Capcom had been keeping this not-so-secret secret under wraps--but now that Resident Evil 5 is out in Japan and it's being plastered all over YouTube and other video services, they've thrown open the kimono on the game's bonus Mercenaries mode. Here's one of the Mercs videos they put out today, starring everyone's favorite dashing S.T.A.R.S. member, Chris Redfield.
(Head over to the videos page to see the other one featuring new co-op hottie Sheva.)
If you didn't play Resident Evil 4 (shame on you), Mercenaries is the sort of time attack mode that opens up when you finish the main game. It throws you into one of several enclosed maps from the story mode and makes you kill zombies and other nasties as fast as you can while the short timer ticks down. The trick to getting high scores is in getting kill combos by murdering enemies as fast as you can without breaks in between, and there are lots of time-extend and score-amplifier power-ups all over the place to help you meet that end.
Due to the short time limit and the glut of enemies, Mercenaries is MADDENING but also a ton of fun. My cousin and I still play the mode every year when the family gets together for the holiday. We never have gotten five stars on every level to unlock the all-powerful hand cannon (partially because we switched from the GameCube to the Wii version at some point), and now that RE5 is upon us, we very possibly never will.
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At any rate, I'm beginning my run through RE5's story mode today, so we'll be back with the final verdict on the game around the time it launches next week, on Friday the 13th.