Mercury HG Review

Mercury has taken the leap over to the platforms of the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN, in an attempt to infuriate console players with it's "one-more-time" attitude.

Moving up from the PSP to the big screen brings with it the added ability to do more with the levels than just roll some Mercury around them. The game takes the music playing in the background (which can be your own music, too) and plays with the different blocks that make up the level, making them bounce around in time with the beats.

Game play is of similar affair of other Mercury titles, if you've played one previous you can skip this bit and move onto the next, if not - read on. You start each level as a blob of Mercury (ironically - or not it's HG on the table of elements as the game keenly points out to you) and the general aim is to keep all 100% of that blob of Mercury till the end of the level, by tilting the playing field and making it roll around. Sounds easy, right? Not so when you factor in the obstacles and puzzles that are in your way. From simple ideas like changing the colour of your Mercury blob to allow it access to new areas, taking it up a notch having to split your Mercury into separate chunks, change the colour of each bit individually, then bring them back together to create a blend of the two colours. Holes in the floor, sand-traps that slow you down and 'Go-Faster' arrows that speed you up, all lead to a tense experience of how well you can really do.

As you roll around the levels, there's a certain feeling of the level being alive as the tiles upon which you're on react to your proximity, meaning what looks like a perfectly safe passage can become a nightmare of coloured gateways, holes and sand-traps. If you're not careful...

The ability to play your own music in the game and have it truly integrated with the experience is also a very nice touch. Not enough games make use of this feature, which is definitely a shame.

Graphics are kept plain and simple, allowing you to concentrate on keeping your Mercury in one piece (or pieces, depending on the level) and feels clean. Level design  is also nice on the eyes and doesn't ever seem to get confusing. Unless you've managed to split your Mercury into thousands of pieces. My opinion? Restart the level at this point. Your game pad will thank you for that later...

Added to the 'one-more-go' feature, is that your scores hit the leader boards instantly, not just for high score - but for the time it takes you to beat the level. This adds a double sided competitive aspect to the game, because it's always best to be better than the people you know.

Overall, the game is clean, fun, and easy to pick up and play and has less of a learning curve than previous titles. With the ability to constantly go back and beat your scores, racing against ghost times; there's a healthy aspect of re-playability within the game too. Factor in having your own music as part of the game and you're onto one addictive, fun-filled game to drop onto your relevant console's marketplace. For only 400 points on Xbox Live, or £3.99 on Playstation Network, it's a steal at the price.