The Mercenaries is an unlockable minigame in Resident Evil 4. It is unlocked by completing the main game regardless of difficulty.

The objective of the game is to kill enemies to earn points before the evacuation chopper arrives in the allotted time. Killing a normal enemy earns the player 300 points, while boss enemies can earn several thousand points. A crucial part of the game is to kill as many enemies as possible in a row ("Combo"), which is necessary to have high scores. There are also time extension pickups to give the player more time to earn points.



The basic reward for defeating enemies are added to your score right after the enemies die.

Enemy Score
Normal enemies 300
Chainsaw Sisters 5000
Garrador 7000
Gatling Man 10000
Giant Chainsaw Man 5000


Combos accumulate when the player defeats enemies within 11 seconds of each other. Once the player loses their combo, they receive a bonus to their score and can start up another combo.

For normal enemy kills, after the combo reaches 10 the bonus for each kill is 700 points. Defeating a non-normal enemy yields a different score in place the normal enemies combo bonus kill points. Because of the way combo works, it is ideal to only kill special enemies during a 10+ combo to yield the maximum possible points.

Normal enemy kills
Combo Bonus for kill Total combo bonus
1 0 0
2 20 20
3 50 70
4 100 170
5 200 370
6 250 620
7 300 920
8 350 1270
9 400 1670
10+ 700 1670 + (700 x (combo - 9))
Special enemy kills
Place in combo Bonus for kill
1 0
2 500
3 1000
4 1500
5 2000
6 2500
7 3000
8 3500
9 4000
10+ 4500

Bonus TimeEdit

In each stage there are treasure chests that contain a special item that can be picked up called Bonus Time. When picked up, each kill in combos for the next 30 seconds will be worth 1,000 points instead of their usual amount. This includes the first kill but not any special enemy kills after the second kill, those will be worth the their regular higher amount.


At the end play through, the player is shown a unique result screen for their character and receives a rank based on their score. The score screen also displays the player's number of enemies defeated, max combo, and their highest score for that stage and which character they achieved that score with.

The player is ranked from 1 to 5 stars. The score needed for each rank is as follows;

Score Rank
0 - 9999 1 Star
10000 - 19999 2 Stars
20000 - 29999 3 Stars
30000 - 59999 4 Stars
60000+ 5 Stars


The player must unlock a character in each stage with at least a 4-star ranking which is a score of 30,000 or above. Each character has certain weapons, ammo, and grenades. On the Gamecube and PS2 versions, only Leon and Krauser carry a knife, however other characters make up for this with highly damaging or even lethal melee attacks. Some characters have more or less health than other characters, with Krauser being the only character to have a maxed out health bar. This can have a significant impact on how quickly one needs to heal themselves, or how quickly one will die should they take too much damage. Some characters also have a faster running speed. Leon and Ada are the only characters who have and are playable with other costumes, in all versions, minus the GC/PS2 Versions.

Each character has an unique set of melee attacks. To execute the melee attack labeled "Head", the player has to stagger the enemy by shooting him in the head, while the "Leg" melee attack can be performed after bringing an enemy on his knees by shooting him in the lower section of the leg. The only sub-bosses that are hittable with melee attacks are the Chainsaw Sisters on the Village stage. The game will be played to a certain background music depending on the character.

Leon S. KennedyEdit

Leon is the only character the player starts with. Leon's leg melee attack changes depending on the stage being played. Only on the Village stage Leon will use the side kick attack and all other stages Leon will use the suplex.

His costume can be changed in the Wii and all later versions, by holding button/trigger combinations while in selection screen and then selecting, which will allow playing with his RPD, Jacket, and Mafia costumes. On Steam/Xbox 360, holding Y/TRIANGLE (PS3/4) will give you the Jacket, holding RB/R1 (PS3/4) will give you RPD, and holding both Y&RB (TRIANGLE & R1, PS3/4) gives you Mafia.

Load-out Melee Unlocked by
Tn leon
Health: 7 & 3/4 bars
  • Head: Kick
  • Leg: Kick (Village stage)
  • Leg: Suplex (other stages)


Ada WongEdit

In this mode Ada is featured in her dress from Resident Evil 2.

Ada does not have a knife in the Gamecube and PS2 versions but does have one in all later ports starting with the Wii Version & HD Versions. Ada's running speed is faster than Leon's. Her knife functions as it does in the minigames that star her which is the same as Leon's.

