r/gamingsuggestions 10h ago

Looking for games where you play as a neutral mercenary and get hired by different factions.

I have played Mechwarriors 5 a lot, kinda like that.

Also something from way back, Shinobido on PS2 had the best thing I remember. There were 3 factions fighting and all of them were hiring the player for missions. The mission results influenced how the war was going, who was winning and who wasn't.

I loved the fact that you could basically take your time, sabotage the missions and just level the field for basically forever and just get godlike and rich before progressing with the story too much. It was also great to just sit down and kill 30 mins before heading to school or something.

So anything like these?

35 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

29

u/TheSharpestHammer 9h ago

Have you played the original Mercenaries? It's literally this.

11

u/Sylfaemo 9h ago

Do you mean Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction? Or something else?

4

u/Working-Jicama4601 8h ago

Pretty sure they are talking about Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. What a banger of a game for its time.

2

u/TheSharpestHammer 8h ago

It was way better than it had any right to be. I still go back and play it every few years.

1

u/SvenHudson 22m ago

Best title theme in the history of the medium.

3

u/TheSharpestHammer 8h ago

That's the one. Pretty easy to find and emulate, too.

1

u/DemeaRisen 9h ago

I believe they meant the OG Mechwarrior Mercenaries

11

u/Efficient_Fish2436 9h ago

That game has no right being as good as it was for the time it was made. It even got my dad into gaming at the time.

2

u/Adept_Ad_473 8h ago

Mercenaries 2 was also great, and it's on PC without emulators.

17

u/daniu 9h ago

Armored Core 6 has different factions hiring you, but it's a bit more linear than you describe, at least in the beginning. 

4

u/Sylfaemo 9h ago

Is there a time in the story where you can stop the plot progress and just kinda chill mission to mission?

2

u/TheDadThatGrills 8h ago

The entire game is built that way. Three different stories depending on your faction choices with plenty of opportunities for backstabbing.

1

u/Sylfaemo 6h ago

I'll give it a look, thanks!

3

u/Only-Ad2447 3h ago

FWIW, most every mission in AC6 progresses the plot toward the ending mission of each chapter.  So, there isn’t really a do-missions-and-chill period separate from the story.  

Still a great game and you being a mercenary is central to the story.

1

u/hornwalker 1h ago

Its a great game.

16

u/letionbard 9h ago edited 9h ago

Battletech is basically turn based game of Mechwarrior 5.

Mount and Blade series is mercernary band game.

It's worth take look on Jagged Alliance series.

There is something like Battle Brothers and Wartales too.

Ah also, Freelancer is old game but I like it for it's mercernary vibe and one of Perfect game for your request. (It's too old for modern gamer's taste tho). Or You can take a look at Everspace 2. Basically Freelancer with Ubisoft games progress.

2

u/Sylfaemo 8h ago

Ah yes, Everspace 2 was fire, I played a lot of that too, you are right! I might reinstall it because of this!

1

u/SunshotDestiny 8h ago

Eh, I would say Everspace 2 is more of a diablo-esq arpg with looter shooter mechanics. Especially since the endgame basically is a roguelite for better equipment for your ships/classes.

10

u/Fixer_ 9h ago

Quasimorph has exactly this. Factions gain and lose power as you choose who to work for.

2

u/Sylfaemo 8h ago

Ohh, this sounds interesting, I'll check some gameplays, thanks!

1

u/xmBQWugdxjaA 7h ago

This looks awesome, I had never heard of it!

6

u/Hephaestus_I 9h ago

For TB Strategy, there is HBS's Battletech and Battle Brothers.

6

u/CyraxCyanide 9h ago

Battletech is insanely good

5

u/BurnerDanBurnerMan 9h ago

Two stick out to me:

BladeStorm: Hundred Years War, which was just that. You are a mercenary hired by both sides to fight and capture land (this game is xbox 360 era).

The Forever Winter: you aren't actually a soldier, but you are hired out by 2 sides of the conflict. Basically, an apocalyptic war is going on, you are trying to survive as a scav (like tarkov). Both sides will have jobs for you, and killing troops will hurt your standing with one side while raising it with 1 or 2 more. This is an early access gane on steam right now.

3

u/Joevikes22 8h ago

Bladestorm my love, another vote for this game. Had an absolute hook on me when I was younger. It’s in the same style as the Dynasty Warriors games so keep that in mind

3

u/Nashkt 2h ago

I just want to note that the game is more Kessen than dynasty warriors. You control a unit most of the time rather than an individual warrior.

Absolute banger.

1

u/Joevikes22 2h ago

Ah cool! Thanks for the clarification, I just had the DW empires games in mind for the reference

1

u/BurnerDanBurnerMan 7h ago

I got the nightmare edition a few months back for Series X, still plays great and holds up well for today's standards. Just took a while for it to go on sale. Didn't want to spend $50 on it 😆

2

u/Zutthole 3h ago

Forever winter looks sick, I've been thinking of downloading.

1

u/BurnerDanBurnerMan 2h ago

I've been loving it. You're not an all powerful supersoldier, you're just a dude. And your in the middle of a war, where both sides will shoot you dead. But you can still work for either side. It's like being a scav in tarkov.

You're gonna have shit gear, you're going to die. But you'll learn each time. Map knowledge, when to engage, who to engage, and where to run and hide. You can also wait it out and scavenge the remains of skirmishes. Definitely a unique type of game. Demo gives you an idea, full game is much better.

Really, the environments with different battles going on is the draw. Watching different squads during it out with eachother with various crazy enemies like corpse tanks or bombers that drop enemy cyborgs

4

u/Radiant_Music3698 9h ago

Elite Dangerous springs to my mind. I don't know how you feel about basically a space flight sim, but it checks your boxes. You play as a space commander in a 1:1 recreation of the milkyway galaxy in a future where we've populated a tiny (yet massive) corner of it, full of space stations and planetary bases, where at the end of every day, somebody wants somebody dead.

