Mercenary: Escape from Targ
| Developer: Novagen | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Novagen | Sound: |
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| Year: 1988 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Adventure | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Originally released on 8-bit computers (Atari 400/800, 1985), Mercenary immerses you in a vast, wireframe 3D world where you can roam freely, either on foot or in a flying vehicle.
You play as a space mercenary, stranded on an unknown planet where two factions are at war. Your ship is in pieces, and you need to find a way off the planet. Along the way, you can make a living. Lucky you! You’ve crashed just a few steps from a “for sale” vehicle…
The adventure isn’t linear, and you’re given very few clues about what you’re supposed to do. As a result, you’ll quickly find yourself playing the lost tourist, wandering off your objectives to map entire regions, explore underground tunnels, collect keys or items to trade with the locals… And if you’re in a bad mood, you can destroy buildings you don’t like. Note that death is impossible. However, getting stuck and stranded in the middle of nowhere might not be much more desirable…
Think of this game as a giant orienteering course. Sure, the level of interaction is limited (and the animation too), but it paved the way for more advanced titles like Damocles (its sequel) and Hunter.
The expansion, Mercenary: The Second City, was released in 1986. On the Amiga, both episodes were bundled together under the Compendium Edition label.
You can find the controls on Lemon Amiga. Be aware that you can’t use the arrow keys to emulate a joystick, as they’re assigned to item pickups.
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