Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D is a Third-Person Shooter only for 3DS, which was developed and published by Capcom. It is a mini-game title which is very similar with those two games like Resident Evil 4 and 5, and it was released in 3 months later after the launch release of Nintendo 3DS system in 2011.
I had fun playing the mercenaries mode on both Resident Evil 4 and 5 which is a mini-game mode, similar to battle mode on Resident Evil 1, 2, 3 and Code: Veronica, where your goal is to defeat many hordes of enemies to gain a high score as possible within a time limit. These are the best features of all Resident Evil franchises had filled with great mini-game mode, but I expecting Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D on 3DS is gonna be just good as the mercenaries mode on RE 4 and 5, but it seems that this 3DS title is kinda rough in comparison due to sluggish animation, awkward controls, and not having enough content which I felt the game is pretty rushed out for handheld title. There are some positive things in the game which I going to explain more in further detail while reviewing this game. Is Resident Evil The Mercenaries any good on 3DS standards?
So without go further do, lets start the review.
Presentation
To keep you mind that this is the mini-game title that doesn't really need a story like from the main series, so you'll be starting out in menus where you get to select any of levels, characters, skills and weapons, while you also have the list of medals to earn your achievements by completing the goals task.
The characters in the game features your all-time classic favourites such as Chris, Jill, Claire, Hunk, Wesker, Barry, Rebecca, and Krauser which I felt its a great selection of playable characters, but I'm kinda bummed that they didn't include another well known characters from classic RE games like Leon and Ada could have been a wiser choice for this title, so I am fully understand the problem with the 3DS space limitations is the reason why they didn't include them in the game which kinda upset the fan of the series who really wanted to have their favourite heroes to be featured in the game. The characters also shares with cool looking costumes to choose from once you have unlocked them by beating the stage in higher rank.
The levels is pretty much like from the RE 4 and 5 as expected which has the village, castle, mines, factory, ship deck and others to select and play which seems to be a great choice to have it on this game.
At the start of the mission, you will receive radio calls will guide you how to play the game which is okay to help, but you can always skip it by pressing the start button if you don't want to hear it again.
There are most of the enemies featuring in the game from RE 4 and 5 such as the villagers, creepy priest, leatherface with chainsaw, big fat guy, tough guy with sharp blade, and all others.
Overall, it does have great selection of characters and insane enemies in the game.
Gameplay
This game features both solo or duo mode to choose before beginning the mission. You get to select any of characters that has different kinds of weapons such as Chris has shotgun, Jill has Machine Gun, Barry has heavy magnum, and Krauser has bow and arrow. Your goal is to defeat many enemies to gain more scores as possible before the time runs out, but there are some of the levels may have different objectives in the game such as Level 1 where you have to race through the maker and survive through 15 waves in Level 4.
You will have top screen which shows the third-person view of gameplay and levels, while the bottom screen shows 6 slots of weapons and items at the left side which helps you to select any of items and weapons and the map screen at the right side which shows your player marker that helps you navigate through the level.
To be honest, I don't like using the stylus pen for this game because everytime I had to keep changing the weapons and items which is not the quickest way to change the weapons and items during the battle. It slows down your play style when attempting to change items by using the stylus pen while trying not to get ass kicked by enemy nearby, so I think it's better to have it on d-pad so I can able to switch weapons and items faster.
The circle pad controls the player movement, while using the 4 face buttons allowing you to look around the level. Having the L and R shoulder buttons lets you aim and shoot at the enemies which can be also aimed with 4 face buttons, while using the circle pad to strafe while aiming.
I got to say that most of the combat weapons in the game is working fine in the game with acceptable range shot and targeting accuracy, but the issue is that the 3DS controls layout is not highly designed for the Shooters as it suffered with aiming inflexibility which makes it difficult to aim with 4 face buttons as it takes awhile to get used to play.
It did have the classic RE 4 controls in the game which can be found on control options, but I think its too dated for the early 2010s gaming era where most of the shooters nowadays had relying on two thumbsticks controls.
To keep you mind, this is early 2011's 3DS games that won't work on circle pad pro or New 3DS's pointing stick which is shame that they didn't bothered making the game's patch update for newer control scheme, so no wonder why Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS just plays better with the use of circle pad pro.
Despite awkward controls, I did manage to beat all the stages with higher rank which unlocks your awards such as medals, weapons, and skills.
