Killzone: Mercenary

Mercenary is a big budget FPS on a handheld, done as right as it can be, but it’s still not quite good enough. [November 2013, p80]

As proof that shooters on a handheld can be good, Mercenary succeeds, but that's about the sum total of its accomplishments.

It'll only disappoint if you're expecting something on PS3 scale. [Issue#139, p.109]

Fans of the series will enjoy, while anyone who is looking for a handheld first-person shooter, well, you really have no choice in the matter, since as it stands, Killzone: Mercenary is the best first-person shooter you can buy for a handheld device, although, the competition isn’t exactly fierce.

A standard but enjoyable shooter and one of the best-looking games on the Vita.

I feel bad for saying this, but Mercenary makes me excited for Sony's recently announced PS Vita TV peripheral, which will allow many Vita games to be played on your big screen TV using a standard PlayStation 3 DualShock controller.

With Mercenary, Vita owners who've waited nearly 19 months for an FPS to brag about can now cease holding their collective breaths. Despite some minor technical bumps in the road and the brevity of its main campaign, the game is a worthy chapter in the franchise, and a fine shooter in its own right.

Killzone: Mercenary is sort of like an ambitious little brother, trying to fill his older brother's shoes – and in some ways he is able to do so. The result is a handheld shooter that looks and plays great, but it is far from perfect.

As much as I was hoping (and, quite frankly, expecting) Killzone: Mercenary to be the perfect representation of a first-person shooter on the PlayStation Vita, it just isn’t. A sub-par single player campaign is only saved by the fast-paced and fun multiplayer.

Impressive as some aspects of the level design and interface might be, Guerrilla hasn’t quite delivered the whole package. This isn’t going to be a massive system seller with wide, mainstream appeal. Still, one can’t discount that Killzone: Mercenary may well be the most playable handheld first-person shooter yet made. That’s no small accomplishment.

Killzone Mercenary didn't wow us, but we can live with that. It's a good FPS that showcases the handheld's potential, and while it does little to push the series forward, it'll make a fine portable companion for players with itchy trigger fingers.

A solid and visually impressive shooter, it never manages to feel essential - and clearly exists mostly because all first-party franchises are obliged to put in an appearance on a new console - but even as a relatively minor entry in its own series, it still sets a new benchmark for portable shooters.

The real test for Mercenary is whether the game would stand out if it was released on a home console, but the answer to that is probably not. The nods to GoldenEye offer some deviance from the norm but overall Mercenary does too little to distinguish itself from the competition. That there is no competition on the PS Vita gives it something of a free pass, but it still seems more like a proof of concept than a standalone game.

The closest Killzone Mercenary comes to having a thing is in its touch controls, and as satisfying as they are the marriage of console shooter and iOS game doesn’t elevate it into the realm of the exceptional.

While it's hamstrung by flaky multiplayer functionality and a lack of new ideas, it is impressive just how well the first-person action of the Killzone franchise has translated to the Vita. As competent as it is, however, Killzone: Mercenary is teetering on the edge of being something truly great.

The crowded control scheme, uninspired campaign, and limited multiplayer options are completely outclassed by most home-console shooters. If, however, you’re truly desperate to fill that gaping genre hole in your Vita’s library, you won’t have a totally miserable time here.

It is a game that imitates what works from its console big brothers and does enough to also stand out on its own.

Killzone: Mercenary resembles its console counterparts gunplay-wise, but its story is dull and difficulty spikes and other shenanigans sour the experience.

Occasionally awkward controls and convoluted map design aside, it accomplishes the goal of seeming like a big, fun, explosion-packed, AAA shooter. But that's it.

It is, in other words, a competent handheld version of Killzone, and those who bought a Vita on that promise will be amply satisfied. Others will squint, line up their sights on a speck in the middle distance, squeeze the trigger and hope for the popup confirming their aim was true, and wonder if this is really what handheld gaming should be.

The fact Mercenary has such strong on-paper ideas only makes its lack of ambition even more disappointing. It’s a smart, fun shooter, with the exact structure needed to slim triple-A FPS down to pick-up-and-play portability, but it never comes through and capitalises on its potential.

On the surface Killzone: Mercenary checks all the right boxes, with superb visuals and a robust online mode. Sadly the methodical controls and tacked-on campaign really drag down the experience.