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Mercury Meltdown Mini Review
Jon Wilcox
10/10/2006
TVG asks whether Ignition sets the gaming world alight with its sequel to Archer Maclean's Mercury...
Ok, so perhaps our summary is bit unfortunate by going for a pun (a dreadful one as well - ed), but Ignition Entertainment's Mercury Meltdown is one game that should at the very least attract some attention from PSP gamers starved of original non-ported franchises. In fact, the game is one of those rare creatures, since Ignition has announced that Mercury Meltdown will undergo the reverse and be ported to the PlayStation2. Aside from the radical change in visual style, does it do enough to stand out from the mediocrity of its predecessor?
For those of you who think that Mercury Meltdown sounds like a the plot of a bad B-Movie "Run to the hills, it's a mercury meltdown!!!", here's the basic background to the game: You control a blob of mercury that has to get to the finishing post by navigating around various obstacles and hazards...quite a clinical description to what is essentially Marble Madness. Having already released Archer Maclean's Mercury as a launch title for the PSP in September 2005, Ignition has taken the decision to expand the title into a franchise, and give it something of a dramatic makeover.
There's no denying that the first major change comes in the form of the graphical style that Ignition Banbury (formerly Awesome Studios) has created; cel-shaded graphics are far removed from the visuals of the original title, though the black outline that now surrounds the mercury is perhaps a step too far. According to some reports, the outline was added to give the liquid a definitive boundary, though it actually hinders during certain precarious segments of the puzzles. Beyond that first distinctive change, Mercury Meltdown features a number of other ideas that make it stand out beyond it's predecessor. Ten 'labs' have now replaced the six different 'worlds' of the original, with test-tubes representing each of the missions. Breaking with the structure of the original game, which was criticised for being overly linear with an unforgiving learning curve, players are now free to complete any of the missions in an unlocked lab in any order that they wish. Essentially this decision opens up the playing experience so that gamers don't find themselves frustratingly bogged down trying to complete one particular level - making Meltdown more of a joy to play and longer lasting.
Though each of the levels is given a time limit, it isn't a case of 'Game Over' if a player fails to reach the finishing goal in time. Part of the draw of the Mercury experience now comes from actively replaying a level in order to attempt a quicker time. When you run out of time, and you will do throughout the course of the 160+ stages, play continues so that at least gamers are given the chance to work out their mistakes before going back in to try again for a faster time. Additionally, stages are littered with 'Bonus Stars', which can be collected by the player (though more often than not at the cost of setting a slower time). Collecting enough of these stars will unlock one of several mini-games, Rodeo, Paint, Race, Metrix, or Shove, each of which bring a different experience and a bit of variety to the regular gameplay of Mercury.
The control system has been left untouched from its predecessor, though that's hardly surprising given how well it worked in the first place. The PSP's solo analogue nipple used to move the liquid blob of metal works very well and is thoroughly responsive, making it genuinely feel like a balancing act when the mercury is being navigated around some of the perilous edges of the puzzles. Face buttons once again spin or tilt the camera, whilst the shoulder buttons zoom in or out of the action, thus allowing gamers to get a total control over their view of the gameworld - a key element if player frustration with Mercury Meltdown was to be avoided. A Free Camera can also be used to take a look at the level from all angles without the pressure of racing against the clock. Ultimately Mercury Meltdown achieves the most important factor, a tight and responsive control system that is effortlessly intuitive and accessible to anybody.
Changing the colour and splitting the mercury into several separate blobs continues to form a key element in the gameplay, but for Mercury Meltdown, Banbury has also introduced a scattering of new items that physically change the state of the liquid: Heaters make the mercury quicker and more prone to splitting; Coolers make the liquid more viscous, whilst the Solidifier does exactly what it says on the tin, and makes the mercury more like a ball-bearing. Again, adding such a variety to the game only helps to make the experience far more rounded (no pun intended this time) than the first title in the series - at times it's a genuine head-scratcher, but not frustrating enough to switch off the PSP...something that the first title had a tendency to make you do.
Far more polished and balanced than the original title, Mercury Meltdown is the game that Archer Maclean's Mercury should have been twelve months ago. Various additions to the gameplay including the four physical states of mercury throw in a new dynamic to the experience, which adds a subtle layer of depth to the staple gameplay. In our opinion, the stylised visuals don't quite work, especially the black outlined ball of mercury, but it doesn't impede on the gameplay as much as we feared.
There're plenty of missions to complete, including various party games to unlock, so the chances are that Mercury fans could end up playing this game for some time.
dasher
Date Added:Mon 8th Jan 2007 05:46
Anonymous
Date Added:Fri 8th Dec 2006 18:43