The skills can be found on skill options where you can able to use upgrades to boost your character's ability such as weapon handling, improved vitally, toughness, luck, smart reload and many more to choose which can be also skilled up to level 3 as it really makes it beneficial for combat gameplay. You can also change loadout from weapon menu where you can able to transfer character's weapons loadout like for example: You can replace Barry's weapons loadout with the Krauser's weapons loadout which I think its a smart move by the developers that gives you an options to swap loadouts.
So far, the game is super short which lasted about 1 to 2 hours play which I felt that it's not the best way to enjoy the game as the level 1 to 5 are seems to be more like the tutorial stuff, while level EX has 9 missions which does play like the true mercenaries mode. I liked the choice of the levels location taking place from the RE 4 and 5 mercenaries, but it would have been nice if Capcom can able to add more new missions through DLCs or updates which should have made the game a whole lot better. However this game does have both online and local co-op support where you get to play with your friends throughout the hordes which is the positive part of the game.
With the use of stylus pen for selectable items, having weird 3DS controls, and not many content in the game is seems to be doing a lazy job by developer themselves, so I wish they could have done something more better job than this.
Overall, it has decent combat with customisable weapons and skills options, and co-op mode, but the game suffers with short length play and awkward controls.
Graphics
It is very hard for me to impress the looks of the graphics on 3DS standards. The only cool part in the game is the stereoscopic 3D effects which allowing the system to display the 3D images of in-game graphics. It does look okay using the 3D effects, but I got to say that the graphics in whole game aren't look good as compared with Resident Evil 5 for PCs and consoles which is more technical marvel at the time how realistic the RE 5 looks in year 2009, but this version is just felt like a striped down for whole game.
This game on 3DS did had some issues with character's animation at the draw-distance is looking so choppy compared with the near distance that ran just fine which I believe that the handheld system aren't being capable of having smoother animation in the game. I got to say that the textures on the building and objects are kinda look rough to look at as these surfaces looks more smudgy and unpolished that really missing some details in the games and it also had cheap lighting effects and average environments which I felt its pretty rushed out without having to bother polishing the graphics overall.
Overall, it has sluggish animation, smudgy details and cheap environments.
Music and Sounds
This game borrows the soundtrack from RE 4 and 5 which is still pretty sounds good so far as I really liked the intense upbeat music that makes you want to have edgy action in mercenaries modes, while the sounds effects are acceptable for most part such as gun shooting sounds, background noises, and atmospheric effects especially its sounds really good on the 3DS stereo speaker.
The voice overs sounds also decent for most of the characters in the game especially with the radio conversation part at the beginning of the game is sounds pretty amazing.
Overall, it has cool soundtrack and great use of sound effects.
Special Features
This game came with medals awards, leaderboards, and some cool unlockables features in the games such as alternative costumes and character's loadouts, but the best part of the features is that it has the early demo version of Resident Evil Revelations where you take control of Jill Valentine investigating through the dark room of ship deck which is a nice addition were included in the game.
Overall, it has medals, leaderboards, unlockables, and demo game.
Advantages
Great selection of characters
Liked the choice of levels locations
Customisable weapons and skills
Cool soundtrack
Excellent special features
Disadvantages
Short length play
Awkward controls
Weak graphics
Final Verdict
Presentation 7/10 - great selection of characters and insane enemies in the game.
Gameplay 6/10 - decent combat and co-op mode, but suffers with short length play and awkward controls.
Graphics 5/10 - sluggish animation, smudgy details and cheap environments.
Music and Sounds 8/10 - cool soundtrack and great use of sound effects.
Special Features 7.5/10 - it has medals, leaderboards, unlockables, and demo game.
Overall 6/10 - It's actually an okay title for 3DS libraries, but its definitely not for everyone's cup of tea as you can see this game is pretty seems to be rushed out which really ends up with lacking content meaning that there are aren't any of new DLCs and updates for more playable levels and characters. The gameplay and graphics are being major stepped back for the clunky controls schemes and rough environmental design choices, but at least the combat and co-op play are quite decent enough to impress those who are looking for the reliable gun play and working together as teams.
So far, it is definitely not the best Resident Evil title in my opinion, but it's not as bad as many people think.
It would have been played better on PCs and Consoles version if Capcom can able to re-release the game again in the future and analysing their mistake from the 3DS counterpart.
So far, Resident Evil The Mercenaries 3D is an average 3DS title which I don't really regret having this game on my 3DS collection, so if any of you interested in this game then I would say go for it as long as you're happy to give this game a try. It cost around between £5 to £10 from online store is still valuable enough for you to pick up and play, so yeah its still an fair game overall.
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