[By Marc Saltzman, Gannett]

Any video game with the words “Resident” and “Evil” no doubt conjure up images of creepy environments, blood-thirsty mutants and plenty of action — and latest in the coveted franchise is no exception.

Except Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a pocket-sized version that’s fully playable in 3D on the Nintendo 3DS— without requiring glasses to see the effect. While it has the same hallmarks found in past Resident Evilgames, it’s also more of an arcade shooter divided into multiple stages than a slow-paced story-driven adventure.

Played from a third-person perspective, you’ll step into the shoes of one of eight protagonists — including familiar Resident Evil characters like Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Krauser and Claire Redfield — each of whom must stop the spread of a nasty virus within a predetermined amount of time.

Past enemies are in the game, too, including the Majinis (humans infected by the Las Plagas parasite), scythe-wielding Cultists (members of the Los Illuminados group) and tougher Executioners (Majinis with massive, chain-wrapped axes). The game houses many re-mastered stages from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, which you can tackle by yourself or via a wireless cooperative (“co-op”) feature called Duo, by inviting another player to play over the Internet or locally.

Once you’ve successfully completed a stage you can move onto the next one or repeat the previous mission for a better score — perhaps by selecting a different character, set of weapons and customizable skills (such as those that improve the ability to use a specific weapon). You can also earn various medals for playing well.

Truthfully, the 3D effect works in Mercenaries 3D, as you get a clear sense of depth and feel, as if the undead are approaching on you. The music and sound effects are also well done and add to the game’s immersion.

Capcom is getting a lot of flack, however, for not allowing you to erase your save game data from the Nintendo 3DS memory card — allegedly to clamp down on the used game market, since no one would want to buy or rent someone else’s saved game — so be aware of this ahead of time.

Overall, this first “Mature”-rated Nintendo 3DS title is a blast, especially for fans ofResident Evil games who want to up the ante in the action department — plus it’s playable everywhere, with 3D graphics, touch mechanics (such as switching weapons), and the option to play with friends online. The game also has a ton of unlockable content and a demo of the upcoming Resident Evil: Revelations game for Nintendo 3DS, due out sometime in 2012.

Platform: Nintendo 3DS.

Genre: Shooter.

Developer: Capcom.

Publisher: Capcom.

Website:http://www.residentevil.com/

Price: $39.99.

Rating: “Mature.”

Score: 3.0 stars (out of 4).

Contact Saltzman at gnstech@gannett.com

See the original story here: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/marcsaltzman/2011-07-10-resident-evil-3d-nintendo-ds_n.htm