Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D review

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Original review link

Player(s): 1-2
Extra Features: online multiplayer (1-2 players)

"I've got us a chopper, headed your way now..." If that phrase means anything to you, then Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a game that you'll want to take a look at. If that phrase doesn't mean anything to you, then read on and I'll tell you about it. That is the opening phrase that a player is forced to listen to at the beginning of each Mercs run in Resident Evil 5 and one that is surely drilled into every RE5 Mercs players' head by now. Mercs 3D is the type of game that will appeal the most to a hardcore Mercs player or any Mercs player that really enjoyed The Mercenaries mini game that started in Resident Evil 3 and continued on into Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5.

Mercs 3D is a standalone version of the Mercenaries mini game that you'll find in Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5 - it's a full game based off that mini game. Mercs 3D compiles enemies and gameplay from both RE4 and RE5. The game is split into missions that start out very basic then turn into normal Resident Evil Mercenaries playthroughs that RE fans are more familiar with. Like in the RE4 and RE5 Mercs mini game, the main focus for most missions is to kill as many enemies as you can and achieve the highest score possible while staying alive.

The game keeps all of the established styles of gaining points that were in RE5 Mercs - building time through collecting timers and achieving melee kills, keeping a large kill combo through enemy kills and collecting combo bonuses to gain extra points per kill. Each of the 8 characters in Mercs 3D has their own melee moves that can be used to weaken or finish off enemies. Just like in RE5 Mercs, each character has one head stun melee, two arm stun melees, two leg stun melees, one ground melee and at least one really powerful tag team melee.

The 8 characters in Mercs 3D are Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, HUNK, Jack Krauser, Albert Wesker, Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers and Claire Redfield. Claire Redfield is the only new addition that wasn't in a previous title. Each character has one alternate outfit as well. The game has a total of 21 main missions, which are spread into 5 levels of difficulty. There are also 9 EX missions that are unlocked once all missions have been completed.

As already mentioned, the missions start out very basic. The beginning missions are basically tutorials for overall movement and some of them teach a player how to score higher through the means available (melee kills, combo bonus chests, etc). Once all of the basics missions are out of the way, the game will present actual Mercs missions to the player and the difficulty will increase per mission thereafter.

Mercs 3D brings in several enemies from RE4 and RE5 Mercs. For a full roster the game has the following enemies: Town Majini, Base Majini (some w/metal shields), Zealots (some w/wooden shields), Big Man Majini, Cephalo, Duvalia, Bui Kichwa, Executioner, Red Executioner, Gatling Gun Majini, Super Salvador, Chainsaw Majini, Garrador and Popokarimu. The game mixes these enemies up greatly. You'll never constantly fight a certain enemy per stage all the time like you would in the previous Mercs games. Just because you're at the Castle stage doesn't mean that you'll only fight Zealots. The game will sometimes toss a mixture of normal enemies your way, such as mixing Town Majini with Zealots.

Each enemy has a certain amount of health that can be quite large. Zealots have quite a bit of health, which helps make an RE5 Mercs player reconsider a "melee kill only" sort of strategy. When Zealots take about 6-7 shots from a handgun to weaken for a melee to kill them off for a time bonus, a player will often find it best to blast a group with a shotgun and finish off any surviving enemies in the crowd with a melee that will finish them off. The enemy durability and overall aggression makes Mercs 3D feel a lot more like RE4 Mercs in terms of difficulty. There is much more of a fight for survival feel in the later missions of Mercs 3D when compared to RE5 Mercs. The difficulty in Mercs 3D is more like RE Mercs overall.

The overall controls make Mercs 3D harder as well. More like RE4 Mercs, a player must go through a full reload animation in front of active enemies in order to reload. Healing must be performed in real time as well, though the healing animation is invincible. Item pickups are now instant - once you press a button while standing over an item, your character will automatically gain that item without having to bend down to pick it up like in RE5 Mercs. This eliminates the invincibility from item pickup that was established in RE5 Mercs however, so say... when the Executioner is about to hit Chris over the head with his large axe, Chris can't suddenly lean over and pick up that flash grenade on the ground next to him to gain invincibility from it!

The game has four control types. It has the usual RE4 control setup and three other control types, one of which is similar to a first person shooter and some that change up the buttons just a bit. Overall, I could not find a control setup that I was completely comfortable with, and that limited my gameplay during tense situations. No matter the control type, I constantly felt like the controls were more complicated than they should be. To make matters worse, during gameplay, you have to tap on the touch screen to equip explosives such as hand grenades and proximity bombs. Having to use the touch screen to equip an explosive during a heated battle often messed me up.

