''Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D'' is a
third-person shooter
Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'em ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by
TOSE
() (also called Tose Software) is a Japanese video game development company based in Kyoto. It is mostly known for developing Nintendo's Game & Watch ports and remakes#Game & Watch Gallery series, ''Game & Watch Gallery'' series, various ''Drago ...
for the
Nintendo 3DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
. It was released on June 2, 2011 in Japan, June 28, 2011 in North America, June 30, 2011 in Australia, and July 1, 2011 in Europe. The game was announced at the 2010 Nintendo conference in Japan. A combination of the "Mercenaries" minigames featured in ''
Resident Evil 4
''Resident Evil 4'' is a 2005 survival horror third-person shooter game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the GameCube on January 11, 2005. Players control U.S. government special ...
'' and ''
5'', players must defeat as many enemies as possible within a set time limit.
The theme of the game is entitled "Alone", used in TV spots, is a single album theme for the Japanese alternative rock band
Kuroyume
is a Japanese rock band formed in Nagoya in May 1991, initially with the vocalist Kiyoharu, bassist Hitoki and guitarist Shin. The group had a definite influence on the visual kei scene, being credited as inspiration to many bands of the late 1 ...
.
Gameplay
The camera of the game is set behind the player, moving through real-time rendered 3D environments. Players have the option of aiming from a
first-person viewpoint, although over-the-shoulder aiming is also available. Another feature is the ability to move while aiming, reloading weapons, and recovering health. Gameplay is shown on the top screen of the Nintendo 3DS, while inventory management is handled on the touch screen. Players are able to customize their characters' abilities (labeled as "Skills") and weapons load-out by obtaining "Skill Points" and "Rankings" based on their gameplay performance.
The game also features alternate costumes for each character to unlock, such as a nurse outfit for Rebecca, or an American flag-motif outfit for Barry. The game includes
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
connectivity for cooperative play from players around the world, as well as new modes and characters from across the series. The game also features a short playable demo of ''
Resident Evil: Revelations'', which shows Jill Valentine investigating a desolate cruise liner inhabited by strange bio-organic weapons (BOWs).
Playable characters include
Chris Redfield
is a character (arts), character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Chris debuted as one of the two player character, playable characters of the original Resid ...
,
Jill Valentine
Jill Valentine is a character (arts), character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced as one of two player characters in the original ''Residen ...
,
Albert Wesker
is a fictional character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. He is first introduced in the original ''Resident Evil'' (1996), in which he is the captain of the R ...
,
Claire Redfield
is a character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was introduced as one of two player characters in ''Resident Evil 2'' (1998), alongside Leon S. Kennedy. C ...
,
Jack Krauser
This is a list of ''Resident Evil'' characters, which includes playable and recurring characters that were introduced in ''Resident Evil'', a series of survival horror video games.
Appearances
P - Playable character (campaign/unlockab ...
,
Barry Burton
This is a list of ''Resident Evil'' characters, which includes playable and recurring characters that were introduced in ''Resident Evil'', a series of survival horror video games.
Appearances
P - Playable character (campaign/unlockab ...
,
Rebecca Chambers
is a character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. She was first introduced as a supporting character in the original ''Resident Evil'' (1996) and became pla ...
and
HUNK, competing in maps from ''Resident Evil 4'' and ''5''.
Development
Before the game's release, there was a lot of confusion over why series mainstay
Leon S. Kennedy
is a character in ''Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. He debuted as one of the two player characters of the video game ''Resident Evil 2'' (1998), alongside Claire ...
was not playable. In an interview, producer Masachika Kawata jokingly states Leon's absence is due to his appearance in the upcoming ''
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City'', but mentions that including Leon (and other features) as future
DLC is not out of the question.
Reception
The game received controversy upon release when it was discovered that the game's save data could not be erased.
This implied that Capcom was attempting to curb the used-game market. Although Capcom VP Christian Svensson claims this feature was not a business decision, he states that a similar feature will probably not be implemented into future games because of the controversy it has generated.
''Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D'' was released to mixed reviews from critics.
NGamer
''Nintendo Gamer'' was a magazine published in the United Kingdom which mainly covered Nintendo video game consoles and software. It was the successor publication to ''N64 Magazine'', later renamed NGC Magazine (1997–2006), and ''Super Play'' ( ...
wrote the first review and gave the game a score of 82%. Tech Digest gave it a score of 5/5, saying, "A few key gameplay improvements over the first versions and superb visuals make this the second must-have 3DS title in as many weeks."
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave a less positive score of 6.5, stating while the gameplay is enjoyable, there's not enough content and that it was "designed to be an extra, not a retail release." ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'' was very positive in their review, giving the game an 8/10 and even stated while there are some flaws, "It is the most thrilling handheld console experience I've ever had."
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
' ...
gave the title a 6 out of 10 rating, stating "There is fun to be had but is far too expensive for something like this."
Joystiq
''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 as part of the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs, now owned by AOL. It was AOL's primary video game blog, with sister blogs dealing with MMORPG gaming in general and the popular MMORPG ''W ...
gave the title a 2.5 out of 5 star rating, stating that "It could have been an addictive mission-based multiplayer title perfect for a portable platform, but with its limited content and quickly tiresome combat, ''Mercenaries 3D'' is little more than a priced proof of concept." Nintendo World Report gave the game a 9 and said that "If you're looking for a portable-optimized intense high-score game centered around killing zombie-like enemies, this fits the bill."
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Resident Evil series
2011 video games
Cooperative video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo 3DS eShop games
Nintendo 3DS games
Nintendo 3DS-only games
Nintendo Network games
Third-person shooters
Tose (company) games
Video games developed in Japan
Resident Evil spin-off games