When you enter the building where you fight Chief Mendez, or "The Big Cheese", there is a glitch that will allow you to defeat him with minimal damage. After the short intermission sequence where Leon blows up Chief Mendez with the gas tank, you will have to fight him. Run up the ladder directly behind to go to the catwalk then go left. Go left again on the catwalk. There will be a group of metal boards nailed to the railing atop the catwalk. If you wait there for about five seconds and remain absolutely still, Chief Mendez will just keep walking into the catwalk, and not be able to hurt you. If you are observant enough, you can see a small square cut out of the bottom right corner of the boards. You will be able to shoot him in the face, and he cannot hurt you. This may not work if you are standing too far to the left or right of the boards on the railing. This also only works when he is in his first centipede-like mutation. It only works before he begins swinging on the beams.
When fighting an El Gigante in its second form, take out your Killer 7 and shoot the parasite, or climb on its back and cut it. Either way, this saves health, ammunition, and a lot of frustration. Note: This is really only beneficial if you do not have one of the special weapons.
When fighting Krauser, it is easier to fight him using your knife than shooting him. If you shoot him, he will usually block and counter. To avoid this, slash him three or four times. He will then either kneel or flinch. When he does this, take out your strongest weapon and shoot him. If you are low on bullets, you can use grenades and mines. If you are playing Separate Ways, it is easier to use your knife the entire time.
Instead of shooting for their head, shoot them in the knee, then walk up to them. Instead "Kick", "Suplex" will appear. This will usually kill them instantly. This will not work if their head is armored.
- Defeating the Chainsaw Ganados
Use the following trick to defeat the Chainsaw Ganados on the mine cart easily. Make sure you have a Rocket Launcher and the Broken Butterfly Magnum from the castle. Also, have over six magnum rounds. When the first Chainsaw Ganado appears, shoot the Rocket Launcher at him before the other Ganados get in the way. For the second one, pump all your Magnum rounds into him. If that does not kill him, then use your Striker or Riot Gun. Note: You might get damaged during all of this; make sure that you have at least three First Aid Sprays, and two Herb Mixes (Green, Red, or Green, Red, Yellow) to use if your health gets too low.
- Defeating the Regenerator
If you find your rifle is empty, you can also defeat the Regenerator by shooting a mine into the spot around the parasite. If it is on its back, shoot out its legs with your handgun, then fire a mine into its back. If this does not work, find out where the parasite is on the Regenerator and try again.
When low on bullets, shoot the Regenerator in the leg with a powerful gun (for example, the magnum, rifle, or shotgun). It will fall to the ground. Run up to it and attack it with the knife. Once you start attacking it, it will not be able to fight back or stand up. Keep attacking it until it dies. Note: Regenerators can attack you while they are on the ground, so you may get hit once. However, this technique saves much needed ammunition for the island and sewers. Make sure to have at least an Herb and be ready for an action command.
While you are in the giant crates, you can maneuver around U3. When you get to the gate, it will follow you. Run around and shoot it, bringing it closer to the explosive barrels. When you run out of barrels, fire either your shotgun or magnum.
Go to the inventory screen and select the Stricker. Exit from the inventory and press the B button and then quickly press the minus button. Equip any weapon besides the Stricker and leave the inventory screen. Now the glitch is activated and you can move twice as fast and shoot twice as fast but once you select the Stricker, the glitch will be deactivated.
- Easily unlock characters in Mercenaries mode
When starting Mercenaries mode, play as Leon and go to the castle. It is much easier to get a good ranking because you can give the enemies a suplex, which almost always kills them in one hit. When you get Jack Krauser from the castle, you can then go to other areas, and it will make it much easier because of his arm.
- Easily Unlocking Hunk In Mercenaries
First, go to the third level. This is where you can unlock Hunk to play as in The Mercenaries. If you have other characters, ignore them. Pick Leon.
This level is very easy. Every enemy will die with only two hits. An important thing in this level is not to use the knife, because it does not have that much power and it will waste time.
First, run around shooting every enemy twice. Only use the knife to occasionally break open barrels for ammo and healing items. Once you see a clock, do not hesitate to pick it up, and do not leave it for when you need it. Pick it up immediately. Eventually, the large men wielding the turrets will show up. Avoid them mostly, and only kill them when you have the advantage. Also, when you kill them, make sure there are no other enemies close. If you ever get crowded, use the riot gun you are given. Also, use the riot gun on the men with the turrets. Only use healing when you need it. Use green herbs first, and when you run out, use the first aid sprays, but only when one more hit will kill you, or if you are unsure that you will survive another hit. Don't forget to keep picking up the clocks, and drop from ledges and run in different directions to evade the wild fire of the turrets.
By the end, as long as you score at least 40,000 points, you will get a four-star rating. 60,000 points will get you a five-star rating.
When you get to the church, shoot the bell. Every three times you shoot it, some villagers will appear. Kill them, and you will get anything from Pesetas to ammo and herbs. You can do this as many times as desired. This is effective if you have a lot of ammunition or the Chicago Typewriter.
To earn easy money while playing through the game again, carry an empty Handcannon. It costs no money to have, but you will pick up ammunition for it occasionally. This is worth more than any other type of ammo in the game. After collecting the ammunition, sell it to the merchant. Try using the Chicago Typewriter as your main gun while doing this.
There is an area in the castle where there is a large glass case with ammo and weapons in it. A rocket launcher will be included. Take it, and save it for the Salazar boss battle.
Right before you enter the room where you have to fight Salazar, there will be a merchant. If you do not have a rifle yet, buy one. Then go in to face Salazar.
Salazar mutates into a giant monster that has a large yellow eye. Stand back so you don't get hit, and shoot the eye once with the rifle. It will severely hurt the monster, and a part of it will open up to reveal the head and upper body of Salazar. Go to your inventory, select the rocket launcher, and shoot Salazar. It will kill him immediately.
During the game, there are fifteen blue medallions you have to shoot, seven in the farm, eight in the graveyard and along the bridge to the lake. If you shoot at least ten of the blue medallions, the merchant will give you a new handgun, the Punisher. It will more firepower than the first handgun, but not a lot more. However, if you shoot all fifteen blue medallions, the Punisher will have an extra amount of firepower to it when you get it.
Get a 5 star in all stages with all characters in the Mercenaries.