The aiming in the game can be set to first person view or the usual behind the shoulder view. A player can now move while aiming by holding down on the L button to lock the current view into place while your character is free to move. This does show off some of the flaws in the enemy gameplay however - basically, I can now simply move backwards as the Executioner readies his very slow overhead attack while I shoot him with a rifle. The action in the later Mercs missions can be so intense that this flaw cannot be exploited as much as you think however. When surrounded by several Zealots as two Executioners approach your character, you will be thankful for the ability to move while shooting!

Most of the character melees have been adjusted to where each melee feels balanced in Mercs 3D stages. Wesker's Cobra Strike head stun melee can still kill weaker enemies with a single hit without prior damage, but it is much slower now. He can no longer group enemies very easily and kill off several in a row for bonus time very easily. Wesker's other melees have more reason to use now since his Cobra Strike is not as quick. Some characters have been given new melees and some remain the same. Claire's melees are all basically new. She has a ground stomp melee much like her brother Chris but she does it a bit differently.

As ranks are gained per mission, new skills will be unlocked that can be equipped to a character before a mission begins. Each character can equip 3 skills that will empower them with new abilities. Some skills allow a character to gain more health back from each herb that is used, some skills give a character quicker reload for a certain range of weapons, some skills make a combo bonus last longer under a certain condition - there are many other skills as well. Skills will gain levels through skill points that are awarded based on how many score points are gained in each mission. The use of skills gives Mercs 3D an added RPG type of feel and breaks up the monotony of only completing a stage for a score rather well.

Each character can also equip different weapon setups once other weapon setups have been unlocked. For instance, Chris can use Krauser's bow, knife and rocket launchers once Krauser's weapon setup has been unlocked. Some weapon setups are far better for stages than others. Krauser's weapon setup is easily one of the best. He has a bow with infinite arrows that takes off quite a bit of damage, a knife that takes off about the same damage as a handgun shot per slash along with the ability to achieve melee kills with the finishing slash of the knife (the final slash counts as a melee kill) and a pair of rocket launchers that take considerable damage from any target that is hit!

Mercs 3D looks quite good for a handheld Mercs game. The action flows just as well as it did in other Mercs titles without much slowdown. Character models have a bunch of noticeable jagged edges on them, though they still have a good bit of detail just like in RE5. All of the action on the top screen can be shown with a 3D appearance by adjusting the 3D slider on the 3DS. The 3D effects look quite good - objects that are in the background actually have depth and look far away while your character and on screen enemies appear to stand out separate from the environment.

Environmental effects such as flames and the blinding flash from a flash grenade have been basically removed. The plagas mutation of a Cephalo is very instant when compared to RE5 Mercs - basically the head explodes on the enemy and the snake head of the Cephalo just sort of... appears! Mercs 3D has stages taken from RE4 and RE5 Mercs. The full list of stages is as follows: Castle, Prison, Ship Deck, Missile Area, Public Assembly, The Mines, Village (RE4), Deserted Island. Some of the stages have a day and night setting. The stages from RE5 Mercs have been trimmed down quite a bit in some areas. About half of Missile Area has been blocked off, and all other stages from RE5 have been trimmed down as well - this actually makes it better however since some RE5 stages had a flaw of being too big anyway.

When it comes to overall sound, Mercs 3D has the best soundtrack for Mercs so far. Mercs 3D has a new soundtrack per stage. It compiles all music themes from RE4 and RE5 - The HUNK theme, the RE5 Mercs theme, the RE5 Versus theme, etc. The overall sound effects have been toned down from past Mercs games. Partner commands from RE5 Mercs have all been made very basic. Some decisions such as Wesker saying "Thanks" instead of "It was in your best interest to assist me" when a player uses his thank command take away from the character personality. Majini and Zealots and all other enemies still have the same sound effects, though a few of their sound effects have been mixed up or taken away.

Mercs 3D can be played multiplayer locally or online through duo play. The duo option is only available for the later missions, though there are quite a few later missions where it can be used - there are only about 5 missions without a duo mode option. While playing the game in duo mode two players can join together to defeat enemies. Just like in RE5 Mercs, players can interact with each other with partner commands and both players can assist each other.

To fight off the sale of used games, Capcom made it to where a save on Mercs 3D cannot be deleted, so it's best to buy this game new if you plan to unlock all material for yourself. All content remains unlocked once it has been unlocked for the first time. The main save file cannot be deleted.

