"An immersive and utterly addictive puzzler."

Recently buying Megaman X: Maverick Hunter and finding it to be an utter disappointment, I went back to buying a cheap, solid game. I saw Mercury for £15 and was delighted. After buying it and playing it all the way home, I got utterly addicted and couldn't stop playing it. Now I have finished it I have decided to tell you lot how good it is, so here goes the review:

You play a huge ball of mercury and go through many mazes, getting through traps, conveyor belts, enemies and many more things to stop you on your way. Anyone who has played "Super Monkey Ball" or "Marble Madness" will recognize this style of gameplay.

First of all the GRAPHICS. I didn't really care about the graphics when I bought the game, just wanting to get at the game very quickly, but I was extremely surprised to see that the mercury effects were extremely good and realistic. The textures are quite bland, but you won't really be looking at them as you will be extremely focused on the ball of mercury. The enemies can sometimes look quite strange too, but it adds to the weirdness of the game. The obstacles look brilliant, and are animated quite well. Overall I would give the graphics a score of 8.

Next up is the SOUND. Mainly the music is made up of cheesy techno beats, but I actually quite enjoyed them and got used to them rather quickly. The sound effects are quite weird, but again I quickly got used to them. Overall the sound gets a cool 7.

Now the main element, the GAMEPLAY, the gameplay as I said is extremely addictive and you will probably want to play this game over and over again, trying to find new ways to complete the level in the best way possible. The levels are sometimes extremely challenging but the tutorial which can be visited time and time again is very helpful. The gameplay is easily the games main point. It very easily deserves a 9.

How long is the game? Well I'll tell you... LIFESPAN. The game has 6 unlockable levels, which I find very challenging as they are some of the largest levels in the entire game. There is 72 levels as it says on the box and these go up in difficulty as you go along the game. It does the difficulty very well. There is also a multiplayer mode which I didn't expect. The modes on the multiplayer are quite good yet they are no match for the single player. This game has a lot to offer in longevity and will last you for a long time, and make you keep coming back! 10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/06