Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs.

Capcom brought its Resident Evil franchise to iPhone well over a year ago with Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Degeneration. Now the publisher's back with a new entry, Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs., a multiplayer focused shooter inspired by the mode from RE5. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as deep.

Mercenaries Vs. lets up to four players (in teams of two or in free for all) wage war through online play, where the goal is to score as many points as possible. You do this by mowing down the opposition and slaughtering random zombies that litter the playfield. This essentially gives you two things to worry about, as both the computer/human-controlled adversaries have only one mission: kill you at all costs. Die, and your score resets to zero.

Thankfully, valuable first aid items will keep your character in peak condition, while a small arsenal of weapons will help make living things dead. On top of that, there's the option to summon an A.I. character to fight alongside your virtual alter ego, such as the chainsaw wielding nut from RE4.

If you don't feel like playing online, there's local Bluetooth for up to two people/two computer opponents. There's also a Score Attack mode that pits one person against three A.I., as well as a Coin Shooter mode that tasks you with locating and blasting coins.

On the downside, Capcom plans to release the game with only two characters (Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine) and a single map. The publisher appears committed to downloadable content, but that could take weeks to arrive.

This makes Resident Evil Mercenaries Vs. a promising but severely limited experience, one that'll probably sell for at least $5. Let's hope the developers have aggressive DLC plans. Otherwise, the lack of options could spell doom for a potentially enjoyable game.