Cybermercs

It is a long while since I have played Cybermercs for the first time, and my range of experience was completely different then. I liked the game till I encountered the first boss, which I could beat only by enabling cheat mode. From there, things went downhill fast. I didn't think it was too similar to Diablo, which I hadn't played yet, I didn't think missions were uninspired, since I didn't have a lot to compare it with (I guess my gaming experience consisted mainly of Fallout, Legal Crime, and maybe Cobra Mission). I just thought it was too damn hard.

Replaying it in late July 2004, mainly because of the discussions around Fallout 3 (I wanted to test its combat system again), I found it fairly funny that it had seemed so difficult to me way back then. That invincible boss from the first mission—well, he posed no real problem.

You can choose between four characters, Lee, Barry, Chris and Nelson. Chris is the only woman. She is also the physically strongest. Each of them has seperate sprites (important for multiplayer). You can rename them, but you cannot change their stats.

There are four stats: strength (important for carrying stuff, and you will find lots of stuff in the game), dexterity (probably decides how fast the character can shoot), intelligence (necessary for some gadgets like holo doubles), and hitpoints. These stats can be enhanced by operations paid for with the money you get for successfully finishing a mission. There are no levels or experience points.

Once you have picked your character, you are presented with a view of the mercenary quarters. You can go to your residence, where you can store items, but you don't have any items yet, so better head to the Item & Weapon Market to get some basic armor, then spend the rest of your initial 10000G at Kalkis Life Clinic for some upgrade. Then head to the Mercenary Guild to embark on your first mission.

You will find yourself on an isometric map. Action interface is as simple as they come: Move and use—left click, attack—right click. Your missions usually involve killing aliens or rescuing hostages or both. Sometimes there is a time limit. To rescue a hostage, just left-click on him or her.

Characters have four weapon slots, the first is always equipped with a pistol with unlimited ammo. Similar to a first person shooter, you can switch between weapons with the number keys, and switching will take no time at all. There are two item slots associated with Q and W. Inventory is limited both by space (Diablo-style) and by weight.

To sum it up in a single sentence, this game is not bad, but suffers the common ailment of its time: too much effort spent on graphics and too little on gameplay. As for the developer, Digital Impact, they vanished without trace, and nobody knows anything about them.

Links

• Not a Real Dog, but very far from being a Top Dog, is the verdict of Home of the Underdogs:

  In summary, Cybermercs is little more than a "second-hand" game that borrows heavily from Diablo, except it is much shallower and easier. The game may appeal to action fans who enjoy the sci-fi setting, high-tech weapons, and varied maps, but RPG fans will likely turn their nose at this marginal underdog. The game's dated graphics, uninspired missions, and simply terrible AI won't make the game last long on anyone's hard drive. The life of a 22nd century mercenary needs to be more interesting than this.

• Games reviewed here are supposed to be bad, J.R. Antrim reminds us on Ironic Consumer, and insures us that it is.

  Like that girl with large, knowing hands who you fooled around with at a party last week, Cybermercs is not what it may seem. The box says you can assemble a "team of nano-enhanced mercenaries," but the box is a liar and a rogue; the sort of na'er do well who'd say anything to steal a look at a lady's ankles. Cybermercs is no tactical-RPG. It's really Diablo. In. Spaaaaaaaaaace!

• Though RPG audiences will turn up their noses to this game with due haste, the game has its strengths, David Laprad thinks:

  At its core, Cybermercs is Blizzard Entertainment's classic reborn with those dripping, alien teeth. It is a light-as-a-feather action-RPG that enables gamers to build characters through a series of mission oriented maps. The emphasis, beyond the development of a capable warrior, is on shooting things and completing simple objectives. When boiled down, these objectives encompass little more than locating a corrupt and vigorous evil and introducing it to expensive tools of destruction. The designers use an isometric perspective and the interface is no more demanding than the endless tapping of the mouse. Have mouse, will travel, was my credo and I eagerly delved into it, ignoring the second-hand context and gameplay.

• Official Press release