When I first saw Mercenary Kings, I became very interested in the game and it looked very exciting to me. The graphics and the gameplay strongly resemble those of the Metal Slug series. There’s the side-scrolling and 2D platforming that old school gamers have appreciated.
The plot of Mercenary Kings is about a mercenary who is part of a resistance group that is doing battle with a villainous organization known as The Claw. The narrative quickly becomes irrelevant as you start off in camp and learn to customize your mercenary character. There is no voice acting, so you have to read the dialog text to understand what is really going on. The lack of relevance the narrative has does not bring the game down since gameplay tries to be the strength of the game.
Upon playing this game I first realized how awkward the keyboard controls are. There is no mouse to be used in the game, but the keyboard makes the gameplay feel like a drag. I firmly believe that fans of the Metal Slug series would be best advised to use a controller or gamepad to have any fun with this game. Another aspect of the gameplay that feels like a drag is the repetitive nature of the battles with The Claw. You have a limited number of lives and after each death you will have to face the same enemies and this feels quite tedious. Using keyboard controls is difficult when trying to press buttons to shoot, jump, and roll.
The graphics are pixelated, but that’s not too bad for a game that’s trying to be an old school, 2D side scroller. If the game had more variety in its levels, the replay value would be exponentially higher. I really wanted to like Mercenary Kings because of its concept of being of resistance fighter battling an organization of villains and the various characters to choose from and customize. Weapons can also be customized so that your mercenary can leave camp for battle with better gear. I can only recommend this game to those with a game controller or gamepad and do not care much about the quality of the narrative. If you’re a gamer who is accustomed to using the keyboard/mouse combination, I would not recommend Mercenary Kings unless you are willing to commit yourself to playing with a game controller or gamepad. I give this game a score of 6/10.