Resident Evil 4 will be getting a free piece of DLC in the form of The Mercenaries update, Capcom has announced. This confirmation arrived on the same day as the Resident Evil 4 remake's highly anticipated release.

In the original Resident Evil 4 from 2005, The Mercenaries mode was initially exclusive to the PS2 port, which released some nine months after the GameCube version of the game, depending on the region. It revisited many locations from the main campaign, tasking players with killing enemies in exchange for points, all the while playing against the clock. This arcade style of gameplay proved to be a huge hit and greatly contributed to the game's immense replayability. As such, many fans kept insisting that the Resident Evil 4 remake must include The Mercenaries mode.

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While Capcom recently confirmed the fan-favorite mode is indeed returning in the Resident Evil 4 remake, the game's March 24 launch trailer revealed this comeback will be happening sooner than expected, as it ended with an announcement that the feature will be added as free DLC on April 7. The official Resident Evil website reiterates that date, which took many fans by surprise, being just two weeks after the remake's release. While the promotional video doesn't state this outright, it is assumed that the DLC will only become available to players after beating the game once, as that's how The Mercenaries mode worked in the 2005 original.

resident evil 4 remake mercenaries dlc release date announcement

The DLC's newly confirmed timing inspires hope that another popular Resident Evil 4 add-on, a campaign called Separate Ways starring Leon's ally Ada Wong, will also be added to the remake in the near future. Capcom has yet to confirm this side adventure is part of its roadmap, however. Separate Ways was a massive addition to Resident Evil 4 that added hours of content and offered a new perspective on the events of the main campaign. It hence seems unlikely that Capcom would pass up the opportunity to tell a complete version of its original story in the remake.

Apart from The Mercenaries and Separate Ways, the PS2 port of Resident Evil 4 had one other feature that differentiated it from the GameCube original but will be missing from the day-one version of the remake. That was Assignment: Ada, a mini-game revolving around an entertaining mission whose details were reserved for those who had already beaten the main game due to the mode's campy premise hinging on some major events from Leon's campaign. Assignment: Ada was a non-canon experience, so it remains to be seen whether it takes precedence over Separate Ways, assuming both are coming to the Resident Evil 4 remake.

Resident Evil 4 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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