Here it is! The most anticipated day of 2014 from all of us at Tribute Games: the launch of Mercenary Kings on PS4!

It’s a thrill for us to finally share this labor of love (and explosions, tanks, maniacal warlords…) with all of you. Mercenary Kings air drops you into a colorful world of stylized, cartoonish warfare. When the Cybernetic Loyalist Active Weapon clan (CLAW) steals the Mandrake Formula, capable of reshaping any living thing into a dangerous weapon, King and Empress are sent in to retrieve it. CLAW’s leader, Commander Byron Baron — aided with his dog Alpha and a cloned army of miscreants — controls the entire laboratory base of Mandragora Island and seeks to make it the birthplace of a new, terrifying age.

Assisted by their own crew of experts, the Kings take on a multitude of missions where they must slice and blast their way through Baron’s band of bad guys, retrieve the formula, and save global peace.

Mercenary Kings might feel like something from the 16-bit past, but — like the Kings’ weapons — it’s crafted with brand new pieces into an explosive, modern package. Vanquished enemies drop a variety of materials that you can later craft into almost anything to give you an edge against CLAW. You can build with more than 300 firearm parts to mix and match into any weapon you can think of.

Build a scary-looking rifle, or a toilet-shaped machine gun. Or forge impressive or incredibly silly blades. Scavenged parts can be made into stronger armor, or turned into bio-mods, upgrading your mercenary’s strengths and reducing his weaknesses. Fruits from the jungle become ability-granting meals. Mercenary Kings’ boasts IMMENSE crafting mechanics that spread throughout the gameplay.

The areas in which you find these materials are not mere obstacle courses, but huge environments in which you can explore and find new treasures, fulfill secret mission objectives, hunt massive bosses, or find hidden resistance operatives.

Sometimes, a mission might just seem TOO BIG for one mercenary. But that’s no problem, because Mercenary Kings offers multiplayer options (both online and local) and three other mercenaries can join in on the CLAW-smashing fun. Is there a better way to cement friendship than going out and toppling a madman’s empire? We don’t think so.

Do you want to join the fight against Commander Baron? Mercenary Kings is available for PS4 on PlayStation Store today! Time to grab a controller and get ready to kick some CLAW!