Shack Chat: What game franchise would you like to see get a Resident Evil Mercenaries-style mode?

With the recent, free addition of “The Mercenaries” mode in Resident Evil 4 Remake, players have been given the ability to jump in and battle waves of foes with the goal being to kill as many as possible within the mode’s set time limit. Not only is it a fun and often challenging experience, it’s also one that sparks the question of what other games could use the addition of a Mercenaries-style game mode. So with that in mind, for this week’s Shack Chat, the Shacknews staff is sharing their picks for games they think could use a Mercenaries mode.

Question: What game franchise would you like to see get a Resident Evil Mercenaries-style mode?

Overwatch 2 - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Mercenary Editor

A game mode like Mercenaries begs for a rich cast and a lot of disposable foes. I had to think a lot about what series could make this work, so why not pass it along to the new school and give it to Overwatch? Overwatch has the characters, the play style variety, and the atmosphere to make an idea like this work. The fanbase has been getting increasingly hungry for PvE content and this would fit the bill nicely. I don't mean to remind everyone that Overwatch 2's PvE component still isn't here, but sometimes Shack Chats fall where they fall.

Splatoon 3 - TJ Denzer, S-Rank Mercenary

I personally think there are a few key elements that make Resident Evil’s Mercenaries Mode work so well. You have to have maps that are fun to play, enemies that can used in a horde-like manner, equipment varied by character that makes playing each of them a unique challenge, and unlockable characters that players would really want to play in the first place.

For me, Splatoon checks all these boxes.It already has a kind of Horde mode with the Salmon Rush mode, but can you imagine being able to play characters like Shiver, Frye, Agent 3, or even Big Man, each with a fun and unique loadout or character-specific abilities? Even just the chance to take up arms as the world’s best manta ray would be dope as heck.

I also happen to think Splatoon 3’s maps and enemies are perfectly built for a Mercenaries Mode anyways, but I think it would be a fun challenge if you were confined to a starting loadout by character. What do you think Shiver would use? Personally, I think she’s a Splatana main with some stealth skills for big hit-and-run attacks. Now I’m working myself up over this. Nintendo, please?

Horizon Forbidden West - Morgan Shaver, Would take on a horde of Thunderjaws

I think a mode like The Mercenaries where you have to kill as many enemies as you can to earn as many points as you can in a set amount of time would work really well for a game like Horizon Forbidden West given the number of different enemy types there are in the game.

Not to mention, the multitude of combat approaches on offer as well. While the game does have battle challenges focused on Aloy’s spear and even hunting challenges for different machines, none see Aloy enclosed in a more restricted area, with all of her weapons on hand, while an endless stream of machines flow in.

I could easily see a solid points system for this tied to the complexity of each machine as well, with the more complex a machine, the more points it's worth. It’d also be great for players who enjoy strategy elements like planning out trap placement, and switching between weapons based on the weaknesses of each enemy.

Ghost of Tsushima - Blake Morse

A mode where I got to just try and slash my way through as many enemies as I could before time ran out in Ghost of Tsushima would be fantastic. I feel like a lot of the multiplayer mechanics that Sucker Punch has already implemented would translate over very well to a mode like this, such as the character archetypes and their special abilities. It’s a tough game to take on multiple opponents at once in already, so a few difficulty adjustments would most likely be in order. But overall, I would love a chance to put my samurai skill up against my friends to see who could get that top spot on the leaderboards.

Destiny 2 - Sam Chandler, Forgetter of PVP

While Destiny 2 has a truckload of PVE content, the fans have long wanted a horde mode or time attack mode where the only goal is to kill enemies. Season of Defiance’s Defiant Battlegrounds really highlighted the desire for players to experience activities with high enemy density, so a Mercenaries-style addition would be perfect. Sure the game has high scores with Nightfalls, but the goal there is to finish the Strike as opposed to slay as many enemies as humanly possible. Even if it was a limited-time mode or seasonal activity like Guardian Games, I’d love to see Bungie explore the concept.

Gears of War - Asif Khan, CEO/EIC/EIEIO

The Gears of War franchise has no shortage of reasons to kill enemies, but a Resident Evil Mercenaries-style mode would be a welcome addition. Horde Mode has gotten sort of stale in the last few Gears entries, and a new Mercenaries mode could kick it up a notch. Time attack style gameplay could even have people picking up the campaign for multiple run throughs.

Bloodborne - Dennis White Jr.

I would love the ability to hop into different nightmares and take down enemies in a horde mode with end of level bosses and the potential for no-hit run shenanigans would be amazing. Chalice Dungeons made a similar process very tedious. I think with proper hindsight or an opportunity to revisit the game in a much requested Remaster, there would be some really fun ways to approach beast slaying on a massive scale.

I also think it would be exciting to see enemies that don’t normally interact or appear in the same areas, have new and interesting ways to team up to take the player on. There’s also the different hunter enemies which could bring a good challenge to certain nightmare floors. I still hold out hope that one day Bloodborne will get some additional love and a mode like this would certainly be welcomed with open arms.

Star Wars Jedi - Donovan Erskine, Jedi Master

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order had some of the best lightsaber combat in a Star Wars game and I expect that to be the case with its forthcoming sequel as well. While I enjoy the Souls-inspired format, it would be nice to have a game mode where I can just mindlessly hack down crowds of storm troopers. Not only would it be a fun change of pace from the campaign, but it would fill the Force Unleashed-size hole in my heart.

Super Mario-Steve Tyminski, It’s a Me!

What game franchise would I like to see get a Resident Evil Mercenaries-style mode? Killing enemies for the highest score would be very interesting for certain games. I think the Super Mario franchise would be pretty fun to get this treatment. You could have a similar setup to Mario 35 where you play against different people online and go for the top score while making your way through various Super Mario levels.

You would have to attack all the enemies you see to help your score. You could also use power ups to gain combo power-ups and points. It would be cool to see the playthrough cycle through different Mario games like all the NES Mario games. Different Mario games would have different enemies and those enemies could have different point totals. The goal would be to defeat Bowser but whoever did it with the most points wins!

That wraps up the Shacknews staff picks for games that could use a mode similar to Mercenaries in Resident Evil 4 Remake. Now, we’re turning it over to our friends in Chatty to find out which games you think could use the addition of a Mercenaries-style mode!

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.