After taking a bit of a break, The Mercenaries mode has made its return with the launch of the highly anticipated Resident Evil Village. Stripping away the story, it provides a more arcade-focused experience that only has you worrying about killing enemies in as efficient a manner as possible.
As you’re starting Resident Evil Village, however, you’ll notice that The Mercenaries is missing from its menus. Here’s everything you need to know about when and how to access the mode.
Like in the case of some other of its incarnations, Resident Evil Village’s version of The Mercenaries mode only becomes available once you complete its main story. If you’re aching to know how much time that can take, we talked about it in our guide dedicated to the game’s length.
After helping Ethan see his journey through, you’ll unlock the Extra Content Shop in the Bonuses menu. Here, you can purchase different goodies using Challenge Points earned by completing different in-game challenges that also reward achievements.
You should have quite a few by this point and can see The Mercenaries at the top of the list. It only costs 10 Challenge Points, so go ahead and purchase it. Head back out and you’ll have it as a new option in the Bonuses menu.
Resident Evil Village’s take on the Mercenaries mode is set in different closed-off levels from the main game, each of which has a set number of areas you’ll need to beat by completing their main objective.
At the start of each area, you get to interact with The Duke, which you’ll recognize as the friendly trader who helps out Ethan in the main game. You can buy and sell items, including weapons which you can also improve. Each downed enemy grants you Lei, the in-game currency used at the shop
You’re always on a time limit, which you can extend by either killing enemies quickly to score combos or by interacting with yellow orbs found in each area.
You can also pick up blue orbs that let you choose between three bonuses that make Ethan stronger by increasing his movement speed, damage with certain weapons, or blocking capabilities. New levels are unlocked by getting an A rating at the end of your current one.
The rating is influenced by the score points you earn, which is why you’ll want to finish areas with as much time as possible left and a decently high combo counter.
For more of our thoughts on the title, here are 10 things you need to know before you buy Resident Evil Village.
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