Resident Evil 4 Mercenaries Releases Early in Some Regions with Less Content than Before

The Resident Evil 4 remake’s version of the classic “The Mercenaries” mode officially arrives tomorrow (it wasn’t available at launch) but it seems some folks already have access to the content. Mercenaries has apparently gone live early on PlayStation in Korea and perhaps other Asian territories, allowing folks from that region (or those who set up a Korean PlayStation account) to jump in early. Word is, it’s only a very small update – a mere 2 MB unlock.

As you would expect, folks are already streaming the new Mercenaries mode, giving an idea of what to expect from the mode. It seems to be largely the arcade-style score-driven experience you remember, but the amount of content is rather limited. Currently, you can only play as Leon, Luis, Krauser, and Hunk, and only three maps, Village, Castle, and Island, are on offer. You can check out some footage, below.

Previous datamining did reveal Ada and Wesker as playable Mercenaries characters, and the original version of the mode had a fourth map, the Marina. It seems likely this content will be added in a future update, perhaps as part of the rumored Separate Ways DLC.

Haven’t been keeping up with the Resident Evil 4 remake? I found it to be a fun, if somewhat conservative, remake in my full review…

“Resident Evil 4 was the ultimate test of Capcom’s remake skills, and unfortunately, they buckled a bit under the pressure. The game suffers from minor mechanical issues and doesn’t reinvent or elevate the original material as boldly as some might have hoped it would. That said, Capcom hasn’t broken anything either as this is still a fun, inventive thrill ride that has been brought up to modern technical standards in striking fashion. The new Resident Evil 4 is well worth it for fans of the series, just keep your hopes slightly in check and you won’t be spin-kicked by inflated expectations.”

The new Resident Evil 4 can be played on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5. The Mercenaries officially launches on April 7. What do you think? Excited to jump back into Mercenaries or was the mode never really your thing?

Written by Nathan Birch