However, when playing with friends, I could create a room and choose the mission.

It's unclear how the game decides who's hosting, but it was never me, and thus I couldn't choose the mission. You sit at base camp and wait for other players to pop into existence. There is no list of people playing or trying to get a game going. Online play is easy to set up: you turn your status from offline to local/public/friends and then sit for a couple minutes. Couch co-op involves splitting the screen into four quadrants. Mercenary Kings encourages multiplayer, either couch co-op or online. Missions are short enough that I can complete a healthy number every time I turn the game on, but a few seem more tailored towards multiplayer. Gun parts can be swapped around to create a wealth of firearms, though I appreciated that not all parts of compatible with each other, thus keeping my OCD min/max tendencies in check.

This is an addictive process largely because the loot is so casually strewn about and I never felt like I had to go hunt for a specific item. Once back at camp, this loot can be utilized to craft new gun parts, knives, armor, etc.

Throughout each mission, all kinds of materials in crates can be found or dropped by fallen enemies. The rare boss encounter typically involves a mech of some kind with easily-discernible attack patterns. There’s a respectable variety of enemy types that includes humans, robots, and animals. The other slots can be used for a number of other useful things, like med kits, C4, or grenades. Your character has four inventory slots, though it’s really just two: your gun and radio transceiver are always there. Gameplay might best be described as Mega Man-esque: you run around surprisingly large 2D platforming levels shooting baddies, finding materials, blowing things up, and rescuing hostages. Once the primary goal is fulfilled, you warp back to your base camp. You have a certain amount of time to complete one or more goals. The setup is simple: pick a character, select a mission, and then head out to the field. You take control of one of the Kings-King, Empress, Frigg or C-Zar-and get sent out on dozens upon dozens of missions to take out the villains. Baron has set up shop on the mysterious Mandragora Island and is bent on using its magical properties to create super soldiers to take over the world. The Mercenary Kings are a band of paramilitary action heroes out to stop Commander Baron and his evil CLAW organization (Inspector Gadget not included).

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