M.E.R.C. (PC) Preview

M.E.R.C. is very similar to modern XCOM games of controlling a small group of soldiers in a real-time strategy environment. The battles take place in a 3D view of looking down on the battlefield and reacting as new enemies pop up. The primary focus is getting through battles to get more money and gear, as well as levels, so the soldiers can handle tougher missions.

The game plays out in a city controlled by five corporations and various forces attacking each other. Each mission helps or hinders the other factions, which causes various effects, such as making rifles cheaper or healing take longer. It is in this mode that a cyberpunk tale is told of warring mega corporations, and an encroaching wasteland and slums on the last city left on Earth.

Battle is the primary focus of the game, and it is best described as hectic. M.E.R.C. is not able to be paused, which takes away a lot of the strategy, but makes it more frantic. It is played on a forced iron man, meaning from every aspect of the choices matter deeply.

Fighting itself is controlled by two squads of two people. The camera follows the squad (so no scouting ahead) and combat is simply done by clicking on the enemy. There are abilities hot-keyed to 1-8 on the number pad, such as grenades and rockets, and are instrumental of being used correctly in order to win on the maps.

Following the lead of XCOM, there are four classes of soldiers, such as an engineer good at hacking, or a heavy trooper with a rocket launcher. As levels are gained, there is a small skill tree to put the points into, which can help diversify the individuals.

The lack of a pause is a major impediment to strategy, as, in general, the best move is to simply roll into position, click on the enemy and begin fighting. The choice, of course, was made to make M.E.R.C. feel more "real" or hectic, but at this point in the alpha, it severely detracts from tactical planning. There are a lot of stats at play here, and to reduce it to a mere point-and-click is a detraction that doesn't need to exist. The developers seem to be in touch with the community and listen to the players about comments, which is always a huge boon for games to turn out well. If this is a big enough issue for enough players, it could be changed; otherwise, understand its implications.