Mercenary Kings
Mercenary Kings is a side-scrolling run and gun [video game] developed and published by Tribute Games. It was funded by Kickstarter and released for Microsoft Windows on March 25, 2014, and for PlayStation 4 on April 1, 2014. Alongside the Mercenary Kings: Reloaded update, versions for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation Vita were released on February 6, 2018. An early-access version of the game was released on Steam on July 23, 2013.
Gameplay
Mercenary Kings is a side-scrolling run and gun video game similar to games like SNK's Metal Slug series. Players can jump, crouch, roll, shoot in four directions and use a short range frontal melee attack to make their way through 100+ missions with a variety of enemies, bosses, and locations. Mercenary Kings offers up to four player co-op with online or local split screen play.Missions are structured akin to the Monster Hunter series with levels accessed one at a time from a central hub area. Players gain rank points upon completion which are used to rank up and unlock more difficult sets of missions. Objectives vary from one level to another and include boss battles, hostage rescues, item collection, and more.
Enemies drop certain kinds of loot depending on their type which can be used to craft weapon parts, knives, armor, or mods which give unique player abilities. Gun creation involves crafting multiple components which affect the weapon's stats such as firing rate, magazine size, and weight. Ammo types can also be switched out to add elemental damage or change bullet behavior, though not all ammo types are compatible with all guns.