This give-and-take sense of balance always keeps the gameplay from getting too easy but it still isn’t the most efficient. Further, the better the weapon, the slower the character moves. Since the player is limited to holding only a few items at a time, it is frustrating to have to backtrack through respawning enemies to find that one pack of C4 needed to move forward. One of the annoying problems with this 2D side-scroller is the inventory management system. While the stage design and enemies repeat, at least they look nice. It looks and feels like playing a 16-bit cartoon as everything is outfitted with over exaggerated animations and vivid colors. The gorgeous and well animated sprite work is one of the highlighting features of this title. The art style, however, looks just like Scott Pilgrim. Mercenary Kings plays a bit like Metal Slug but with the slower, action platformy-ness of Mega Man and the reloading mechanic from Gears of War. From start to finish, it will take about 40-50 hours to complete the quest but most of that time is spent navigating the same stages repeatedly only with slightly new objectives. Along the way, the player can participate in optional mission objectives, like hunting animals or finding hostages, while collecting material to craft new stuff. The story creates the opportunity for several types of mission objectives including neutralize, rendezvous, capture, and sabotage but all ultimately act the same – get to the end of the level while shooting anything that moves. Basically the mech-parts that saved your life is what the bad guys are using for evil. You play as a mercenary who has been put back together from a horrible accident. This 2D shooter/action platformer can offer fun in fifteen minute increments but ultimately suffers from repetitive stages, enemies, and mission objectives.
#MERCENARY KINGS RELOADED EDITION EXPLOIT PS4#
Making its way onto Xbox One from PC and PS4 before it, Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition is basically a Mega Man-type clone only with item and gun crafting.