Killzone: Mercenary is a first person shooter exclusively for the Vita, being the third major foray on the handheld in terms of FPS (the previous two being Resistance: Burning Skies and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, both receiving overwhelmingly negative critical reception). Before it was released, it was touted to run on the modified Killzone 3 engine. The result does not disappoint as the game looks extremely pretty and amazing, you'd be surprised that it was able to be run on handheld hardware and comes close to the PS3 version. In Killzone: Mercenary, you can carry two weapons at once, which you can swap whenever you want. It uses the dual-analog sticks for aiming.
There are typical controls for a FPS including Square for reloading, X for jumping, O for cover and running, and Triangle for interaction with objects. You shoot using the R shoulder button and zoom with the L shoulder button. In addition to running and gunning in every area, you can choose to go through sections using stealth kills only. On the other hand, you can stick to a spot of cover and pick off enemies one by one, although you run the risk of enemies flanking you. There are some Vita gimmicks involves, the most notable being that when you execute melee kills, you're required to swipe the touchscreen. This breaks the immersion, especially during intense gunfights.
As typical of Killzone, the movement can be heavy and there is no aim assist. You can't really just twitch the stick towards the enemy and hope for the best although sensitivity can be adjusted to suit your play style. There are three difficulties for the single player mode. In Veteran, you lose the center crosshair as well as enemies being harder to kill. Apparently, Mercenary has the easiest Veteran mode out of all the Killzone games so far. Unsurprisingly you play as a mercenary with the story spanning over nine chapters. It takes place initially on planet Vekta, with the character Arran Danner working for the ISA. Eventually, Danner will work for the Helghast, a reason being that they pay more. Missions aren't interconnected that intricately until the last few ones, although it does tell a bigger story in totality.
While the dialogue often revolves around the amount of cash involved (you'd have imagined that they'd be rich after a few missions and don't have to keep risking their lives) you end up caring for the silent main character. The story is told via mission reports at the beginning of each chapter and short cutscenes during the mission. Each mission can take anywhere from 25 mins to 45 mins to complete if you're playing on Normal difficulty. Naturally, Veteran difficulty will take longer but all this means that the campaigns is only around 4 to 6 hours long. While this is short, it is sweet and so much fun. The story is better than you'd expect, being more intense the further you get into the story although the ending is somewhat weak.
The game taps into the mercenary theme heavily; everything you do will earn you money, which is used to buy weapons, armor and additional gadgets. E.g. headshots will earn you more money than regular kills, while stealth killing nets you even more. Money carries over to the multiplayer. The single player map level layout is intuitive and straightforward. It provides enough sense of freedom for you to explore the levels for any intel. There is an objective marker to guide you on where to go next, although it doesn't feel like it is handholding you the whole way. There are minigames including "hacking" terminals, which involves matching combinations of patterns.
Longevity is achieved in that after you've competed the story missions, three additional "Contracts" per mission are available: Precision, Covert and Demolition. These require you to play through the game again three more times and complete it according to the special objectives. These objectives will range from killing a number of enemies with a specific weapon, stealth killing all enemies, time limits and headshotting a number of enemies. You will have to fulfill several of these criteria at once meaning the Contracts can be very hard and require multiple attempts in order to succeed. There are variety of weapons available for use with different stats such as rate of fire, clip size, range and power. You can equip a primary and secondary weapon, as well as weapons such as grenades and flash bombs. Furthermore, there are special weapons called Vanguards which are weapons systems ranging from sky drones to auto-target missile launchers.
Armor also has various stats such as protection, speed and noise suppression (armor with more suppression means you can sneak up to enemies without detection easier). Killzone: Mercenary has an epic soundtrack and set pieces; it gives the game a sense of something happening on a grand scale. The stakes are high and any betrayal hurts. While in a way the game does throw enemy after enemy at you, it isn't too annoying and nowhere near as eyeball rolling as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The game also keeps your interest by changing the enemy types from time to time, such as shotgunners, flamethrowers, flying drones and exosuits. This gets thrown out the window during the final boss fight though in which IT IS enemy after enemy thrown at you, plus some more for good measure.
There is a fully fledged Multiplayer mode, with three game types spread over six different maps. There is your standard free-for-all mode, a deathmatch and an objective based mode in which players work in teams. The game only supports up to eight players but this is more than enough for a good game. The money you earn from single player carries over to multiplayer and vice versa, which gives a great sense of progression and unity. Overall, Killzone: Mercenary is an amazing game. The graphics are stunning but more than that, the gameplay is fun and there is a perfect balance of difficulty. The fantastic soundtrack coupled with excellent gunfight scenarios lend this to be one of the best exclusives the Vita has. Even if you have no interest for the multiplayer component, Killzone: Mercenary is well worth purchasing and playing.
-----------------------------------------------
For other Vita reviews, have a look at this page here.