Killzone Mercenary PS Vita Review
Summary: Killzone Mercenary is definitely the game that the PlayStation Vita needed and boasts the best first person shooter experience on a portable system. From exceptional graphics, almost flawless gameplay, Killzone Mercenary just gets better and better which each play as there's always something to find while you are playing.
4.5
Embrace it!
Welcome back to the planets of Helghan and Vekta that has caused millions of causalities between the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) and the dreaded Helghast. However in this instalment of the game, you play a ruthless mercenary named Arran Danner, working for both sides of the war in order to rake in the cash. However on one fateful day, you soon discover that something may severely change the future and whether it’s for good or bad, only time will tell.
Welcome back to Killzone and this time, PlayStation Vita owners can experience one of the best damn first person shooters to be released on this console, including every other portable device. Developers Guerrilla Games have really thought outside the box in their current game and have successfully managed to use the PS Vita features to its advantage from touch screen navigation and even in-game voice chat.
Killzone Mercenary features a very strong campaign mode and although it is a little clichéd and over the top at times, it successfully bridges the various Killzone games and creates a thoroughly entertaining experience. What I enjoyed about the gameplay was the ability to fight both the ISA and the Helghast and the carefully scripted missions and objectives that worked flawlessly on the PS Vita.
Before starting the game, players can customise their loadouts and chop and change between various armours, weapons (primary and secondary). My favourite weapon in the entire game was the shotgun which literally smashed by opponents into whatever never world was the afterlife for the both the ISA and the Helghast. In terms of single-player, the player has access to a variety of contracts that need to be completed, each with a set number of objectives and lots of combat thrown in for good measures. The game is also quite violent and gory!
I also enjoyed some of the epic endings of missions where you literally obliterate the enemy and then just vanish like a ghost at the end. It’s classic Killzone at its best. Fans of the series will be pleased with the Valor cards that score the player on how well they completed set objectives, kills and missions. Of course, money is the key to success in Killzone Mercenary and depending on your skill set, you can make quite a large amount of cash that can then be used to purchase a variety of weapons and Vanguards. Vanguards are similar to the special bonuses that your characters had access to in Call of Duty where you can unleash a devastating attack on your enemy from just a tap of the screen.
As mentioned, Guerrilla Games have really fine tuned the gaming mechanics on the PS Vita and really transcends the first person shooter to an almost PlayStation 3 experience in relation to how smooth the controls are. It also helps that the PS Vita has a large screen which really makes the combat quite close and personal at times. Another new instalment in the PS Vita version are the deadly melee attacks that is triggered by a variety of swipes from your screen which also triggers some brutal finishing manoeuvres.
Apart from single player, Killzone Mercenary features a very competent online experience with three gaming modes that include Mercenary Warfare, Guerrilla Warfare and Warzone. Mercenary Warfare is pure chaos as ever gamer attempts to score the most money for the win. Guerrilla Warfare is classic team deathmatch and the team to get 40 kills within the allocated 10 minutes of time wins. Lastly, we have Warzone that requires the players to complete a set number of objectives that have been broken down into several character classes. Warzone is easily my favourite mode as it requires more strategy than just gun-ho valour.
Graphics/Sound
Graphically, Killzone Mercenary is one of the best looking games on the PS Vita with some great attention to detail. The character models, textures, backgrounds and special effects are almost to die for on this portable console. The graphics are very reminiscent of the PlayStation3 version and there are no complaints at all, even the frame rate is quite acceptable. Sound effects, music and voice acting is equally as good and really enhance the overall gameplay.
Final Level?
Killzone Mercenary is definitely the game that the PlayStation Vita needed and boasts the best first person shooter experience on a portable system. From exceptional graphics, almost flawless gameplay, Killzone Mercenary just gets better and better which each play as there’s always something to find while you are playing.
It’s definitely a title that the gaming community will embrace!
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