Mercs 3D has no story to it whatsoever. It's much like how Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions was a compilation of MGS's VR mini game, only RE uses Mercs missions as the main feature. Mercs 3D will likely only appeal to players that enjoyed RE4 Mercs and RE5 Mercs for the most part. Most players will only want to play through the game to unlock everything and gain SS-ranks for all characters for the most part. The game has tons of unlockables. Achieving a high score on a stage has little reward when there are no leaderboards for a player to brag about gaining a high rank on. Overall, Mercs 3D is a pocket-sized compilation of RE4 and RE5 Mercs - it's literally Mercs on the go!


The Good:

+ The majority of the game is a compilation of both RE4 and RE5 Mercs (there is a lot of material here!)
+ There is much more overall balance with the character roster when compared to RE5 Mercs.
+ Online multiplayer.

The Bad:

- The controls for the game feel uncomfortable (all control types)
- The majority of the game is a compilation of both RE4 and RE5 Mercs (not too much new content).

80%

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a handheld compilation of RE4 and RE5 Mercs mini games that will feel like a nice bonus to Mercs players that enjoyed the Mercs mini game.

RE5 Mercs Guide - Possible Rewrite

If you're close to me because of RE5 or have ever mentioned my Mercs guide to me for RE5 then you probably know my thoughts on my existing Mercs guide on GameFAQs right now.

RE5 Mercs guide

^ That guide is very out-of-date and basically crap at the moment from my view. I have people that mention how much the guide helped them, but when I look back on it now, much of the info in it is so embarrassing compared to what I know now. It's literally based off my experience with the game for 3 months after its release.

I've been saying that I would update a bunch of it, but I still haven't yet. Just yesterday, I started thinking even more about it. Updating it wouldn't really satisfy me at this point. There's just too much stuff in the guide to read it over again and go through and add stuff.

I want to make a hardcore guide that appeals to a crowd that really wants to play RE5 Mercs for scores and not just those that want to play it for SS-ranks. Right now, the current guide is kind of a mixture. If I updated it, it would stay the same way.

So I decided...

I'll fully rewrite EVERYTHING from the ground up!

The new guide that I make will be as hardcore as I can make it. I'll try to go in depth with every character and ESPECIALLY the stages. There will be no SS-rank or material that will help you unlock all characters easily with an A-rank. This will be strictly for those that want to play the game for scores. All formatting will be changed...

NOTHING will stay the same.

In order to satisfy those that are happy with the current guide, I've decided that I will keep the existing Mercs guide up, but it will be added to my RE5 guide on GameFAQs (you'll have to open up the full guide to see it). The new guide will replace the current one up above.

At the moment, this is all still talk, though I have actually started on some of the new guide already. As long as I can keep up the motivation for it, I think I can get it done in a few weeks or a month.

With FAQ writing I find it SO MUCH easier to write a new guide rather than go back and update an existing guide. With a new guide, you're free to do anything you want! With an existing guide, you have to read over several parts of it to make sure that what you're adding stays consistent with everything else.

I have told a few people that I wish I could go back in time with what I know now and start on the Mercs guide for the first time once again. The game is old now, but I want to rewrite it for myself mainly. I want to be satified with what I see on that RE5 GameFAQs page when I see my Mercs guide. Maybe this will give me that chance to finally do so.

I'll make a post here and/or add some info on my youtube page as I progress with this. It might possibly spawn a few other ideas besides just a Mercs guide rewrite. I'm still considering a few extras other than the rewrite.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Chris Guide

Marvel vs Capcom 3
Chris Redfield Guide

This is just a little note to mention that I made up a Chris guide for Marvel vs Capcom 3. This is my first time writing for a fighting game, so hopefully it looks alright. I'll update this more as the weeks progress.

Dead Rising 2 Guide

Dead Rising 2 Guide by Berserker

Chuck Greene is the man! Thanks to him and his fantastic game, I am now back into FAQ writing once again and I am absolutely having a blast with it.

Thank you, Chuck.

And I did a little something for Case Zero also:

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero guide by Berserker

Case West will be released sometimes down the line and I'll be sure to do something for that also!

By now, I definitely know my way around a zombie or two.

