Since the 2010 announcement at The Nintendo Conference in Japan I have been very skeptical of The Mercenaries 3D or M3D. So far I have not felt the grab to get a 3DS for a number of reasons like: horrible initial sales, seemed gimmicky, claims of causing headaches etc. I know there are some Mario and Zelda titles out there but I hate paying full retail price for a rehashing with some features tacked on. But when it comes to Resident Evil I am one hell of a sucker and will buy almost any game or movie with RE on it. I even purchased that stinker RE survivor which was a Playstation shooter released mid 2000. Through them all I have had high hopes and some fulfilled while other crashed but my hope was M3D would be different. I mean come on, it marries aspects of Resident Evil 4 and 5 which I loved. Let’s take a peek into this one and see if it sinks or swims.
M3D is a third person shooter combing the mercenaries mini games from Resident Evil 4 and 5. So there really is no story here. The basic objective is to take down as many enemies as possible within a given time limit. This for me is not a positive already, because Resident Evil or RE has always carried a rich interesting story albeit sometimes confusing as hell.
The visuals are very good considering the fact you are on a such a small screen. Personally I preferred to play this title without the 3D on so I could play at an angle versus straight on. The 3D also seemed to disorient me to the point where I had to take a break or I would end up with a headache. I did not have this issue with any other games I tried. The character animations seemed to function as required whether you were being stalked or popping off shots. There is a nice selection of characters from different R.E. titles to choose from with alternate costumes and what not. I did appreciate the ability to upgrade my characters skills as I progressed through the game.
There was also a decent amount of slow down when multiple enemies appeared on screen or something was being blown up. I expected this going in because I had seen this in the past on other Nintendo hand held devices. All of your action is displayed on the upper screen while maps, inventory, etc are on the lower touch screen. I was really hoping for some action on both screens but once again was not shocked to see the usual layout for the screens. The levels are very vanilla and often kinda boring when compared to some of the locales this title borrows from.
The controls stayed in line with what we have come to expect from the series. Personally I felt a lot of frustration in trying to get my character to move his ass without getting it bit off in most of the levels. I am also trying to adjust to using the nub on the system as the last DS I owned did not have this control option. There are also some different control options/schemes in the start menu.
One of my major draws to this game was the online play via WI-FI which promised some intense CO OP action along with new modes and different characters from the R.E. universe. That all sounds pretty kick ass huh? Oh, well too bad I could not find one damn person playing the game to even demo the online piece. I have attempted to find sessions at different times of the day with no luck. With no one playing it online chances are I would have been less than impressed anyway. The other major draw was the demo included for Resident Evil Revelations. You play as Jill Valentine in the demo investigating a ship that seems empty but something has taken it over. The demo was mostly walking around and almost no action. I will not give it away for those who are still looking to play it. What has two thumbs and feels pretty screwed over by the demo? This guy! I just expected more from this because of how rich the R.E. history really is.
Overall this is a decent attempt at ringing a few more bucks out of the rabid fan base that keeps this series hyped. I prefer to call this title a mode as it is really not a game on it’s own feet but more a mode borrowed from previous games in the series. If you are a fan of R.E. like I am and own a 3DS chances are you have already played this or will be soon. If this game was sold for less than 20 dollars I would be a lot more inclined to recommend it, but at 40 dollars I have to yell rip off.
Pros:
Visuals
R.E. characters/levels of past
Skills/upgrade system
Cons:
Wi-Fi play or lack there of
Slowdown on screen
Realizing you spent 40 bucks for a demo (Should have been a tacked on mode for R.E. Revelations)
