Returning from Resident Evil 5, Mercenaries Mode supports co-operative play and allows you to select your favorite character and take on hoards of enemies until time runs out.
Basic Gameplay Rules
After selecting a character and map, the player will be dropped into a location with 2 minutes to get as many points as possible by defeating enemies.
Although your time is limited, you can increase it by killing enemies in unique ways and finding Hourglasses and breaking them with melee attacks.
There are also green hourglasses that, when broken, give you 30 seconds of Combo Time where you gain 1000 extra points for each additional combo you perform as long as it is active.
Time Bonuses
| Time Bonus Condition | Time Granted |
| Yellow Hourglass | 30, 60 or 90 seconds |
| Melee Weapon/Attack Kills | 5 seconds |
| Coup de Graces | 7 seconds |
| Counter Kill | 10 seconds |
Yellow Hourglasses also appear in the same location with a fixed amount of time on it. Learn these locations, per level, to increase youtime within the level.
Melee Weapons include:
- Combat Knife
- Survival Knife
- Stun Rod
- Hand-to-Hand
Scoring
No matter how you kill an enemy they will increase the combo bonus, which grants you a certain amount of points.
If you manage to kill the secret boss of each level within that chain, you will gain a bonus dependant on where in the chain it is killed.
| Combo Amount | Bonus Points | Boss Bonus |
| 2 | 40 | 750 |
| 3 | 100 | 1,500 |
| 4 | 200 | 2,250 |
| 5 | 400 | 3,000 |
| 6 | 500 | 3,750 |
| 7 | 600 | 4,500 |
| 8 | 700 | 5,250 |
| 9 | 800 | 6,000 |
| 10-19 | 1,000 | 6,750 |
| 20-29 | 1,200 | 7,500 |
| 30-39 | 1,400 | 8,250 |
| 40-49 | 1,700 | 9,000 |
| 50-59 | 2,000 | 10,500 |
| 60-69 | 2,400 | 12,000 |
| 70-79 | 2,800 | 15,000 |
| 80-89 | 3,400 | 18,000 |
| 90-99 | 4,000 | 22,500 |
| 100-109 | 6,000 | 30,000 |
| 110-119 | 8,000 | 45,000 |
| 120-129 | 12,000 | 60,000 |
| 130-139 | 20,000 | 75,000 |
| 140-149 | 30,000 | 90,000 |
| 150+ | 60,000 | 150,000 |
Enemy Points
Each enemy has it's own amount of points gained, no matter how it is killed. While some enemies are not worth very much in points themselves, they do increase the Combo and are usually worth the quick kill to keep the chain going.
| Enemy Type | Points Rewarded |
| Zombies | 300 |
| J'avo | 300 |
| Zombie Dog | 100 |
| J'avo w/ 1 mutation | 500 |
| Bloodshot | 600 |
| Shrieker | 800 |
| Whooper | 1,000 |
| Napad | 1,500 |
| Strelats | 1,500 |
| Gnezdo | 3,000 |
If you manage to kill 150 enemies before time runs out, you gain another 200 points for every second left on the clock.
Ranking
Ranking is dependant on the number of points you earn. Note that multiplayer not only requires more points, but the enemies are also more difficult to kill.
| Points Required | ||
| Rank | Single Player | Multiplayer |
| E | 0 - 39,999 | 0 - 59,999 |
| D | 40,000 - 59,999 | 60,000 - 89,999 |
| C | 60,000 - 79,999 | 90,000 - 119,999 |
| B | 80,000 - 99,999 | 120,000 - 179,999 |
| A | 100,000 - 139,999 | 180,000 - 219,999 |
| S | 140,000+ | 220,000+ |
Unlockables
When you start Mercenaries you are limited to the map Urban Chaos and Leon, Chris and Jake. The following is a list of unlockables and how to obtain them.
| Unlock | Unlock Requirement |
| Steel Beast Stage | Complete Chris' Campaign |
| Mining the Depths Stage | Complete Jake's Campaign |
| Ada | Complete Ada's Campaign |
| Helena | Complete the Ubran Chaod map with Rank B+ |
| Piers | Complete the Steel Beast map with Rank B+ |
| Sherry | Complete the Mining the Depths map with Rank B+ |
| Carla | Unlock every character and their Costume 1 |
| Costume 1 | Complete any stage with an Rank A+ as the character whose Costume 1 you want to unlock |