Most Amusing Email of the Week #1

I just got through checking through my email, which I only spend time doing about once every month lately, and came across this email. I love humorous emails and this one stood out to me, so I though I might share:

I just finished whupping up on Zues' treacherous ass thanks to you. I initially ended up on IGN because I had gotten stuck somewhere in the middle of the game, (it is my first time playing the God of War series, I never got around to it on the original PS2) and I came across the fantastic guide that you had put on there (written July 4, 2007). I can honestly say that I would have thrown my controller through my tv and lit the bluray of GOW collection on fire and laughed maniacally as i watched it burn.....if, I wouldn't have had this guide. But alas Berserker was there and he saved me a controller, a tv, a game disc and my sanity. Sony should really just pack your guide in with the gamedisc, forget the stupid manual, (c'mon, who doesn't know what the start button does?), or at least give a link to it.

- excerpt from email by Gordy

Thanks a lot, Gordy!

I'll post up other good emails if I get anymore.

Moving on from Resident Evil 5.

Just a few weeks ago, I was playing Resident Evil 5 like I have been in my free time for the past... year... and decided to take a small break from the game and play some others for a while. I watched a preview of another game and it reminded me just how much I've been addicted to RE5 over the year and have completely forgotten about other good games out there.

It's been quite a while since I've even written a guide seriously. The last guide that I actually worked really hard on was Resident Evil 5. I planned for that to be my last, but... you know the way that works. You never quit something that you love so much. It just doesn't work that way. :)

It's really time to move on from Resident Evil 5 and get to more important stuff out there though.

Stuff like...



Hitting zombies over the head with a chair...

Beating zombies over head with a sledgehammer and crushing their skulls into the ground...

Taking on the role of Chuck Green to cover the zombie outbreak in Sin City!

Chuck doesn't cover wars. He makes his own wars!

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero will be released on August 31, 2010 and the full game is scheduled for release on September 29, 2010. If you'll be picking up Dead Rising 2 and need help from GameFAQs, I'll see you there. ;)


Disclaimer: I never will quit playing Resident Evil 5 entirely any time soon, but I will take frequent breaks from the game and get to other games. It's FAR past time to move on from it.

Resident Evil 5 - Mercenaries Reunion Guide

Hey, you know I always keep my promises.

Who said the line up above? Fail, if you don't know! >=(

Chris Redfield mentioned that phrase to Claire in the closing cutscene to Resident Evil: Code Veronica. It sort of has meaning to this post too.

The Mercenaries Reunion minigame isn't exactly what hardcore RE5 Mercs players were hoping for. It completely reversed the main concept of RE5 Mercs. Instead of the focus being on building time while trying to maintain a full kill combo, the focus is now on keeping a full kill combo while trying to build time. The kill combo takes priority over EVERYTHING in a run on Mercenaries Reunion. Losing the combo is like dying basically to a player that wants to achieve the highest score.

I was very pumped to write a guide for Reunion when it was first announced. A few weeks after playing it, I noticed that there was very little interest in Mercenaries Reunion in the minds of hardcore players. Many of them were simply returning to normal Mercs. I have to admit that I thought there was going to be little demand for info for Mercs Reunion because of the little interest in it among hardcore players, but many RE5 fans are still playing it.

I said I was going to write a guide for Mercs Reunion and I stuck with my word, so here it is:

Resident Evil 5: The Mercenaries Reunion guide
by Berserker

I basically opened up the original Mercs guide on my laptop and started editing it for Reunion (I use previous guides as templates a bunch). It's FAR from just a cut and paste job though.

Pretty much every little detail of Mercenaries Reunion was all figured by myself with the help of other Mercs players. There is no official guide to give us weapon stats or the full combo bonus system so all that had to figured from scratch. Some of it is off but a good majority of it should be close to the actual info.

If you haven't yet, bet sure to check out the Biohazard Mercenaries site. You'll find a bunch more info about RE5 Mercs and RE5 Mercenaries Reunion. I like to recommend the site to all of my readers since it really is the best source of English information that a player will find for both modes. Make sure you tell them Berserker sent you! :)

I'm most likely going to spend the rest of this year updating the Mercs Reunion guide and redoing some of my old RE5 Mercs guide. Writing for the game is really more fun than playing it to me at this point. Ever since the end of last year, I've basically been playing it to write anyway.

This may very well be a good stopping point in FAQ writing for me. I don't like to mention the term "Retiring" or "Quitting" or whatever so I wouldn't ever say that because I wouldn't stick with it most likely. Once we get a new Resident Evil game, that will probably change my current mood, but as for now, I don't really have the motivation to write outside of Resident Evil 5. If I ever do stop though, I can look back on Resident Evil 5 and say to myself:

That's the best time I ever had writing for a game!