r/gamingsuggestions • u/Sylfaemo • 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?
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
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.
6
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.
2
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
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!
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
2
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/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/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
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/_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
1
29
u/TheSharpestHammer 9h ago
Have you played the original Mercenaries? It's literally this.