Told through briefing cut-scenes and radio chatter from a cast of mixed vocal talent (shout-out goes to the deadpan “Oh yes, I like how they burn”), Mercenary‘s story is presented well enough to guide you logically between objectives and through environments, but never enough to grip you with a memorable journey from a character perspective. There’s the occasional thought provoking questioning of internal ISA operations and the way Helghast military treat Helghan civilians, but the central narrative stays firmly planted on a largely forgettable tale of mercenaries finding reason and morals amidst a bloody war. Though this premise has the potential to provide interesting insight into the events covering both the original Killzone and Killzone 2, from the perspective of both sides and how they behave outside of the front-lines, Mercenary never really exploits this. Guns-for-hire that hold no particular allegiance to ISA or Helghast, instead happy to capitalise on the economy of war and make those big bucks at whatever the cost, even if that cost is morally questionable. Killzone: Mercenary takes a break from the carnage of war for a narrative centred around, you guessed it, mercenaries. It’s been a long time coming, a very early tease courtesy of the platform’s first reveal, but I’m happy to state that the wait has been worth it, cementing Guerrilla Cambridge at least on par with Bend in handling Sony’s properties with the greatest of care. Slotted nicely in-between those gems is Killzone: Mercenary, a return to Sony’s library of system selling franchises and, like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, putting a large emphasis on authenticating that console formula for a handheld system. We’ve already seen Keiji Inafune’s Soul Sacrifice surprise hardcore gamers, and at the tail end of 2013 we’ll be delighted with Media Molecule’s Tearaway. However, starting with early/mid this year and moving forward, the publisher/developer does appear to be making a bigger push for original, exclusive Vita goodies.
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Since launch, Sony has generally avoided moving proprietary intellectual properties exclusively to the Vita in any significant way, instead focusing publishing rights on down-ported PlayStation 3 titles, smaller independent goodies, and the occasional so-so franchise offshoot like Resistance: Burning Skies.
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Obvious concessions were made to the presentation, given the PlayStation Vita is not a PlayStation 3, but Bend had done an admirable job in making Golden Abyss as authentic and convincing as it could be, and I believe most fans were pleasantly surprised with how faithful this portable adventure matched the console trilogy.
![ps vita killzone mercenary vpk ps vita killzone mercenary vpk](https://www.handheldplayers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/killzone-mercenary-ps-vita-20160522-001.jpg)
Alongside the launch Sony’s PlayStation Vita was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a mainline franchise spin-off developed by SCE Bend Studio.