huge yes. While the 3DS does not possess the same level of graphics as the PS3 and 360, it shows off what it CAN do through beautiful portable renditions of the well-known stages from the console games, such as RE5’s “Public Assembly” stage, and RE4’s “Village” stage. While they do not give you 100% access to where the RE4 and RE5 players could go, the amount of land you could cover varied in size and space, developing stronger tactics between players.

            Players are given 3 characters from the start, and the rest are unlocked by getting high scores in the missions listed. The first couple of levels of missions are meant to give you a feel for the new way to play, so you don’t jump head-first into a suicide mission in which you ask how to change equipment (believe me, folks, tutorial missions really do help).

            Resident Evil icons such as Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Albert Wesker make a return to the 3D screen in this addition to the series. Unlike the console games, you are not stuck with a single loadout. You are able to unlock different weapon sets and abilities. Skills in Mercs 3D are bonuses that characters can obtain and level up to gain the maximum effects, such as better weapon handling, healing, etc.

 

            On the topic of the gameplay, Capcom took a new approach to Mercenaries 3D’s system of play. Yes, the game plays similarly to RE5 and RE4. No, it is not an exact clone. Mercenaries 3D throws the slow parts of the consoles’ formulas out in an attempt to give players control of how to use their precious time in-game. There is no longer an animation to pick items up (you pass by the item, press the Y-button, and the item is in stock), there is no longer an item management window (it’s all done from the touch screen), and herbs are used with a simple press of the A-button (no more herb mixing, future chemists of the world!). Melee is highly encouraged in this new game.

            Along the lines of simplicity, you are unable to pick up ammunition for a gun type you do not have (if Chris finds Machine Gun ammunition, he can’t pick it up unless one of his weapons is a Machine Gun). The newest innovation for this game would definitely have to be the ability to move AND shoot (a mechanic never before seen in a Resident Evil game that wasn’t on rails!).

            The primary parts of the modern RE formula that are maintained are the limited time for a Mercenaries game (you find timers throughout the level to extend the duration of the game), the enemy reactions to your attacks (enabling you to Melee or assassinate them), and the endless enemy waves that come after you throughout. Capcom’s idea with Mercenaries 3D was to develop a brand new type of experience with a game mode that fans have enjoyed since RE4. At the end of each mission, as usual, your score is displayed, along with the factors that made up your score (how many enemies were defeated, maximum combo count, etc).

            The 3DS’ exclusive 3D capabilities can bring an entertaining twist on gameplay. You’ve most likely never experienced true 3D until you’ve played Mercenaries on 3D (or Dead or Alive: Dimensions). Aiming down the scope of a sniper rifle in 3D, I find myself closing one eye to look through the scope, as if I was really holding the sniper rifle. There is, however, an extreme lack of gyroscope support in terms of aiming, though it doesn’t hinder the gameplay in the slightest.

             If there is any negativity that must be put towards this game’s basic features, it must be this – the menu is not 100% user-friendly, unlike most Capcom games. Mission mode forces players to look through the missions to see which they haven’t done, there’s no fluid transfer from mission to mission, and the types of missions seem at first glance to only be doable via Duo mode (playing with a partner via local wireless or Nintendo Wifi Connection).

            The multiplayer for this game is a bit tricky. With this review being made on the first day of the game being out, it’s just not justifiable to say that the multiplayer is bad due to connection issues. The online play will take some time to connect to, and from there you have two choices and two playstyles – hosting and joining, and global or friend-exclusive. Multiplayer is only for 2-player cooperative Mission Mode, and from the first day, the games I have personally played were nearly perfect in quality. While it took me twenty minutes to successfully connect to a player (Error Codes were flying all over the place, as were many words that should never be heard by children), the games were entertaining and enjoyable, albeit a bit disheartening when my partner used the wrong type of weapon on an enemy. If you manage to connect to a player, what I’m saying will be fully understood. As with many Capcom games, the online servers will surely be expanded and dealt with to fully accommodate for all of the players.

            One primary online problem is that, while there are endless possibilities to online play, there’s no real way to show if you’re a strong player or not. There’s no online scoreboards, leader boards, anything to show how high your scores have been on missions. The only person you can show your scores to is yourself and your local friends (if you show them the screen with your score on it).

            The biggest problem with this game would have to be its permanent game save feature. If the RE Mercs 3D Cartridge saves data, it’s there for good. There’s no starting over, there’s no erasing the data, nothing. This is Capcom’s answer to people selling their games back to retailers. It’s to prevent that from happening, and if anything, Capcom’s simply angered gamers by doing this. If a gamer wishes to trade their copy of Mercs in a year later, they won’t be able to, unless they find a hack to remove the data completely and essentially make the game a brand new copy again.

            To bring a positive twist back to this review, Mercs 3D has outdone itself in terms of sound. This game doesn’t feature the themes of Mercenaries found in the console games, but instead it features brand new music for each stage and mission. Your unnamed ally who instructs you on what to do sounds exactly as if he was talking over a headset (which, in fact, he is), and the characters sound as if they were actually injured in the various ways they were attacked. For fans of annoying their partner, however, the Partner command from resident Evil 5 (Sheva/Chris yelling “Come on!” and “Hurry!” ) was removed (for good reason, it was replaced by Reloading and Quick Time dodging).

            Included with this game is a playable Demo of Resident Evil: Revelations, which shall be released in Spring of 2012. You only get to play a bit of it, but from what is understood, Jill Valentine is exploring a boat that she boarded in order to find information concerning Umbrella Corporation and bioterrorism in general. What she finds is similar to what the hero/heroin of RE games tends to find – viral experiments with only one goal in mind – killing anyone in sight. This chapter branches Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 together.

            Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D packs hours upon hours of replay value within it. There’s always a better score to get on each map, with each character, with each weapon set, with each skill set, etc. The online play always reveals surprisingly skilled players who will surely show you their skills if you show yours. Each match, whether online or offline, will provide a unique experience that each individual player must put to use.

Mercenaries 3D is most definitely a game for Resident Evil fans to buy. While most fans prefer games with story, it’d still be best to pick this up for the fun of multiplayer. If you’re not really a Resident Evil fan, I wouldn’t suggest this as an instant purchase to you. It’d be best to get it a few weeks after it’s been out, so all of the online issues are fixed, people have played for a while and the servers are calm and not flooded.