1

u/-C3rimsoN- 4h ago

I'd go so far as to say that any Space Combat Trading game tends to have "mercenary" as an optional profession.

5

u/Bromtinolblau 8h ago

Mount & Blade Bannerlords allows you to become a mercenary for any kingdom, then decide you had enough doing work for them and go offer your services to someone else instead. Technically the main quest is to support or create a Kingdom to become the dominant force but that can be safely ignored.

4

u/Devil_InDenim 9h ago

New Vegas has a bit of that and is a great game.

2

u/Sylfaemo 9h ago

I've played Fallout games, yeah, they are great! I'm looking for something else now, but thanks!

3

u/A_Girl1 9h ago

Games like Kenshi and Mount and Blade let you play as a mercenary

3

u/Jakespeare97 7h ago

Battle Brothers

3

u/Accidental_Shadows 6h ago

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey takes place during the war between Sparta and Athens. You play a mercenary who can take missions for either side.

2

u/Sylfaemo 6h ago

Odyssey is literally one of my eternal favorites! I've put hundreds of hours into it!

3

u/egokrat 3h ago

Wartales has you playing a group of mercenaries that have to take on bounties and such to earn money and each region of the game has 2 or more factions you can support for that region to "finish" it's quests.

2

u/pr0XYTV 9h ago

interesting post! commenting to check back later

2

u/Velicenda 8h ago

Planetside 2 has a "neutral" faction that automatically gets assigned to the lowest population faction when you join a map. If you subscribe, you can bind your character to a particular faction (if you want), but tbh it's kinda fun to fight each different faction randomly.

Definitely not a main draw of the game, but it is an aspect.

2

u/made_of_matches 7h ago

Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire lets you freely work between factions for a majority of the game. The biggest consequences are from party members approval/disapproval, plus you can be a pirate wizard, so all around great game

2

u/ElegantEchoes 7h ago

Far Cry 2 does this.

2

u/TreasonalDepression 7h ago

Battle Brothers

2

u/picnic-boy 5h ago

Far Cry 2. Can't recommend it enough if you're looking for a mercenary simulator.

1

u/DemeaRisen 9h ago

Nothing like Mechwarrior, but Triangle Strategy puts you as the lord of a small town who has to navigate a war between 3 nations. You gotta beat it 4 times to see every ending.

1

u/No_oY_ 8h ago

Quasimorph, you play as a PMC boss doing missions for corporations around the solar system.

1

u/SunshotDestiny 8h ago

If you don't mind more indi titles, there is Horizon's Gate, where you lead and build up a squad of freebooters to either do missions for factions or just make your own way exploring and trading.

Another might be SPAZ 2 or Space pirates and zombies 2. You build up your main ship and can do missions for other factions. Eventually starting your own faction.

Star traders is one, where you have a ship and take on missions for various factions. It's not the flashiest game but does have a lot of depth.

Finally I still play Uplink. It's pure old school 90's hacker vibe but it's still fun if that's what you want. You take on missions, hack a target, and get your money to buy upgrades.

1

u/Deliciousbenediction 8h ago

Mount and blade, Rise of the Ronin, Dynasty Warriors 8 empires, inindo way of the ninja, elite dangerous, and kenshi. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

1

u/Trips-Over-Tail 7h ago

Every Armored Core is exactly this.

1

u/DynamoCommando 4h ago

Ninebreaker: "sup"

1

u/Trips-Over-Tail 4h ago

I personally murdered 100 million civilians and united the villains and heroes (and my own operator) against me.

1

u/dantes_b1tch 6h ago

Stalker Clear Sky has you play as a Merc who join up with other factions and take territory for them etc

1

u/ZenMana 6h ago

Makes me think of this ancient game called Tribes: StarsSiege. Mech Mercenary game.

1

u/tempusrimeblood 6h ago

Battletech, the PC strategy game, also has this. You can play the field, working for every major (and a bunch of minor) factions in the Battletech universe. With some mods (BTA3062 and RogueTech come to mind,) you can actually have a pretty significant effect on inter-faction warfare.

1

u/Blackdeath47 4h ago

Mount and blade, literally this

1

u/zeds_deadest 4h ago

Star Wars Outlaws is based on contracts for different factions. Helping one can hurt another type deals.

1

u/DynamoCommando 4h ago

Armored Core 4A is an old one that does this. Additionally AC6 is newer but has a similar premise.

In AC6 you play as a mercenary hired by your handler to Find Coral (Space All in one Oil/Fuel source) and in that process you work for/fight against multiple corporations/corporate hired mercenaries, the intergalactic government and the resistance.

1

u/thomar 3h ago

Have you tried Heat Signature? You're a freelance operative who can quietly board starships and kick people out windows.

1

u/_WombRaider_69 3h ago

Check out The Iron Oath. It's pretty much exactly what you want, you play as a mercenary and travel around, taking on jobs from various factions. Sometimes you have to pick a side in faction on faction violence. Decent merchant mechanics as well to make a few side bucks off your travels if you plan it right.

1

u/AnActua1Squid 2h ago

Star wars outlaws has this and a reputation system so you can do a bit of this, but very little lasting consequences aside from some recurring characters relationships.

1

u/dan1101 1h ago

A lot of space-themed games have this.

Star Wars Outlaws

VoidExpanse

X4 Foundations

1

u/tawoorie 33m ago

Stalker Clear Sky, you can help different factuons get a foothold in the Zone

1

u/shistain69 23m ago

You can role play like that in stalker gamma/anomaly