Basically the mech-parts that saved your life is what the bad guys are using for evil. You play as a mercenary who has been put back together from a horrible accident. This 2D shooter/action platformer can offer fun in fifteen minute increments but ultimately suffers from repetitive stages, enemies, and mission objectives.
Note: Our copy was provided by PR for review.Making its way onto Xbox One from PC and PS4 before it, Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition is basically a Mega Man-type clone only with item and gun crafting. Playing solo is doable, but MKR is a whole lot more fun when it’s played with friends. It also allows online play with friends, strangers, or by invite only so you can tailor your desired experience. The sluggishness of movement and shooting is halved when you’re playing with a good friend who can share in the mayhem. This one’s a blast to play with friends, and that may be its most saving grace. The content is not at fault, nor is the level design and replay value. Still, if the combat sounds up your alley, there’s a whole lot to love in Mercenary Kings Reloaded. Instead, the main way you interact with all content in Mercenary Kings feels rough around the edges, and all the fun of Diablo + Metal Slug is lost in the shuffle. I’d even allow the fact that the enemies are pretty unvaried in the early hours if they were more fun to fight. I could handle the grind of collecting loot, crafting slightly more powerful weapons, and tackling increasingly difficult bosses and enemies if the combat was more fun. You wind up being better served by just moving on from them, which is often preferable because as soon as they’re off-screen, enemies respawn. It’s also worth noting that you can only shoot in four directions, making the killing of some enemies on the screen absolutely impossible.
It’s tedious, slow-paced, and often feels like even the weakest of enemies is a bullet sponge. Shooting, jumping, and killing the bad guys in MKR isn’t fun. But where Diablo nailed combat so critically, making it a joy to hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies, Mercenary Kings falters. In a lot of ways, MKR is basically Diablo meets Metal Slug. There’s a home base, filled with NPCs that offer different services, stock like health kits, rations, etc, and of course missions. The real choice comes in your weapon loadout, which you craft addons for as you progress through the game and collect loot off the dead and destroyed. The game lets you pick and swap between available characters, but they’re different in looks only. Think GI JOE if it was super bloody and somewhat adult-themed. You are one of the Mercenary Kings, elite soldiers brought back to life with a super serum to stop the evil CLAW organization. This is our Mercenary Kings Reloaded review for the Nintendo Switch. It’s an alright game, with an incredible premise that deserved a bit more TLC. Every big of this game screams “Bill, you will like me”, but when I’m playing it I’m merely frustrated by what could have been. Mercenary Kings looks like it has it all: excellent pixel art style, throwback Metal Slug gameplay, RPG crafting, tons of missions and characters, local and online co-op… but why don’t I like it more? Mercenary Kings, already out on PC and PS4, comes in its Reloaded Edition this week on the Switch (where I played it).