sisslethecat
Well, this should be interesting.
According to website BioHazard France, a Resident Evil fansite, the new PS4/XBO remaster of 2009’s Resident Evil 5 will include an all-new mode called The Mercenaries United, which combines characters from both the original Mercenaries mode and the add-on mode Mercenaries Reunion, which was previously included in two parts with the Lost in Nightmares and Desperate Escape DLCs. It also includes the previously PC only mode, Mercenaries No Mercy, which is a much more difficult version of the original mode with more enemies and no co-op.
To explain, The Mercenaries is one of Resident Evil‘s mainstay bonus minigame modes. Starting off as Battle Mode in the Sega Saturn port of Resident Evil, and finally being named The Mercenaries in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, it allows you to play as several characters other than the main playable heroes of the campaign, occasionally even characters that don’t even appear in the game otherwise (like Chris Redfield in RE2‘s Extreme Battle Mode, or HUNK in RE4‘s version) and you race against time to rack up kills that equate to points. Occasionally you can spend them on neat bonuses for the main campaign, or unlock bonus weapons. Its always been just for fun, and has appeared in some form or another in almost every Resident Evil game, occasionally with some rules changed (like Revelations‘ spin on it, Raid Mode) and even has a few standalone titles like Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D on 3DS and a mobile game based on RE5‘s version.
Resident Evil 5‘s unlocked after completing the main game once. The original Mercenaries was made up of the characters Chris, Sheva, Jill, and Wesker, as well as alternate versions of them in different costumes that had different weapon sets. You could play cooperatively with a friend as well, a first for The Mercenaries, and points gained through play could be spent on extras for the main campaign like super weapons (the triple-barreled Hydra shotgun, a one-hit kill bow and arrow for Sheva, and more), alternate costumes and even screen filters. Months after the original release, a revamped version was included in the DLC called Mercenaries Reunion, which included not only playable versions of Josh, Excella, and Chris and Sheva’s DLC costumes, but also returning RE alumni characters Barry Burton and Rebecca Chambers. This time it was more about having fun than a real challenge, as the new characters where aggressively over-powered and included much more powerful weaponry and melee attacks.
So now RE5HD seems to be combining the two modes into one, which is pretty cool, making for a more fleshed out roster for just one mode rather than spreading it out. I am a little concerned how balancing will work for co-op play, seeing as the Reunion characters are just so much more powerful than the original characters. The only one that comes even close to as powerful is S.T.A.R.S. Wesker, which has the HYDRA shotgun as well as Wesker’s own super powers, like super speed (which you can activate by clicking in both sticks). It’s unknown if this is the only option, or if it’s a third added in addition to the original two modes. Either way, neat!
The website also corroborates the earlier reports of a June 28th release, although oddly says that the physical copy will release July 12th. Resident Evil 6‘s digital and physical releases coincided on the same day, it seems strange that there’d be any kind of delay this time.
[Source]
