Review - Killzone Mercenary
Jon Evans
With plenty of anticipation in the lead up to its release, the pressure must have been intense for Guerilla Cambridge to deliver; in part from the eager gaming public, but also from Sony who need to ensure their precious Killzone franchise retains its high profile. It is the first game to not be developed by Guerilla Games. Guerilla Cambridge, formerly SCE Cambridge Studio, have an impressive CV of titles including Little Big Planet PSP, but were also involved with Medieval, Ghost Hunter, Heavenly Sword, and several of the Wipeout Series. With this heritage, it is hoped Killzone Mercenary will be the saviour of the Vita after the lackluster flop that was Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified and the underrated Unit 13. The Vita desperately needs a good FPS.
You play as Arran Danner, a two dimensional soldier with an expanded skill-set and lust for money rather than loyalty. Set in the period just after the first Killzone, Danner is a contract killer for hire who works for both the ISA and the Helghast. Your first mission is to rescue an Ambassador and his family on Vektan, but as circumstances unfold, you soon realise this pickup mission is more complicated and has more importance to the war as a whole.

Immediately first impressions of this game are very good. It is beautiful, on a par with Golden Abyss, with sharp crisp graphics and a beautiful range of colour palettes, reminiscent of recent trailers of Shadowfall. Texture maps are detailed and sharp too, with a vibrancy you do not normally see in handheld games (this probably has an influence on the size of the download of the digital version). Often through the game I found myself screen grabbing scenes in pure wonder. It is certainly a remarkable visual achievement. But, as we all know, looks are not everything and more important is gameplay.
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Mercenary is the first game I have played on the Vita that truly feels like a full blown FPS console experience. The controls are as to be expected, following the now, almost default, COD style layout. They lack the option to change to different control schemes such as southpaw. This is probably due to the touch screen aspects of the game. You can adjust the Y and X axis sensitivity settings which is especially essential in the multiplayer and there are double reduncies in certain controls to suit your style. There is not an over emphasis to using touch, but you are forced to use the screen when performing melée attacks. Initially I balked at this but, over time, muscle memory kicks in and you don’t be have to be too precise in the direction you swipe. You soon become used to flicking your thumb out over the screen. There is a good variety of melee attack prompts so it is always fresh in the game and does not become a chore. It is also important training for the multiplayer mode, which employs the use of melée attacks often.
One area where there seemed to be a bit more confusion was the run/crouch button. a single tap of the circle button allows you to crouch, holding it allows you to run and tapping while running makes you dolphin dive. That is a lot to remember in the heat of battle and often I ended up running straight towards enemies while trying to crouch and hide from them, forcing me into melées. I opted to use the other option, using the ‘double tap and hold the rear touchscreen’ to run to try and keep the controls manageable.

The narrative is interesting enough and fits the subject matter well, conveniently allowing the player to fight for both sides, and still keep an ultimate antagonist for the climax of the game. In fact, it is probably a more memorable story than previous Killzone games, mainly due to its simplicity. It won't be winning any awards for tugging at the heartstrings but it is still satisfying. Within the game is a good variety of set pieces which makes you think Guerilla Cambridge were trying to tick all the boxes for a first person shooter. This is not over done but adds good variety to the gameplay.
As you perform kills, destroy security cameras, achieve objectives and scavenge ammo you receive ‘Cache’. There is no unlocking of weapons as you progress, although you do rank up over time. All upgrades are purchased, either in the main menu before each mission or in-game weapon caches which are dotted around the levels. These pause the action and, ahem, cloak you, while you change weapons or buy more ammo. They are controlled by a marketeer called, BlackJack, a smug chap who chats to you while you peruse the weapons menus and adjust your loadouts. Blackjack resembles Dreben, the weapons dealer from MGS4 Guns of the Patriots and seems, frankly, redundant throughout most of the game. He acts, mainly, as a conscience for Danner, although he is a useful plot device later on in the game.
This mechanic, is actually one of the better parts of the game. As you make kills and build up your arsenal of weapons, it gives you more freedom to change your loadouts on the fly and adapt to the style of play. Some levels demand long distance kills with a sniper rifle, while others are close-quarters battles requiring a short range weapon that packs a punch. You can change your loadouts as often as you want mid-battle as well as add ammo, although changing any weapon costs you. Blackjacks weapon caches also act as save points, which can become quite useful in the more challenging parts of the campaign. Along with the standard Killzone weaponry, you can buy the Van-Guard Systems devices. These are more interesting gadgets that spice up the battle, allowing you to have personal attack drones, chameleon suits, air strikes and missile launching systems. They are more expensive and require you to save up your cache, but are definitely worth it in the more frantic battles when enemies come thick and fast. Even better, all weapons bought in the single player are available to you in the multiplayer.
In addition to cache, you have ‘Valour’. This is a ‘how well am I doing?’ rating which fluctuates as you play, going up as you play more, and changing suits as you use different weapons. Valour is earnt in both the single and multiplayer modes and is denoted with playing cards, a common system used historically by the military to show rank and infamy (anyone remember the terrorist playing cards the US military used in the Bush administration?) The Valour can drop as well as rise, depending on how often you return to the game and how well you play. It is an interesting system to hook the player back in.

