Killzone Mercenary is a new game for the Playstation Vita due to be released in Australia on September 4th 2013. We were lucky enough at Resident Entertainment to receive a preview copy of the game from Playstation Australia and I’m happy to say that after playing the game for some time, it’s excellent!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfYLUyC05U[/youtube]
Killzone mercenary isn’t like anything I’ve played on a handheld device before, actually it’s probably more something I’ve been wanting to play on a handheld device since the original PSP came out but it never happened. Sure we had some good console like experiences on the Vita like Uncharted Golden Abyss or maybe even Assassin’s Creed Liberation but this game is a whole new level and a step above those. Also for the first person shooter genre, I don’t think there has been anything of this quality on a handheld gaming device before. Killzone Mercenary seemed to me to be pretty much a console experience on a portable device, it felt the same as Killzone on PS3 does, it was just as fun and just as responsive. I think this is the game I bought the vita for, I think this was the experience I’ve been waiting for and I’ll tell you why.
The first thing that I think is very impressive about Killzone Mercenary and what Guerilla games have done well are the visual’s and the graphics for Killzone Mercenary. The visual’s that I saw in the preview were incredibly impressive and I think it is due to Guerilla games using the same in game engine technology from the PS3 for this vita game. By using the same technology as the PS3, for me, it truly felt like the best and highest quality FPS portable gaming experience.
Speaking of the gameplay I found it to be much better than I thought it could be on the Vita. Character movement was smooth, quick and easy and the control’s were perfect for an FPS. In my view from playing the game for a while now, it’s that the gameplay experience of Vita is pretty much what you would expect from the console version of Killzone on PS3. So if you have played that then you know what to expect. But for those who haven’t there are a variety of different things you can do.
In Killzone Mercenary you can have your play style the way you might like such as trying to stealth your way around (although I always get caught) or you can just run your way in and blast everyone you see. The weapons in the level’s I got to play were good and had good sound effects when they were fired and the grenades were great also. On the vita of course the control’s aren’t exactly the same as the PS3 of course so things like changing your weapon are different. To change your weapon you touch the weapon icon on your screen and to equip the grenade you also also tap the grenade icon as well.
One thing I really did like about the gameplay was the combat. When you get close to an enemy either through stealthily sneaking up on them or just by ending up in punching distance you can press triangle and a swipe movement comes across the screen. You swipe the screen with your finger and an action takes place. While it doesn’t sound the most interesting reading it, there are a variety of kill’s you can do/watch your character do which are actually pretty awesome to watch.
Another thing that also makes the game fun is the points you get when you pick things up or make a kill. Things that pop up on the screen like “triple kill” or “double kill” or other random phrases always to me make me feel like I’m playing a game where what I’m doing or what I’m killing counts for something. I always felt in the preview that I was unlocking something and I know it is something that is common in FPS games, but I liked how this one did it. There are also a variety of weapons you can unlock in the game and purchase during various points. I like this as well because I can choose the weapons I want and being a portable game I think it provides something for the people who just play every now and then. They can pick a couple of weapons for their level, shoot some stuff and have some fun. I also felt that there was a good variety of weapons to choose from and it looked promising especially for multiplayer.
What the game is about is that you play as a Veteran UCA soldier, now mercenary for hire Arran Danner. What seems to happen in this game is that you do a variety of mercenary missions in different locations in the Killzone universe but I can’t gather much more from the plot from the preview I played. But if you have played Killzone before it’s along similar lines as to what you would expect, that is, ISA V Helghast. I would likely need to play the full game to comment more on the plot but I have been told that it will have 9 playable missions of around an hour in length, plus the mulitplayer so there is a lot of content in there for the gamers.
Overall Killzone Mercenary is a surprisingly good game for the PS Vita and one I think that will impress not only FPS fans but gamer’s in general. Killzone Mercenary is what you would expect from a portable console experience from PlayStation and one game I think PS Vita owner’s should pay attention to when it launches on September 4th, 2013.
