Killzone: Mercenary Preview: An FPS Fit for the Vita

When Sony sent me a preview copy of Killzone: Mercenary, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'd only played the third game in the Killzone franchise—Killzone 3. It offered lots of loud, noisy guns, set-piece battles, and relatively open-ended mission objectives that served to break the monotony of the corridors. In other words, it was everything I could ever ask for in a good first person shooter. It's hard to see how a handheld title on the PlayStation Vita could live up to the offerings of a full fledged console FPS.

As they say, seeing is believing—and Killzone: Mercenary certainly makes a believer out of me. Judging from the single mission that's available in the preview, the game appears to be every bit the FPS as its console counterpart. 

Built on a modified version of the engine powering Killzone 3, the game looks fantastic on the palm-sized OLED display of the PlayStation Vita. Textures are crisp, load times are almost nonexistent, and the graphics in general are so good that I almost forgot I was playing a game designed for the handheld. 

The only time I was reminded that I was playing the game on the PS Vita was when the screen prompted me to stab a guy in the face by swiping the display. Normally, forcing this sort of thing into an FPS would annoy me, but it feels satisfyingly brutal in Killzone: Mercenary due to the fact that it only shows up when you do a melee attack. Cool. It's melee prompts done right. 

Beyond getting up close and dirty, the game's shooting combat felt just about right. Enemies display a modicum of intelligence by hiding behind cover and attempting to flank me. Shooting them takes some skill and getting a well-placed shot to the face feels rewarding with a "headshot" toast that tells you just how skilled you are at the game. It's the little things.

As the name suggests, Killzone: Mercenary puts you in the role of a mercenary. You're there to make money, and you're rewarded for your actions. Killing with skill and style gets you more points than doing it sloppily. The last time I saw a mechanic like this was with Bulletstorm, and this is a game that does it just as right by allowing you to buy new weapons and armor with your hard earned money. It feels rewarding to unlock a new weapon and play around with it. Once you've done so, you can take on a new mission or replay the ones you've already completed with a new loadout and see how well you fare in any of the game's three difficulty settings. 

The preview I played didn't have multiplayer, but from what I know, you'll be able to bring your upgrades with you into multiplayer, so there's plenty of reason to replay missions over and over again—beyond doing it just for the fun of it, that is. 

The game is out on September 10 in North America and on September 18 in Europe. I for one can't wait to play the full version.

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A preview copy of Killzone: Mercenary was provided by Sony for the purpose of this preview.