Written by: Mark

 

 

 

Mercury was originally a very early title (2005 to be precise) for the Sony PSP handheld console and received some positive feedback thanks to some well thought out puzzles and neat presentation and one year later spawned a sequel entitled Mercury Meltdown.

 

Fast forward five years and the game has received a complete make over in the form of a new game in the franchise for the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network services entitled "Mercury Hg" which for the non science fans amongst us Hg is the chemical symbol for mercury.

 

In this review we take a look at the XBLA version which is surprisingly priced at a meagre 400ms points to see if the game contains enough elements to make it a success.

 

 

The main objective of Mercury Hg is to guide a blob of mercury through a maze like play area littered with traps and obstacles to reach the goal whilst keeping as much of the solution together. This is done by using the left stick to control the mercury and the right stick to tilt the maze to get a better perspective of proceedings.

 

The cleverness however is in the way thought is required to complete each level as each section features parts where you need to split your mercury, change it’s colour and bring it back again in order to activate colour co-ordinated gates etc.

 

 

As you progress through the levels which are set out via a periodic table you will notice that the challenge soon increases and puzzles can become tricky although never prove too frustrating meaning that the game can be completed pretty easily given a little time.

 

It seems that the majority of enemy characters which made the PSP game more of a challenge have gone, although traps such as magnets which push you towards and away, hills and holes are present to add further challenge.

 

In addition each stage features four atoms to collect which unlock additional levels and these are achieved by completing set tasks such as completing levels in under a set time, finishing with one hundred per cent mercury and collecting all pick ups. This gives the game more incentive to repeat levels or take your time instead of racing through them in seconds as can be done particularly in the earlier stages. This can only be seen as a good thing and prevents the game from becoming the straightforward experience which can be completed fairly quickly.

 

 

One could be led to believe that for the 400ms point price the game may be somewhat lacking in the presentation stakes and to be honest once you play the game you will notice that all round it looks and sound equally as good if not better than the majority of XBLA offerings which cost three times as much.

 

 

Graphically the actual levels all have a similar look which is pretty good but it is the backgrounds which really shine as they really draw you in with how they look as they have a lot going on and look very glossy and polished indeed.

 

In addition each stage is backed by a superb trance inducing soundtrack which can be changed by playing your own music throughout and the cleverness is that backgrounds respond to music choice and pulsate accordingly meaning that you really can tailor the game to your own individual likeness if you prefer.