Mercenary Kings

I’m pretty sure I don’t like this game. I thought I’d really like it, since it looked like a cross between Metal Slug and Contra, with a more modern design sensibility (and it’s a free PS+ download on PS4), but so far I’m just not really having much fun playing it. The thing that is frustrating me the most is that every mission has a timer – something I’m generally not a huge fan of in games – and since the levels are quite complex, there’s a lot of pressure in trying to finish before the end (so far my missions tend to be find/kill 8 of a type of character). I wouldn’t mind exploring these levels if it was done on my own time – I do love Metroidvania-type games – but with the pressure of the timer, I just feel frustrated trying to access a map that isn’t particularly detailed, and then moving around in rather large levels. They’re also using a Gears of War-type reload mechanic which, in a game like Gears of War is fine since you’re doing it after firing through a rather large clip of ammo, but doing it here every time I shoot 6 bullets is a huge pain in the ass. It could be just me playing this wrong, but I’m not really looking to play much more of it.