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Sky Mercenaries

62%Game Brain Score
music, gameplay
story, graphics
62% User Score Based on 66 reviews

Platforms

PCPCWindowsWindowsLinuxLinux

About

"Sky Mercenaries" is a 2D shoot 'em up released on Steam featuring 8 worlds, over 32 story missions, and endless random content. Choose your pilot, fighter, and loadout to battle over 50 enemy types and challenging boss fights. Upgrade your pilots, drones, and fighters, and unlock abilities in 3 skill trees for increased customization and firepower. Get ready for an epic sky battle!

Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
Sky Mercenaries screenshot
+3

62%
Audience ScoreBased on 66 reviews
music8 positive mentions
grinding8 negative mentions

  • The game features an interesting color-switching mechanic that allows players to absorb enemy bullets, adding a layer of strategy to the gameplay.
  • The RPG elements, including ship and pilot upgrades, provide a sense of progression and customization that can enhance the overall experience.
  • The developers are responsive to community feedback and have made efforts to improve the game through updates, showing commitment to enhancing player experience.
  • The game suffers from poor graphics and sound design, making it difficult to see enemy projectiles and creating a lack of impact when defeating enemies.
  • The upgrade system is overly grindy, requiring players to replay levels multiple times to earn enough currency for meaningful upgrades, which can lead to frustration.
  • The user interface is confusing and lacks clear instructions, making it hard for players to understand game mechanics and navigate menus effectively.
  • music
    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the unique themes and solid original compositions that enhance the gameplay experience, while others find it bland, annoying, or forgettable. While certain tracks evoke nostalgia and fit well with the game's aesthetic, others are criticized for being subpar or lacking inspiration. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a highlight by some, but fails to resonate with others, leading to a divided opinion on its effectiveness.

    • “One thing that stood out for me was the soundtrack.”
    • “A few of the levels had ambient and subtle music that reminded me of the original 8-bit NES Metroid, others had a more upbeat musical theme, but all of them were unique and interesting.”
    • “It's a nice electronic soundtrack that reminds me of classic arcade shmups but with a kind of dubstep feeling (but without its by-the-numbers drops, and nothing obnoxious or distracting).”
    • “Annoying electro dubstep music.”
    • “The music is at least adequate.”
    • “The UI is lifeless, the music is horrible (really poor quality on the menus and in-game) and doesn't feel inspired or interesting in any way.”
  • story
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is largely criticized for its lack of depth and character development, with many players noting that it feels minimal or non-existent. While there are numerous missions and some progression elements, the repetitive nature of gameplay and the focus on upgrades overshadow any narrative elements, leaving players feeling disconnected from the story. Overall, the game prioritizes action and mechanics over a compelling storyline.

    • “Fight over 50 enemy types on 8 worlds in over 32 story missions.”
    • “Despite not having a very large number of areas (24 missions and 8 bonus), each feels different enough to not get old even when replaying the early levels to train a new pilot or when grinding to upgrade a plane.”
    • “Between levels, you can upgrade your stats and enhance the story a little.”
    • “This game has no real story and characters have nearly no background information.”
    • “Your required to unlock all the upgrades and ship parts for each character separately which takes forever and is tedious because you find yourself having to replay the same missions over and over again to finally have the money to upgrade your ship.”
    • “The biggest problem with this is that there's only one set of missions so once you've chosen one of the characters, it's very unlikely that you will bother to play with the other two unless you're going for 100%.”
  • graphics
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in "Sky Mercenaries" receive mixed reviews, with many players finding them mediocre and lacking polish. While some appreciate the attempt at retro aesthetics, the visuals are often described as muddy and difficult to see, detracting from the overall gameplay experience. Overall, the graphics are seen as a significant drawback, with calls for improvement and more options for resolution.

