Killzone Mercenary could change the Vita’s fortunes – Part 2

By: Moses Abaortae

  |   December 28th, 2012   |  

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Sony will be relying on the likes of Tearaway and Killzone to amp up the Vita’s appeal but the secret to attracting the core gamer may lie with the first-person shooter.

The PlayStation Vita is an impressive piece of technology and it solves one major issue that the PlayStation Portable, the Vita’s predecessor had, the lack of a second analogue stick. The console, in that case, should be a sure fire for an instant ba-zillion dollars in sales, however, that is not the case.

The lack of titles that stand out and truly define the console are missing. Most of the games available on the Vita are simply portable versions of console titles such as FIFA 13, Mortal Kombat and LittleBigPlanet, with Persona4 Golden, in essence, nothing more on a HD remake of the PlayStation 2 title.

This is why the likes of Resistance: Burning Skies and Uncharted: Golden Abyss are so important to the Vita’s success. While Uncharted delivered, Burning Skies was a flat, mundane affair, apart from the axe-melee attack. Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation was another demonstration of how a unique story and experience to the Vita actually helps in boosting confidence in the console.

A number of downloadable arcade titles, exclusive to the Vita such as Sound Shapes and Escape Plan are two more examples of this phenomenon and while Media Molecule’s Tearaway will please the casual gamer, it is the core gamer that Sony needs to attract and for that there is perhaps no better series than Killzone, unless of course you throw in God of War and Gran Turismo.

Killzone has established itself on the PlayStation 3 console as the shooter to play for those looking for more than just a run and gun experience. There are very few first-person shooter fans who own a PlayStation 3 and do not own a copy of Killzone.

It makes obvious sense that Killzone Mercenary will be watched by many and if the game can get it right and please the critics and fans then Sony can expect a big payoff in the form of Vita sales.

What makes this game more promising than Black Ops: Declassified is that the development of the game is not being outsourced but rather being developed by Guerrilla Games themselves, which is not only a great thing but a great one. Killzone: Liberation on the PlayStation Portable is a testament to that.

It will be interesting to see just how far the developer pushes the console and how deep an experience they provide on the Vita as it could very well be the first of the serious, heavy duty games to be released on the Vita.

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