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The long awaited ST version of this C64 hit has finally arrived in a new compendium edition, featuring both the original Mercenary and The Second City.

For those who didn't see or play Mercenary on an 8-bit Atari, 64 or Plus 4, the action takes place above, on, and under the major areas of habitation of the planet Trag, famous for its beautiful cities and underground complexes designed by the great arhitect Walton.

You are a solider of fortune who has crash-landed on Targ which has been ravaged by many years of war between its original inhabitannts, the peace-loving Palyars and an alien race of robots known as the Mechanoids.

Your challenge is to escape the planet by buying another ship, bought with your ill-gotten gains.

The only thing you managed to salvage from the wreckage of your ship was Benson, your in-helmet, ninth generation PC.

Benson will give you information on your location, compass heading, altitudes, elevation and speed as well as act as a communications buffer with the various waring factions on Targ.

Benson's other major use is in providing an interpretation of your view of events in stunning 3D vector graphics allowing you to see inside and through normally solid objects... eat your heart out, Superman!

The action starts as you come too by the remains of the Prestinium, your trusty intergalactic craft, which is beyond repair after the crash.

Luckily you have landed in Central City, which used to be one of Targ's main centres of population. Even more fortunate is that the Dominium Dart is standing not 50 feet away, and at 4,000 credits it's an absolute snip!

Flying around in your newly acquired Dart you can see the whole of Central City and, from less than 250 feet, can make out individual buildings which can, of course, be zapped out of existence.

Benson's controls provide you with all the flight and navigational controls you will need while the vector graphic cockpit view it provides is as smooth as silk.

Eventually Benson will receive a message inviting you to come to the briefing room near the hanger at location 09 66. To get down to the hanger you have to land by a lift.

Having descended into one of the many underground complexes, it's time to leave the dart and do a little exploring.

As with flying, everything underground is seen in vector graphics from a first person perspective, giving you the impression of wandering in and out of rooms and down corridors.

As you explore the complex you will find various objects some of which can be picked up and used such as sights, poweramp and keys.

You can also find objects that are of no use at all such as tables and chairs! Some objects, such as medical supplies and gold, can be sold for a tidy profit if you can only find a buyer.

When you find the briefing room you will be offered a mission, and, in true mercenary tradition, may wish to only accept lucrative contracts.

The beauty of this game, apart from the stunningly smooth vector graphics, is the element of strategy required to negotiate the diplomatic minefield you must necessarily create for yourself by accepting missions from both sides in the continuing war on Targ.

Complete with The Second City, which takes you to Targ's dust-covered southern hemisphere, and the Targ Survival Kit, in case you get too lost, Mercenary will be a high flyer amongst ST gamesters.