    • “It's not lazy retro pixel graphics, so that is commendable.”
    • “There are 8 levels with three stages per level, and each level has a unique theme, both in music and aesthetic.”
    • “Although this may take a few runs through each of the levels to gain enough credits to upgrade and proceed, I found it very enjoyable as the controls, collision detection, and graphics are all excellent.”
    • “Also, there's no 4K support, just HD, so the graphics look a little muddy on a UHD display.”
    • “The in-game visuals are muddy and make it very difficult to see what is actually going on.”
    • “Sky Mercenaries is a fast-paced action game with RPG elements. I hated the game because of the graphics; first of all, I hate this graphic style because it looks cheap.”
  • gameplay
    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is a blend of traditional shoot-em-up mechanics with a unique color-switching and absorption system reminiscent of Ikaruga, which adds strategic depth but can feel unrefined and frustrating due to issues like a large hitbox and confusing enemy fire. While the game offers a decent challenge and RPG elements, many players find the mechanics inconsistent and the overall experience limited, despite some enjoyable aspects and recent updates that aim to enhance gameplay. Overall, it presents a mixed bag of engaging ideas and execution flaws, leaving players divided on its effectiveness.

    • “The mechanic with differently-colored weapons and how you deal with them by switching schemes adds a little extra layer of strategic combat you probably won't really expect from a regular shoot-em-up title, and at higher difficulties, it can heighten tension as you either need to switch more frequently or choose not to in order to get through safely.”
    • “First off, it would largely be a generic shmup if not for the polarization/bullet-absorption mechanic a la 'Ikaruga' or the latter 'Exceed' games. It's well-implemented here, for a fun and satisfying level of challenge -- and the 'overloads' take the mechanic to its (super fun) logical conclusion.”
    • “In general, the game demands you to learn the abilities of your ship, and here lies the key to all gameplay - enemies shoot you with blue and red fire; don't dodge - switch your ship to the required mode by right mouse button and catch them. When the meter is filled, you get an overload that damages all nearby enemies and destroys all enemy projectiles.”
    • “Gameplay is pretty fluid, but not perfect. Your ship has a huge hitbox and the enemy fire is often the same color as your own, making it hard to know where to dodge on the typically busy shmup screen. This is frustrating.”
    • “It is really hard to avoid getting hit, which makes the Ikaruga-like color swapping mechanic useful, but things just feel really unpolished.”
    • “The recent 1.1 update added a lot of new features that extend gameplay, but it adds a bit more grinding.”
  • grinding
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players have mixed feelings about grinding in the game; while some find it excessive and tedious, particularly when upgrading ships and unlocking parts for each character, others appreciate the balance that keeps it from becoming overly repetitive. The need to replay missions for resources can be frustrating, but the variety in missions helps maintain some level of engagement. Recent updates have added features that, while enhancing gameplay, also increase the grinding aspect.

    • “Upgrading even one ship requires excessive grinding.”
    • “I'm not saying it's too difficult because it's not (at regular difficulty at least), but it plays out in a way that's needlessly annoying, frustrating, and grindy.”
    • “You're required to unlock all the upgrades and ship parts for each character separately, which takes forever and is tedious because you find yourself having to replay the same missions over and over again to finally have the money to upgrade your ship.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is reported to be marginally buggy, with occasional crashes primarily occurring at the start of missions. However, the short duration of missions mitigates the impact of these stability issues for most players.

    • “The game is marginally buggy and still suffers from infrequent crashes. Generally, this only happens right when I'm launching a mission, and the missions are short enough that it doesn't bother me too much.”
    • “Buggy.”
  • replayability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players highlight the significant boost in replayability due to the recent addition of Steam Workshop functionality, allowing users to create and download custom levels, which offers virtually limitless gameplay experiences.

    • “A huge addition in one of the most recent updates is the Steam Workshop functionality. You can create and download levels for the game, which means endless replayability.”
    • “The variety of choices and paths you can take in each playthrough keeps the game fresh and exciting, encouraging you to come back for more.”
    • “With multiple endings and character builds, every playthrough feels unique, making it hard to put the game down.”

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