Archer Maclean's Mercury (PSP)

[BERSERKGOOSE UK]

Superb! This has been my most wanted PSP game for ages, it was delivered earlier today and I'm loving what I've seen so far, so some quick impressions;

It really is a joy to play, even the simple training stages were a lot of fun. Although I didn't have to I found myself doing these over and over again to try and get the best score before I'd even entered the main game. So personally I can see plenty of replay value (especially later on when trying to get 100% Mercury to the end of a particular stage within a tight time limit).

I'm past the training levels now and onto the game proper. Nothing overly taxing yet but it's getting there, new elements are being introduced on the stages which add a lot to the game.

Controls seem fine using the nub and I've not had any serious troubles with the camera as yet. The camera is fairly easy to manipulate once you get used to the buttons.

Graphics are excellent,the globule is fantastic to watch and quite hypnotic as it oozes round the stages, I'm beginning to see some pretty awesome physics properties on the mercury as the stages get trickier. Backgrounds/graphics on the levels themselves are certainly functional, looks quite plain on the training levels but things improve a lot on the 1st proper world, different coloured lighting and such.

General presentation is OK-ish, doesn't really bother me in the slightest but the presentation of the intro screens, text used on the high score tables and such, somehow reeks of a Public Domain PC game!!

Overall a great addition to the PSP library and ideally suited to the handheld, but certainly not to everyones tastes as some lukewarm US reviews seem to suggest. I'm not disappointed in the slightest, it's just what I expected it to be. A fantastic, addictive puzzler. Those looking forward to it are in for a treat.

Edit cos I forgot to mention the load times, nothing to worry about, about 10 secs between each stage.

[in5ane]

Standard PSP questions:
Loading times? Lots of disc access? WiFi?

Also hows the music?

[BERSERKGOOSE UK]

Load times are about 10 secs between each stage, and from what I can tell each stage is fully loaded into memory including the music so once you're on a particular stage there's no more disc access.
So batteries 'should' last ages especially if you're struggling later and stuck on the same stage for an hour.

Music is fine and suits the game, weird ambient techno sounds. There's 72 different tracks according to the info on the box.

Box says 'wi-fi 2-player mode for all levels' and 'wi-fi compatible (ad-hoc/infastructure)' whatever the hell that means.

Just had a look at the manual, it says on 2-player you race through each stage with the other persons blob showing as a ghost on your console. Sounds like it could be fun.

[Extra Terrestrial]

Whatever you make of the gameplay Berserk Goose; is it a relaxing game in some relation to Lumines or do you have to sit up and take noticed of what you are doing, if you know what I mean.

Does the physics impress you greatly? I saw ONE 30 second video and was enough to make me buy it. The wi-fi stuff sounds a bit meh, I also intend that this would be a nice 1 player puzzle game.

[in5ane]

Cheers for the info This is something i definitely want to pick up.

[Leon Retro]

It sounds good- I will be buying it when I get a UK machine. The visual side of things are obviously quite dull, and it's a shame to hear the presentation is very basic, but as long as it's fun I will be happy.

[BERSERKGOOSE UK]

Whatever you make of the gameplay Berserk Goose; is it a relaxing game in some relation to Lumines or do you have to sit up and take noticed of what you are doing, if you know what I mean.

Does the physics impress you greatly? I saw ONE 30 second video and was enough to make me buy it. The wi-fi stuff sounds a bit meh, I also intend that this would be a nice 1 player puzzle game.

I would say a vague 'yes and no' to your first question.

If you mean can you take your time squishing around each stage idly messing with the mercury, then no. It starts off on the training levels quite sedate but still with a strict-ish time limit, but quickly becomes TIGHT with the time limits, and I mean old-school tight if that makes any sense to you.
I've found myself chucking my globube off the edge of a precipice hoping to get a sliver to the end marker many a time, due to the time limit running down so fast. But it's not really the 'can't afford to blink' style of say Wipeout Pure but you really need to be on your toes, most definitely.

And yes the physics have impressed me a lot. I was also wowed after seeing the videos and it's just as impressive now, seems to be nigh-on perfect. I won't talk anymore about that it is hard to explain, you will see for yourself. On a similar note one thing I did notice is the environments aren't actually mapped onto the blob, it looks to be a texture. However It pulls the effect of environment mapping off really well and you have to look closely to spot that it isn't. The mercury looks superb, all the different colours bring out the 'reflective' effect, it looks like a real shiny blob on the PSP screen.

