Some Resident Evil 4 players have taken to social media to report that Hunk is way overpowered in the newly introduced Mercenaries mode. Their claims emerged within hours of Capcom releasing the first free DLC for the Resident Evil 4 remake.Hunk is one of the four characters available in the Resident Evil 4 Mercenaries mode at launch. This enigmatic masked soldier also happens to be the most difficult character to unlock, requiring no fewer than three fairly successful runs with the rest of the Mercenaries mode's roster.This progression might not have been accidental, as suggested by the fact that Hunk appears to be fairly overpowered relative to the other three characters. That's according to multiple player testimonies substantiated with screenshots that show Hunk achieving the highest S++ rank on the Village and Castle stages. In all of those cases, the players managed to get 150 kills with the character for a total score of over a million points.[EMBED_REDDIT]https://www.reddit.com/r/residentevil4/comments/12eb8p5/hunk_is_op_top_100_on_castle_first_time_using_him/[/EMBED_REDDIT][EMBED_REDDIT]https://www.reddit.com/r/residentevil4/comments/12ecd0w/hunk_is_op_in_this_new_mercenaries_mode_lol/[/EMBED_REDDIT]
Whether this actually makes Hunk overpowered is debatable, not least because he has by far the most limited equipment loadout out of all currently playable characters. Namely, Hunk's long-distance combat options are limited to a single submachine gun and three grenades, whereas Luis and other Resident Evil 4 Mercenaries characters have two ranged weapons at their disposal. Capcom, however, attempted to balance that modest equipment list by providing Hunk with a deadly melee attack that allows him to instantly kill enemies who get up close.
Given that state of affairs, it could be argued that Hunk isn't overpowered relative to the fact that using him effectively requires a higher skill floor; players who aren't comfortable getting up close to the enemy hordes in order to perform well-timed melee attacks could actually find him to be more difficult to play with than other characters in the Resident Evil 4 remake's Mercenaries mode. Yet Hunk still provides varied combat options once his devastating Mayhem Mode is taken into account, seeing how this ability basically gives his SMG unlimited ammo while waiving away its reloading requirement for a limited time window.
Overall, it's quite possible that this is all working as Capcom intended. Hunk had a near-identical Mercenaries loadout in the original Resident Evil 4 from 2005, where he was also one of the more powerful characters due to a combination of high health and his neck-breaking melee finisher. Hunk might still be overshadowed by Ada or Wesker, both of whom are currently missing from the remake's Mercenaries mode. But given how the latest Resident Evil 4 update also introduced some pay-to-win DLC, it remains to be seen whether future Mercenaries character additions will actually be free to unlock, assuming they are indeed part of the game's roadmap.
Resident Evil 4 is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
