My first impression of Killzone Mercenary has a few upsetting implications. Developer Guerrilla Cambridge (formerly SCE Cambridge) has somehow translated the Killzone Engine to the PlayStation Vita with such fidelity that I wonder if I'll even want to go back to the isometric strategy universe of Killzone Liberation – perhaps my favorite PSP game.

If Killzone 2 helped set the bar for graphics early in the PlayStation 3's life, then Mercenary has been handed the torch for Sony's handheld. Perhaps one of the best examples of the device's power, Killzone Mercenary almost seamlessly executes with sharp environments and high-quality animation. Though there is some recognizable pop-in to textures as you move through the environment, it's never jarring – even in a preview build, which I'd expect to look worse than the final game when it ships in September.

"The most difficult thing, honestly, was untangling all the code from Killzone 3," Guerrilla Cambridge Senior Producer Mark Green tells me about bringing the Killzone Engine to the Vita.

But good looks aren't the only thing Killzone Mercenary has going for it; this game is all about the money.