Hands up who remembers Commando? In its heyday it was both a hit in the Arcades of England and on the home computer formats across which it was released. Some heroic soldier, drafted at great expense from the streets and given a gun and grenades all of his very own, had to single-
That was moons ago, before the times of 16-bit games playing, before the Amiga even had such gems as Space Invaders developed for it. However, the old ideas are sometimes the best. At least, US Gold reckons so, because MERCS feels pretty damn familiar to me.
Times being what they are and governments spending so much more on defence these days, MERCS allows the prospective Sylvester Stallone to take his buddy along with him to help out. Thus the game may be played with two players simultaneously using two joysticks (much like the Commando sequel, Ikari Warriors). So grab a joystick and get stuck in.
Whether you go it alone or with a chum the idea is the same. Shoot absolutely everything that moves. Should it not move, lob a couple of grenades at it first until it does, then shoot it some more. You're beginning to get the subtle message now, aren't you? But before you mentally dog-tag MERCS as a predictable run-of-the-
The first has been done before but it's nice to see it here - along the tortuous route to the end of each encampment you'll come across various military vehicles, jeeps, small armoured cars, maybe even the odd tank. Leap into one and not only is your firepower increased but you may also progress faster.
Don't think that these gifts are the end of your trouble though. No way. Like most of the scenery the landscape, the vehicles may be destroyed. In fact, if you're careless, you may even destroy them before using them. Chances are that before too long the vehicle will be blown up with you inside it, and it's back to boot leather transportation again.
I mentioned that much of the scenery can be destroyed. In fact, much of it HAS to be destroyed or you won't be able to progress through the levels.
Groves of palm trees, army barracks, crawling with soldiers, burnt-out snipers' haunts - all come between you and the guardians. Oh, didn't I mention them? They guard the gateway between levels. No huge robotic monsters or silly dinosaurs, these babies are for real. Planes that strafe you with deadly accuracy, tanks to blow your butt off. All hits deplete your limited energy.
There are plenty of action-