Ada's costume can be changed in the Wii and all later versions, by holding button/trigger combinations while in selection screen and then selecting,which will allow playing in her RE4 Dress or Spy costume. On Steam/Xbox 360, holding Y/TRIANGLE (PS3/4) will give you the Red Dress, holding RB/R1 (PS3/4) will give you Spy.

"The red rogue, ADA has been unlocked in The Mercenaries!"

Load-out Melee Unlocked by

Tn ada
Health: 6 & 1/2 bars

  • Head: Fan Kick
  • Leg: Back Kick

Getting a 4-star rank on Stage 1

Jack KrauserEdit

Krauser has a special attack where he uses his infected arm blade and thrust forward and kills any enemies in the way. This attack is done by pressing Ashley's command button when his arm is glowing red. Once pressed, Krauser will hold his arm blade out ready and the control stick can be used to aim left or right before attack. After using the attack, after about a minute Krauser's arm will grow red again allowing the player to use the attack. When beginning a stage his arm attack is already ready to be used.

Krauser's running speed is faster than Leon's. Krauser also has a knife and his attack has greater range and attack power than Leon's. His knife is more likely to stun and set up enemies for melee attacks and only takes a few hits to kill normal enemies.

"The man of malevolence, Krauser has been unlocked in The Mercenaries!"

Load-out Melee Unlocked by

Health: 10 bars (Max)

  • Head: Kick
  • Leg: Knee
  • Special: Plaga Arm Blade Thrust
Getting a 4-star rank on Stage 2


HUNK's Neckbreak melee move will always kill the target.

"Special Ops Agent, HUNK is back in The Mercenaries!"

Load-out Melee Unlocked by

Tn hunk
Health: 7 bars

  • Head: Neckbreaker
  • Leg: Kick
Getting a 4-star rank on Stage 3

Albert WeskerEdit

"The infamous Albert Wesker has returned in The Mercenaries!"

Load-out Melee Unlocked by

Tn wesker
Health: 7 & 3/4 bars

  • Head: Thrust Punch
  • Leg: Chikyo Chagi
Getting 4-star rank on Stage 4


"Eliminate as many Ganados as you can before your evac chopper arrives! Successive kills will result in earning you more points!"

There are four selectable stages and the player will start with each round with 2 minutes. The stage select screen will display the player's highest score for each stage as well as the highest rank of character they have picked for each stage.

Each stages features Time Extension bonuses, explosive barrels, and their own special enemy. Time Extensions gives a bonus of 30, 50, 60, or 90 seconds. During gameplay, the player's map screen will mark each Time Extension with a star labeling them as "Treasure".

Stage 1Edit

This stage is based on the village centre. The barn is now open, there is a window in the locked back room of one of the houses, the second small barn is open, and there is a path that leads behind the church. There are Villager Ganado and six Chainsaw Sisters on this map, which provide 5,000 points per kill. The villagers may sprout the basic Plaga. There is 5 minutes and 30 seconds worth of bonus time on the map.

Stage 2Edit

This stage is based on the Castle wall area of Chapter 3-1. There is now a door that leads through a system of rooms inside the castle wall leads out to the cannon or to a new area. The map features Cultists and three Garradors each being worth 7,000 points. There is 6 minutes and 50 seconds worth of bonus time on the map.

Stage 3Edit

This stage is based on Fort area on the Island. Many new paths are open and the mini-gun towers which were destroyed in the main game are now scalable. It features up to three Gatling Man's; each is worth 10,000 points. There are twelve Time Extension bonuses that all give 30 seconds totaling to 6 minutes of extra time.

Stage 4Edit

This stage is a completely new area unique to the minigame. It resembles a small dockyard with warehouses and is surrounded by water on all sides with a scalable tower. Features two Giant Chainsaw Men worth 5,000 points each. There is 7 minutes and 30 seconds worth of bonus time on the map.


The Handcannon is unlocked when the player gets a 5-star ranking on every stage with every character. To earn a 5-star ranking, a total of 60,000 or more points is required.

Also when the minigame is initially unlocked, the title screen only features Leon. As characters are unlocked, pictures of them are added to the title screen along with symbols on the stage select screen representing them.


The soundtrack for the mini-game (Including, Leon, Ada, HUNK, Krauser, and Wesker) is recycled from Product Number Zero Three; another CAPCOM Production Studio 4 (also directed by Shinji Mikami) Title which failed commercially.



