Review: Resident Evil - The Mercenaries 3D

Somewhere at the crossroads of survival and horror lies a sub-genre that has attempted to capitalize on the success of games that are truly scary. They're big on action, not so much on scares, thus entering the mainstream realm more easily than their gore-filled survival/horror counterparts. But no matter how cool or exciting these games are, they never quite live up to the franchises they so desperately want to emulate. They might have a better shot of pulling this off if they were to follow in the footsteps of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. Designed as the first in what will likely be

Resident Evil games for the Nintendo 3DS (another one, Resident Evil: Revelations, is already on its way), The Mercenaries 3D is fast, action-packed, and more dedicated to quick thrills than eerie chills. Its gameplay mirrors the style of Resident Evil 4 and 5, but its action-first attitude is more in line with the on-rails shooters (Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and The Darkside Chronicles) built for Wii. As anyone who has played the Mercenaries mini-games should know, The Mercenaries 3D is a timed, objective-based collection of mini missions. Some are as simple as staying alive; others require you to kill a boss, defeat a certain number of zombies, activate a bunch of switches, or perform a combination of these and other (similar) tasks. There are time limit extenders, and each character -- which includes (but is not limited to) Chris and Claire Redfield, Jill Valentine, Rebecca Chambers, and Jack Krauser – comes equipped with a special set of weapons. (Chris packs a handgun, shotgun and sniper rifle; Claire comes with a machine-gun, knife, and shotgun; Jack wields a bow and arrow, knife, and rocket launcher; etc.). Despite the hefty arsenal, you are on your own. After being dropped into whatever environment the game chooses, you will have to use every weapon in your possession, and grab every item the dead zombies drop, to make it out alive. While The Mercenaries 3D may not have access to two thumbsticks or eight buttons (as the console Resident Evil games do), the developers did an excellent job of taking advantage of what is available. For the most part, the controls are nearly identical to Resident Evil 5: you hold the R button to draw your weapon, move the left thumbtack to aim, and hold the L button to strafe. You can perform a quick 180-turn by simultaneously pressing B and down, and switch between weapons by tapping the touch screen. What's more, you can adjust the camera view by moving your finger along the right side of the touch screen. This isn't a necessary gameplay feature (you're not likely to need to – or even want to – change the angle much during play). But it's a nice feature for those who appreciated the camera manipulation features in the previous Resident Evil games. Graphically, it's hard not to be impressed with The Mercenaries 3D. While the visuals are not on the same level as Resident Evil 5, the details are a solid match for the fourth game in the series, proving that the Nintendo 3DS is fairly close to the power of GameCube. The characters, especially the bosses, are richly textured with realistic skin and flesh, oozing fluids, and a handful of subtleties that make the aesthetics pop. Players will notice that the frame rate is fast and consistent; when the action starts, it doesn't stop. But most significant of all, The Mercenaries 3D – which is largely based on console material – looks really good on the 3DS' widescreen. When you adjust the camera for the first time, you will be amazed at the level of detail that went into producing the graphics for this game. It is unlike anything else currently available for the Nintendo 3DS. Not even the graphics in the port of The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time can compare. All in all, The Mercenaries 3D is a fine introduction to survival/horror on the Nintendo 3DS. The mini-game format means the overall quest is short, but the replay value is impressively high. If you love the gameplay styles of Resident Evil 4 and/or 5, you will easily fall for this handheld iteration. As a bonus, the game features a playable demo of Resident Evil: Revelations. It's more of a teaser than anything else, but it is sure to get players excited for the future of the Resident Evil series on the Nintendo 3DS.