Overview
TRAG: Mission of Mercy (JP: Hard Edge) is a single-player action-adventure game for the original PlayStation. The player switches between four members of TRAG as they head through the immense Togusa Building to track down an abducted scientist. The game splits its time between encounters with criminals and solving key and other puzzles, depicted from a series of fixed third-person views using pre-rendered backgrounds - a format common to PlayStation games of that era, like Final Fantasy VII or Resident Evil.
The game was originally released in Japan in 1998 with the name Hard Edge. It would retain this name for the European release the following year. The US version instead received the name TRAG: Mission of Mercy. There are some small differences between the versions, but nothing that significantly affects the gameplay.
Gameplay
The game mostly follows the fixed camera-angles, exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving of most Survival Horror games of this era. In combat, excluding Alex, all the characters specialize in close-quarters takedowns, there are also dash attacks that consume a fraction of the character's life bar. Each of the four members of TRAG - Alex, Michelle, Rachel and Burns - have different abilities to aid in the puzzle-solving, and they all fight in a different way as well:
- Alex: The leader of the TRAG unit, Alex utilizes night-vision goggles to help him through dark areas. He fights using a standard-issue pistol.
- Michelle: Alex's second-in-command. She fights with a combat knife and is very fast on her feet, making her ideal for areas where speed is a factor.
- Rachel Howard: The daughter of the kidnapped scientist. Smaller than the other characters, which allows her to get to places they cannot reach. She fights with tonfa batons.
- Burns Byford: A detective that tags along with Alex and Michelle to look for a wanted terrorist connected to the kidnapping. Uses his fists in combat, and his immense strength is necessary to shift heavy objects that are blocking the way.
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