#Mercenary kings reloaded changes how to#

Missions will take place on many of the same maps - and I definitely wish there was a greater variety of locations - but your tasks on each map, and the time you're given to get through each mission, will vary significantly. Stages are unlocked one rank at a time, and groups of stages must be completed to move on to the next group. Mercenary Kings' more modern elements come from its rank-based play, sprawling maps, and online components.

#Mercenary kings reloaded changes how to#

This is what Mercenary Kings is figuring out how to work within its rules is part of the fun. It's like playing Castlevania with its crazy midair collision kickback, or Dragon Warrior with its random, out-of-left-field ass-kicking enemies. It's weird to say, but in this respect, it has that true old-school spirit. But part of conquering the 20-plus hour campaign is in overcoming certain perceived deficiencies. Pressing down to shoot from your belly doesn't always work, jumping can be finicky, and occasional split-second freezes interrupted my flow.

For the most part, everything works as you'd expect, but there are certain issues that stand out. While I'm making wishes, I wish Mercenary Kings had tighter controls. I found myself skipping every cutscene after only an hour of play, just so I could get back into the action. I just wish its long-winded story was more interesting. Track-in and track-out, I was stunned by Mercenary Kings' attention to audio quality and fidelity. As for the soundtrack, let's just say this: it's one of the best gaming soundtracks I've heard in years. There are a ton of enemies to do battle with, too, from gun-and-knife-wielding humans to robots to beasts and more, though there's a fair bit of palette-swapping to be found. Character designs are unique and appealing your base camp is littered with memorable characters, and the game's bad guys are archetypal, yet charming. Games using pixel art are a dime a dozen today, but Mercenary Kings has style. Speaking of pixelated blood, I adore the way Mercenary Kings looks and sounds. All of this creates a sort of digital ballet, a careful dance of crisscrossing bullets, artful rolls and dodges, and tons of pixelated blood. Likewise, enemies tend to do an inordinate amount of damage. You can't reload constantly and expect to have any success. Its active reload-style gunplay - ripped straight out of the likes of Gears of War - means that you have to be thoughtful during firefights. Running and gunning through various environments - abandoned caves, sprawling complexes, sewer systems, and more - is a lot of fun, especially when you begin to learn its nuanced controls. Thankfully, getting into the nitty-gritty of Mercenary Kings' impressive equipment system doesn't mean you have to play a subpar, boring, or ill-executed shooter. It's a game that's almost impossible to rush through. Running through its 100+ levels, killing tons of enemies, and gathering what they leave behind is essential if you want to survive, and with a jaw-dropping amount of weapons, components, armor, and much more to create and equip, there's no shortage of reasons to stay engaged.

That's not only uncommon in side-scrolling shooters it's virtually unheard of. For as fun as it is to play, Mercenary Kings' addictive quality comes from the never-ending need to collect and synthesize. The loot system is Mercenary Kings' greatest draw, and the focus of its identity. The Monster Hunter association is most important, however, simply because Mercenary Kings isn't just a linear shooter, but a mission-based one rife with tons of loot drops that, in turn, can be used to craft stronger gear. SNK's storied Metal Slug franchise is probably Mercenary Kings' single biggest inspiration both aesthetically and in terms of gameplay, though there are shades of Monster Hunter, Contra, Mega Man, and much more here, too. For as much as I love the grittiness of a modern first-person shooter, the frights of a contemporary survival-horror adventure, or getting lost in the sprawling open-world map of a western RPG, I have a soft spot for old-school-inspired games that look dated, yet feel at home in today's gaming landscape, that pay homage to the past while staying relevant in the present. Mercenary Kings - a fun side-scrolling, old-school shooter - pays reverence to many corners of gaming's past without being half-baked or derivative.