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Why You Should Get Excited For Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Brandon Fenty — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:13:35 +0000

The Resident Evil series is one of my favorites of all time. Better yet and after the single player game is completed in Resident Evil 4 and 5, what keeps us coming back for more is the awesome Mercenaries minigame. Fighting endless waves of zombies seemingly never gets old, and it’s good to know that Capcom is bringing the game to the 3DS, with a few additions.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D features re-mastered stages from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. The game is available as a single-player experience, or gamers across the world can team up and enjoy two-player co-op via network play. Confirmed playable characters include Chris Redfield, Krauser, Hunk, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker and, making her debut in a Mercenaries game, Claire Redfield.

One thing that sets Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D apart is the inclusion of an all new Skill Slot feature. Players are able to fill three skill slots from a selection of 30 skills including improvements to weapons performance, reload speed or melee abilities and customize characters to best suit their style of play.

Capcom has been listening to players, and made changes to take advantage of the new hardware; most notably the ability for players to move and shoot and the addition of touch screen functionality to switch weapons on the fly.

To sweeten the deal, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D will also include a playable demo of the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS title, Resident Evil Revelations.

This title is one that we will be watching closely here at RipTen, and looks to be shaping up to be a great addition to the 3DS lineup. Am I going to be reviewing it? You bet I am!

Check out the gallery below:

New Trailer Highlights the Characters of RE: The Mercenaries 3D

Matthew Sims — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:45:49 +0000

There’s something about zombies and video games that go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Capcom is looking to keep that train going with the latest installment of the Resident Evil series entitled Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. The title is the first Resident Evil title on the 3DS and will be a beefed up version of the very popular Mercenaries modes in previous Resident Evil titles.

The concept is that you (and possibly a friend) join forces to kill zombies. The catch being that you have a limited amount of time and to score more points you have to have more time. You can acquire time by performing special moves on zombies or by finding containers littered around the landscape that extend you time. Time management is essential in this title.

The latest trailer from Capcom focuses more on the characters that will be available to use in game instead of gameplay. Fan favorites like Jill, Chris, Barry, and Wesker all make an appearance as playable characters. Anyway, enjoy the carnage.

New Diablo III Details – ‘Nuff Said

Dave Oshry — Fri, 13 May 2011 08:15:00 +0000

Diablo III still isn’t out? Oh well, it will be eventually. In the mean time, come with us as we learn a bit more about the next installment of Blizzard’s beloved franchise.

If you’ve played Diablo II, you likely had a mercenary or two follow you around. They were a great help and they did a great job of soaking up damage for you even if they were a bit devoid of any personality.

This time around your followers are customizable and have backstory.

There are three types of followers: The Templar tanks, the Scoundrel misdirects and the Enchantress uses Jedi mind tricks to confuse your enemies.

You can only have one follower active at a time, although you can swap them out at any save point. Strategery abounds in Diablo 3 as you’ll certainly find certain followers are better at helping you with certain parts of your adventure.

They can also be respec’d at any time, for a price. Lord knows Blizzard loves charging us for respecs!!

Your followers will have their own talent trees and you will also be able to equip their weapons, jewelery and class specific items for teh buffening.

However, as in Diablo II, they cannot be controlled, sorry. However, Blizzard promises their AI is first rate, and I’m hard pressed not to believe them.

Check out the followers in action below:

Stay tuned to RipTen for more on Diablo III and all things Blizzard.

RipTen Review: Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs. (iPhone)

Brandon Fenty — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:04:10 +0000

Gaming’s premiere horror franchise has already had a few mobile iterations; the latest, mercenaries, recreates one of the most popular game types of the series. The game’s interesting take on online deathmatch is unique: four people are dropped into an arena and charged with killing each other. The twist comes when hordes of brain-munching zombies are dropped into the mix, making the whole process that much harder (and more interesting). In theory, the idea is awesome; in practice, however, the game just doesn’t deliver.

The biggest issue with the game is the controls. The game avoids the generally accepted two-thumbed approach to shooters, instead controlling all movement and aiming with the left thumb. the right side of the screen is cluttered with icons, some of them static and some of them context-sensitive. It’s confusing to use, and clunky. While horror games usually have somewhat clunky controls to raise the tension, these seem unnecessarily so. In addition, you can’t move with a weapon drawn; and shootouts between static players are incredibly boring.

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The graphics in Mercenaries leave much to be desired as well. The textures are bland and murky and the resolution is especially low. These are jagged edges the likes of which we haven’t seen since the N64.

The horrible controls and graphics are really disappointing when looking at a game showing such potential. Despite the drawbacks, it’s still such a fun concept that for a few matches you might even forgive them. Connections were good, and we didn’t notice any lag. In the end, however, the controls are just too much to overcome, and it’s a shame that such a great idea is so poorly implemented.

Here’s The Rundown:

+ Great deathmatch concept

+ Great online support

- Slow, tank-like controls

- Muddy graphics and textures

Resident Evil:The Mercenaries 3D to Contain Revelations Demo

Matthew Sims — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:29:44 +0000

As Resident Evil news continues to pour in, we have yet another piece of info that will be helpful to Resident Evil fans, particularly those who own a 3DS. Mercenaries, the first Resident Evil title to hit the 3DS, will contain a demo of the other RE exclusive on the 3DS, Revelations.

Mercenaries is a portable version of the Mercenary modes from Resident Evil 4 and 5 with an emphasis on killing enemies while also fighting a ticking clock. Revelations takes place between RE4 and RE5 reuniting playable characters Chris and Jill and showing the events from the formation of the BSAA to the beginning of RE5.

Mercs Inc. Concept Art, Platform Plans Leaked?

