With The Mercenaries being available from the start in RE6, it seems like Capcom is taking a cue from other companies that provide popular multiplayer modes alongside their well-known single player experience, right out of the box.

What do you think this means? Do you think it will have more of a mainstream appeal, to the likes of other popular FPSs, since it will be more widely available?

It seems to me that Capcom realized that their later incarnations of The Mercenaries (RE5, The Mercenaries 3D) have been something with a strong and devoted (if not small) fanbase. Are they looking to grow that number? Is this how Capcom is looking to lengthen the life of this title?

What do you want to see different in The Mercenaries this time around? What are you hoping is left out this time?

What will you all do if you can't kneedash-cannon everything?

I am very excited for the return of Mercenaries. But what i would like to see different is more enemies, in RE5 when i try getting a high combo even with a partner, there would be no enemies and id have to run to a certain area just to spawn some. Not a huge issue but just something that id like to see addressed. Other than that, if its just like RE5 mercs or Mercs 3D it will be a blast to play

I've never been a huge fan of any time-based games, so The Mercenaries isn't a big hit with me. It's entertaining for a while, but I get bored quickly with it. All I can hope for is an option to turn the timer off; perhaps some kind of elimination mode (where you're awarded for killing all the enemies as fast and accurately as possible but have no actual time limit). You could also lose points for each time you're injured.

As far as the mini-games in the main series go, The Mercenaries is my least favorite. Give me RAID, Leech Hunter, or Extreme Battle over it any day.

I'm hoping the extreme strategy elements aren't missing in RE6's incarnation. I've always thought that high-scoring in Mercenaries was basically the ultimate test in patience because so many things need to go right, but I wouldn't change that. If Mercs is made more appealing to the casual gamer I fear it might suffer in the long run, but it doesn't have to. Adding customization options to the inventory and characters would be beneficial to casual and dedicated players. This could also balance the character roster. I didn't mind playing as Wesker (I love the Midnight outfit) but seeing Wesker M (now STARS) straight down the leaderboard is disenchanting. Some elements from Mercs 3D could be used, like the melee canceling and weapon upgrades. Certain elements should be scooped up from Revelations too, and I'm holding out for a new Raid mode which would be amazing.

At this point, it's really hard to imagine balance amongst the roster, though. It seems like Jake will be the overused one, unless there is someone who can match his ability. Wesker was way too useful with his dash. I wonder if they can actually find a way to give the gun-wielders a fighting chance. This is assuming that time is the biggest point-gaining factor again. Although, I suspect there will be various modes within Mercs.

The Japanese were simply wonderful at perfecting Mercs and I'm all for the return of a world-wide leaderboard, but I also think there should be a filter between the regions this time around. Keeping a high score within the top 100 was damn near impossible in RE5, so motivation inevitably got low to improve and perfect my scores.

Add more than two player co-op too! I would greatly enjoy this! There's nothing quite as cool as seeing complicated teamwork in motion and YT would no-doubt document the action.

It's a good bet that Mercenaries will add life to the game. I spent well over a year playing solely Mercs and it added life to other games like Uncharted 2 and 3. God of War 4 is doing the same thing. It seems obligatory now. I doubt it'll take anything away from 6's campaign experience. If the story is bad, it's bad. The extra modes are a nice fail-safe for me and justify a day one purchase. As much as I dislike RE5's campaign I have not played a game anywhere near as much as 5 since Outbreak.

It would be really awesome if they made some sort of survival mode. Just keep playing till you die as it gets gradually harder

I mostly agree with you, Seraph22x! Like Detective Beauregard, I don't usually enjoy time based gameplay, but The Mercenaries has been a big hit with me.

Yeah, it has kept RE5 alive with me long after I've grown tired of playing the story mode (everything short of memorizing every spawn location and bit of dialogue). It would be nice if there were varying modes, such as the introduction of RAID mode, as long as it didn't replace The Mercenaries.

I've noticed that some people feel that Jake is going to be the new Wesker, in respect to his abilities in contrast to other characters, but I don't think it will end up that way. Wesker had extra fantastic abilities because of who he is in the game universe and because he was a non playable character for the majority/main part of the game (RE5 Mercs). From a design standpoint, Jake is not quite like that. He's not a bonus character, he's a main protagonist, and he is obviously designed to function in the story mode as a playable character, just like the rest. I have a feeling that the flavor of his actions and melee moves will be superhuman, but that his actions and melee moves will just be counterparts to the things that everyone else possesses. The characters will probably mostly be equivalents to each other as with most other characters in RE5 (some have more powerful front strikes, some have more powerful ground strikes, etc).
Also, do we actually know that Jake has super human abilities? I know it sort of seems like it from the trailer footage, but Wesker was part of a "very unique blood line" before he infected himself with anything, wasn't he? I don't mean to get too far off topic, but just because Wesker was harnessing some variation of a virus does not mean that Jake is too, it just may mean that he's got something important in him, genetically different. Even if he does have some sort of "extra ability" it probably won't be to the level of Wesker in RE5 (or at least not in comparison to the other characters). Long and short of it, I think he will be balanced, possibly with the flavor of being "super human." If he does get certain melee abilities that others don't have, maybe he can't dual wield weapons like Leon, etc.

Also, yes, customization of Mercenaries characters was a great thing to have in the 3DS game, although I wish it wasn't template based, but it was a step in the right direction! Imagine how much more replay-ability The Mercenaries in RE5 would have if you could even do that much.
I am very excited for the story mode, but I am just as excited for The Mercenaires mode, I also hope that it doesn't become watered down, but hopefully, only more deep.

Before Mercs 3D was released I envisioned being able to set the available weapons in RE5 to the inventory that you see when you select your character. There's so much you have to deal with in each level that I doubt having full weapon selection control would make high-scoring dramatically less difficult. It would have made Chris and Sheva a little more well-equipped, too. If anything should be limited, it could be how many heals and Rocket Launchers you could place. Something like this would be great in 6 if it isn't going to use the weapon system in Revelations.

Good point about Jake. I suspect he'll be the superior melee fighter, though. He would have to be if he doesn't use guns. If Mercs is melee+time based then it seems Jake is the destined winner. Yet, they may add new methods of adding time. That could add a different method of balance. 3D did have Lucky 7.

Here are just a few things I'd like to see in RE6 Mercenaries:

- Not be as frustrating as RE5 Mercenaries
- More randomized (specific spawns for enemies and bosses are boring)
- Less exploding enemies
- Playable Claire (Would love to team Chris and Claire like in Mercs3DS)
- Better level design and spawning
- Better AI and more intense
- A GoW Horde type mode
- Genuinelly challenging
- Improved customization
- No overused and brain dead characters like Wesker and Jill

-Better enemy spawning. The spawning in RE5 sucked when I was trying to get a decent combo.
-More CHARACTERS instead of the same character 5 times only with different costumes.
-Customizable weapon loadout.
-Alternate costumes for characters like in Mercs 3D. I hated how 5 gave you alternate costumes but they used them as seperate characters.

That's about it for me

What do I expect? DLC and lots of it.