Mercenary Ops, the third person shooter game available on PC
only, has staged its debut at GDC 2012 in San Francisco As the first
title from the Chinese subsidiary of Epic Games, the game is scheduled
to march into the American and European Market this summer, while its
publisher is not EGC’s headquarters, but a new North American publisher
named Delkans that was scarcely heard of before.
Powered by Unreal Engine 3 and NVIDIA physX technology, Mercenary Ops
adopts a similar cover system and perspective to Gears of War, as well
as brings about the same competitive and thrilling shooter experiences
as Call of Duty does. In its semi-sci-fi near-future world, you are to
fight against the muscular warriors under different settings. During
the battles, situational awareness and loadout management are the two
primary issues that the game concerns.
The game runs off of an in-game currency, earned by performing headshots or shooting coins you find scattered throughout the levels. These coins can be spent on new weapons or ammo. You’ll play the game with a standard pistol with infinite ammo, but any other weapons require purchased ammo. Of course, you can also pay for in-game currency to earn the big boom sticks.
You’ll also need to pay to actually play the game. While the game is a free download, and a universal app, that only gets you the first level of the story mode. For an additional $1.99, you will get the rest of the story mode, the survival mode, and the ability to unlock the other control scheme. This additional purchase isn’t highly advertised, and the free download barely gives you a taste of the actual game.
The gameplay is, despite all its flaws, pretty amazing. The zombies are wild and out for blood. There is a pretty big cast of bad guys, each with their own traits and looks. Rarely do we see an on-rails shooter on the App Store that plays this well. The only thing missing is a cover mechanic. Since Leo moves on his own, you never know when you’ll move into a safe spot to reload or take a breather. With no cover mechanic, you may be out in a vulnerable spot with an empty clip.
Ultimately, Mercenary Ops is a very good shooter that rips off the ideas of a great shooter. We wish the developers had bothered to create a story, characters, and concept more their own, but we do thank them for proving that on-rails shooters can use the Unreal Engine 3 to great effect.
You’ll also need to pay to actually play the game. While the game is a free download, and a universal app, that only gets you the first level of the story mode. For an additional $1.99, you will get the rest of the story mode, the survival mode, and the ability to unlock the other control scheme. This additional purchase isn’t highly advertised, and the free download barely gives you a taste of the actual game.
The gameplay is, despite all its flaws, pretty amazing. The zombies are wild and out for blood. There is a pretty big cast of bad guys, each with their own traits and looks. Rarely do we see an on-rails shooter on the App Store that plays this well. The only thing missing is a cover mechanic. Since Leo moves on his own, you never know when you’ll move into a safe spot to reload or take a breather. With no cover mechanic, you may be out in a vulnerable spot with an empty clip.
Ultimately, Mercenary Ops is a very good shooter that rips off the ideas of a great shooter. We wish the developers had bothered to create a story, characters, and concept more their own, but we do thank them for proving that on-rails shooters can use the Unreal Engine 3 to great effect.
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