Once you finish the single player campaign, you can replay all the missions in any order you want to earn more cache. These ‘contracts’ allow you to replay the missions with your existing loadouts, or you can fulfil certain criteria to earn higher final payments, a bit like the assignments in Battlefield 3. With ‘precision’, ‘covert’ or ‘demolition’ contracts available for each mission, trophy hunters are going to have a challenging time getting their platinum.
Alongside the campaign is the multiplayer. Again this is a proper console-like experience, albeit with less players in battle. The maps are beautifully rendered, interesting and varied enough to keep the players interested, although some can be a bit large for eight players and you do find yourself wandering through corridors looking for enemies. The Van-Guard system makes for more interesting gameplay as they are dropped in from the air throughout matches allowing you to unlock them for a random gadget. Often you have to solve a minigame (an annoying hexagonal symbol matching system that is also used in the single player), to open these gifts, which makes for some tense moments as enemies track you down and shoot you while you trying to unlock them. It is worth the risk to try and open the Vanguards as it can swing the battle in your favour, so teamwork is essential.



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You are presented with three game modes, Mercenary Warfare (deathmatch), Guerrilla Warfare (team deathmatch), and Warzone (objective-based free-for-all) which have taken inspiration from modes from previous Killzone multiplayers. Personally I love the Warzone mode, as it is allows for the battle to swing in both directions and gives teams a chance to catch up if they are suffering a loss, as well as giving more variety with the objectives. Spray and pray fans will prefer the deathmatch modes and again all kills earn you cash, as well as allowing you to pick up dropped Valour cards from the corpses of your enemies.
At time of writing, I have had some issues with latency during matches, getting kicked out of games frequently, which has caused me much annoyance. It is hard to tell whether the fault lies with my entry level router (no wired connection option with a Vita) or if the Mercenary servers have an issue. I am not the only player this has happened to, and it does tarnish some of the polish of the multiplayer mode, especially as I have few issues with other online games. It is hoped a patch will be released to address this at some point, as I grow weary of losing cache and valour earned from matches. There is a fix available online involving a lot of convoluted messing around with ports on your router, which I have done, and has reduced the kickouts marginally, but I await an update from Guerilla Cambridge. Nevertheless, the multiplayer is the best online mode on the Vita since Most Wanted and shows a remarkable achievement.
Killzone Mercenary is the first game to give first person shooter fans a reason to buy the Vita. It is an excellent package, which delivers an interesting, if short, campaign, a solid multiplayer mode and a genuinely beautiful and fun experience. It has certainly lived up to expectations and sets the standard for future games on Sony’s handheld console.

Wrap Up

The Good - Beautifully rendered environments, plenty of replayability, satisfying and weighty controls, interesting story, spot-on shooter gameplay

The Bad - can suffer some framerate issues in the more frantic battles, some touch controls take a bit of getting used to, connectivity issues in multiplayer

4/5
Game bought by reviewer
Pictures reproduced with permission of SCEE