I'm enjoying this even more the further I get into it, I've done some 'vertical' stages now which are just great fun to play! I think I would liken this game more to those old tabletop games I used to enjoy like 'Kongman' and 'Screwball Scramble' more than any actual videogame I can think of.

After seeing the vids I thought this might be one I could get my girlfriend into but after doing some of the later stages I don't really think so, she would struggle quite badly I think.

On another note it doesn't seem the game is THAT big, i.e It's already saying I've completed 44%. From the Hub I can see that I've done the tutorial, finished world 2 'Quartz', and am near to finishing world 3 'Xero'. Worlds 4,5 and 6 are still to be unlocked. Also I think there are some extra unlockables, another world to unlock maybe. But I hold firm to the idea of quality over quantity and that definitely seems to be the case here.

[BERSERKGOOSE UK]

It sounds good- I will be buying it when I get a UK machine. The visual side of things are obviously quite dull, and it's a shame to hear the presentation is very basic, but as long as it's fun I will be happy.

Don't get me wrong, the presentation really isn't too bad as a whole. The hub area looks nice and the intro videos to each world are quite smart, it's just the text style used doesn't really suit the game, it looks like it belongs in super monkey ball or something.

[ItsThere]

I agree with everything said so far, its an excellent game and something differnet, the PSP really needs mroe stuff like this. I think it can actually be quite a stressful expreience and some of the more tifficult 'task' stages remind me of the later levels in Monkey Ball 2. Its all held together really well, and the stages really do get better as you progress.
Beserkgoose, how are you finnding the scores, I have onloy got top score on 2 levels so far and 1 of those was a 'cheat' way in world 2. Good game though, nice addition to Lumines for some on the go action that you can't get on PS2.

[NeilMcRae]

woot! This game is stunning - done the first 3 levels only and the potential is amazing. Presentation could be a little better but this is top. Well done Archer!

[BERSERKGOOSE UK]

I agree with everything said so far, its an excellent game and something differnet, the PSP really needs mroe stuff like this. I think it can actually be quite a stressful expreience and some of the more tifficult 'task' stages remind me of the later levels in Monkey Ball 2. Its all held together really well, and the stages really do get better as you progress.
Beserkgoose, how are you finnding the scores, I have onloy got top score on 2 levels so far and 1 of those was a 'cheat' way in world 2. Good game though, nice addition to Lumines for some on the go action that you can't get on PS2.

I've got top on a just a few of the earlier stages, I'm pretty much 'getting on the table' on all the stages but I can see It's gonna be a challenge getting top score on some when I compare them to my current scores!

Yes I forgot to mention, it is good to see there are different ways of completing certain stages...which can be quicker than the 'orthodox' method. These shortcuts appear to be few and far between at the moment, and seem risky for losing a large % of your mercury but may be useful to get some faster times!

[BERSERKGOOSE UK]

Just gonna sneak off to the loo and try to get a gooey substance round some u-bends for 10 mins or so.

[roobarb]

Having much fun with this game myself - a quick go turned into a 3hr session last night which is obviously a good sign

I agree with the presentation being a bit 'sub-par' and it does seem like a homebrew title for that reason at times - but who gives a **** when the game's this good? Not me!

One example is the use of the word 'addictive' in the documentation - surely if a game is really addictive then the manual doesn't need to constantly tell you so, it should just let you discover for yourself... (but it is addictive as hell so I'll let im off this time)

The look of the game is fantastic, and the physics implementation for the mercury is amazing. Control works really well, for the blob(s) and the camera although I do find it a bit awkward to swap views between different blobs when zooming in.

Background graphics, lighting etc. are great and I only noticed a slight stutter so far on one (reasonably large) level as I was switching view, controlling and zooming in on a blob ball at the same time so it's not that bad really.

Overall it's a must have for your PSP library, unless for some reason you hate puzzle-games or have an aversion to beautifully rendered liquid metal.

EDIT: tell you what though, this would have been even more totally awesome with the tilt controller, perhaps we'll be treated to this at some point in the future...

[mackemansj1]

Yep i ahve it and i love it. I dont think its net multi player even though the ad hoc/infust on the back. But overall a brill game which can be hard and testing at times but feels like you have done something, and i can see the time beating giving this a pretty big life span.

[NeilMcRae]

Its ad-hoc only from what I can tell not played much though.

I'm changing my view on the presentation, I think its top quality presentation wise - gives you exactly what you need, with good prompts and nice menus.

Neil.