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| Mercury Meltdown for PSP | // review |
| I have been remiss. Mercury Meltdown has been out for a couple of weeks now, and I really should have posted this review already. However, the game itself has been the cause of the delay, as I don't seem to be able to put it down, always trying to better my previous score on a level, or working my way through the later levels. It is this addictiveness that has caused me to delay this review, an addictiveness that caught me by surprise, as I was never that much of a fan of the previous title, even though it was one of the titles I bought when I originally bought my PSP. As the sequel to the original Archer Maclean's Mercury, the gameplay mechanic retains the same basic principles seeing you guiding a blob of mercury over what effectively amounts to an obstacle course. With this new version the developers have added a few wrinkles, along with a new cartoon or cell-shaded visual style that seems to match the gameplay very well, and a new range of challenges, whilst managing to retain the deceptively simple control system. At it's most basic, you can play the entire game just using the PSP's analogue stick, although the buttons and the shoulder-triggers also play a part, moving the camera around, changing the view angle and zooming in and out, although these functions only need be used rarely in some levels. At the start of the game is a series of tutorial levels that help to introduce you to the way the game works as well as some of the new hazards such as the colour-eaters, and the loading screens between each level also servce to give players hints and tips for the various challenges on offer. For the most part, as with the pervious title, the objective is to move as much of the provided mercury as possible form the start point to the exit point, however getting there is the challenge. The number and variety of puzzles on offer is astounding, with the level designers pulling out all the stops with the provided tools to create a rich, broad array of level design within the game. However it is the level design that brings me to my first minor criticism of the game. As unlocking new levels requires saving a certain amount of Mercury across all the previous levels, ensuring you can complete certain levels is critical, however within each 'lab' or grouping of levels, the difficulty level of each successive level is not necessarily consistent, with some early levels proving almost impossible when compared with other, later levels both in that lab and in later labs. I have found myself on occasion becoming overly frustrated with a particular level, although a saving grace offered by the developers is the ability to skip to any level within an unlocked lab, so it's perfectly possible to skip any level and try the next one to try and earn the requisite amount of saved Mercury to unlock the next level. At the same time, the sheer variety of level design beggars belief, with some challenges forcing you to think of different ways of approaching the level, such as one level which is essentially vertical, with the start at the bottom and the exist at the top. Making use of conveyor belts it's a simple enough process to get to the top, but having to change the colour of your blob, as well as splitting it to mix colours to make a third before you can get to the exit makes this level one I am yet to complete. Another frustrating level is one that is almost entirely made of of conveyors moving in different directions, and moving your blob from one to another without it splitting can be tricky. Completing levels with a certain score and collecting bonuses scattered throughout each level also serve another purpose, helping to unlock party games, a newly-added feature in this version of the game. Each of these party games, or mini games, provides different challenges from the normal level design. For example, one party game is a racing game, where you earn points by racing around various tracks as quickly as possible, controlling your Mercury as you would in any other level. Another party game sees you trying to keep your Mercury blob on a spinning table whilst fans rotate around the outside trying to blow you off. Each of these games serves to add to the overall longevity of the title, and can provide interesting diversions from the main game. Overall I am thoroughly impressed with Mercury Meltdown, and it has become a permanent part of my PSP travel-pack, those games I take with me when I travel as I can always be assured of some entertainment while playing, even if some of the levels remain frustrating. Mercury Meltdown is sure to keep you entertained for a long time. | |
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