Resident Evil Mercenaries lets you boost yourself or penalize enemies with obtainable upgrades

Resident Evil village
(Image credit: Capcom)

Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries mode has been shown off in detail, including the mode's upgrades system for boosting the player character's traits.

Earlier today, IGN published a feature detailing time playing the revitalized Resident Evil Mercenaries mode, which will be bundled into Resident Evil Village next month in May. The outlet revealed that there'll be mysterious blue orbs found throughout each level in the Mercenaries mode, which you can use to upgrade various aspects of your character, or change the way enemies function.

Every time you pick up a blue orb in Mercenaries, you can pick from one of three abilities to obtain. For example in the preview, the player got to select from Blade Master, where knife attacks do five times the standard damage; Slow Motion, where enemy movement speed decreases; or Super Guard, which lets you take less damage from attacks when you're guarding.

It's an interesting aspect that definitely bolsters the replay factor of Mercenaries. Elsewhere in the preview, IGN explains how the mode functions on a base level, challenging players to make it through brutal combat gauntlets within a specific amount of time, encountering different enemies and weapons every time to really mix things up.

Resident Evil Village launches early next month on May 7, and it'll include the Mercenaries mode on all platforms. Capcom's horror sequel will launch on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, and will also come to PS4 and Xbox One as well. Recently, Capcom detailed the frame rates and resolutions of each platform, and it seems as though all next-gen platforms will boast a frame rate of 60FPS while maintaining 4K graphics.

If you've yet to check out either of the new gameplay demos for Resident Evil Village, then good news, because Capcom plans to extend the availability period of the final demo launching later this week. After some players were left dissatisfied by having a very limited time to play the Castle and Village demos over the last two weeks, Capcom has extended the time of the final demo that combines both areas by for a full week, so everyone has eight days to check out a slice of Village before it launches.

If you want to see absolutely everything in the forthcoming demo, check out our Resident Evil Village Castle demo walkthrough guide for things you might've previously missed.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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