Sean Hollister — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:35:22 +0000

When Electronic Arts closed Pandemic Studios in November, the 200 employees they left in the wake weren’t particularly happy about the affair… but boy, has it been great for gamers eager to get their hands on leaked information about Mercs Inc, the unfinished game they left behind.

Now, what appears to be the first concept art for Mercs Inc. has surfaced at the website of former Pandemic staffer Tony Ianiro — a artist whose resume claims the game was slated for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. See more examples after the jump!

Says Tony:

This is an example of my level thumbnail process I used for Merc’s Inc. The look of the game was “very realistic.” I was asked to come up with Level Ideas. These take me about two to three hours to complete. They are just trying to get across what that level would look and feel like.

While these images may not reflect the final game — especially now that development has moved to EA Los Angeles — it’s pretty neat to see how the basic themes of a game level can be captured in just a few dynamic images such as the above.

Source: carbonmade (via Blend Games)

Pandemic Studios Announces Mercs Inc.

Demi Adejuyigbe — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:52:21 +0000

It’s funny how things happen in the gaming industry. A week ago, EA announced that Pandemic Studios would be shutting down, and that their properties in development, like The Saboteur, would be put in EA’s hands. Rightfully, you’d assume that meant no more games would come out of Pandemic Studios, but today, EA & Pandemic announced that Mercs Inc. would be the next game released in the Mercenaries series.

Along with the press release, a video was leaked showing the multiplayer aspects behind the series’s latest, and you can see that after the jump. As part of a series focused on extravagant explosions and adrenaline-junkies, the game looks really fun, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it when it’s released… in the future, eventually. Though the obvious current-gen consoles come to mind, they haven’t released any solid information on the title other than the title itself.
[vimeo width="510" height="287"]http://vimeo.com/7601853[/vimeo]

Riccitiello: “There will be a Mercenaries 3 and … a Mercenaries 10.”

Ian Stanfield — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:57:01 +0000

Pandemic’s sandbox destruction plaything Mercenaries 2 is apparently getting an additional installment (and then some), according to John Riccitiello. The announcement reared its expected head during a post-earnings conference call, in which Riccitiello said:

There will be a Mercenaries 3 and, if I have anything to do with it, there will be a Mercenaries 10.

A bold statement for an otherwise completely unsurprising business strategy, as EA had announced sequels for Dead Space, Battlefield: Bad Company, and Army of Two only four days earlier.

Mercenaries 2 performed adequately on the charts, achieving a 72.6% on GameRankings. Regardless, it was a veritable cash-cow for EA, raking in 1.9 million, nearly as much as the highly regarded Spore. No other details were given, but we’ll be sure to update you as soon as they hit.

Surfer Girl Retracts Comments on GDC Games

Patrick Steen — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:40:25 +0000

After our previous report on Surfer Girl’s GDC’08 predictions, she has since blamed sleep deprivation for her original comments. We can, however, still confirm the six games we revealed, along with further titbits.

In an apparent lapse of concentration, Surfer Girl (or one of the few Surfer Girls as we presume) previously let the games of GDC ’08 slip, or at least she made unconfirmed predictions. She has now removed all of her comments from the article, stating in an update:

Note to self: Don’t answer things when half-asleep leaves rooom for error.
Note to self: Don’t type things when half-awake leaves room for errorr.
Note to self: Proofread.
Note to self: Go back to sleep.

As with the nature of these things, any listed titles are of course rumours and Surfer Girl does not act as any sort of confirmation. And yes, we noted the irony in the spelling of “errorr” too. Get some sleep Surfer Girl.

However, nothing has changed from our predictions. The Final Fantasy XIII engine will be presented in a tutorial by Square Enix, and we’re hopeful that there’ll be extensive footage of this previously unseen game.

The Force Unleashed engine will be on show, along with a discussion on Far Cry 2′s procedural storytelling. Pandemic will be presenting Mercenaries 2: World in Flames’ destructible environment, and ID Software’s Rage engine has a high chance of making an appearance.

There will be a walk through of the Frostbite engine (Battlefield: Bad Company), in addition to three big Fable 2 announcements. You can also expect new footage of Sony’s HOME and XNA announcements from Microsoft.

There is a chance that you’ll see the first footage of Resistance 2, since Insomniac will be discussing the improvements they have made with their PS3 engine. However, if we don’t see the game at GDC, I’m certain we’ll see it elsewhere very soon.

It is unknown whether the public will get to see any of this, but at least you’ll hear about it from us.

Final Fantasy XIII, Gears of War 2, Motorstorm 2, Alan Wake at GDC 2008?

Patrick Steen — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:33:45 +0000

What games will be at GDC 2008? The infamous Surfer Girl says three of the above titles will be there, along with four more “definites”. We can confirm six others.

In a response to a poster who asks what games will be at GDC this year, Surfer Girl says “YES” to seven games. These games are MotorStorm 2, Alan Wake, Too Human, InFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Killzone 2 and Gears of War 2.

There are three other games that might possibly make it to the event: SOCOM PS3, Metal Gear Solid 4, and WipEout HD.

Unlike last year, Sony and Nintendo won’t be having keynote presentations, so it might be wishful thinking to expect anything on the scale of Sony’s reveal of Home and LittleBigPlanet.

On the other hand, there is a Microsoft day booked for Tuesday, along with an hour long Microsoft keynote. Big things could be coming from the Xbox camp.

What games can we confirm for GDC? Mercenaries 2, Far Cry 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Battlefield: Bad Company.

In addition to these, Square Enix will be presenting their Final Fantasy XIII engine, and three big Fable 2 secrets will be revealed. You heard it here first.

Make sure to come to Ripten for all of your GDC coverage.

*Update* - Surfer Girl has since retracted her predictions, blaming sleep deprivation for her original outburst. Please read about this here, along with further titbits on what will be at GDC’08.