- "Spilling some blood can't be the end of the world."
- —Poster tagline.
No Mercy is a heist that takes place in Mercy Hospital, a location from the Left 4 Dead game series. It is exclusive to the PC version and was released on July 26, 2012, as part of Patch 11.
Overview[]
- "We are hitting up the Mercy Hospital in a heist for blood. The source is carrying some kind of rare virus and we need to get it out of him. Let nothing stop us as the paycheck is a hefty one. Spilling some blood for this kind of cash is not the end of the world."
- —In-game description.
The opening takes place in an elevator, where Bain explains the plan to the crew. They must find a patient who has the Green Flu, and extracts two samples of his blood. There is a random chance Bain will be interrupted by Bill from Left 4 Dead, entering the elevator as a brief cameo.
No Mercy may be carried out in one of two ways. The first of which is a stealthy approach, without triggering the alarm. The second approach, or "Plan B," only occurs in the event of the alarm going off.
Plan A[]
Plan A is the stealthy approach to the heist. If carried out correctly, the alarm will not be raised and the police will not arrive until the second phase of the mission.
After exiting the elevator, the crew will find themselves in the lobby of Mercy Hospital. Civilians and doctors are distributed randomly throughout the area, with the majority being located near the reception desk. Several security cameras will also be placed in random locations. Bain will alert the crew that once they begin the heist, they will have seven seconds to destroy every camera. He will also state how many cameras there are, this will vary depending on how many players are connected. There will be three cameras if the player is alone, six if there are two players present, and nine if there are three or four players. Bots do not count towards this.
Once the heist begins, the crew will have seven seconds to destroy every camera. This must be done with either the B9-S, Mark 11, or a melee attack. If the cameras are not disabled within this time, the alarm will be triggered. Afterward, the crew must keep the civilians down. Some of them will run for the three-alarm buttons; if any of them are hit, the alarm will be raised. These buttons are located near the elevator, in the hallway near the staircase, and behind the front desk. If any of the hostages are killed the alarm will go off, due to the stress causing heart attacks in patients with pacemakers.
If the crew manages to stop the alarm from being triggered, they can continue with Plan A. This involves checking the patient database to locate the infected individual, answering the phone and letting Bain deal with the callers, and locating a file on the target patient. There is a chance a guard will spawn from the bottom of the staircase, if he is not dispatched before he reaches the top, the alarm will go off. There is also a chance of construction workers spawning in the same location, or civilians spawning from the elevator. They will all make a dash for the alarm, if not stopped by the crew first.
After locating the file on the target patient, the crew must set up four "fake sentries." These will stop the civilians from getting up, therefore stopping the chance that one may hit an alarm button. The crew then suits up in scrubs to infiltrate the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).
This begins the second phase of the mission. The crew will enter the ICU and be greeted by Doctor Eriksson. She will give them a tour of the three Isolation Ward Units, and go into detail regarding the various patients' symptoms. After visiting the three units, she will return to her starting position. The crew may ask her to take another lap, where she will go into further detail about their blood pressure and how long they will have to stay in Intensive Care. After this, she will no longer give information about the patients. Based on the information she provides, the crew must decide which chamber locates the target. An alarm box located in an unfinished room will have three colored wires, each leading to a chamber.
Once the heist begins, the crew will have a short time to cut one of the three wires in the alarm box, thus disabling the shutter to the corresponding chamber. After a wire is cut the alarm will inevitably be triggered, thus ending the stealth portion of the heist, and the police will be alerted. Provided the correct chamber wire was cut, the crew will have access to the target patient. He can be identified by the tattoo on his neck. If the wrong wire was cut, the crew must use the saw hidden in a "Teddy Moo" doll located in the lobby to saw open the other chambers and find the target.
Plan B[]
If at any point during the first portion of the heist the alarm is triggered, Plan A will fail and an assault wave will immediately begin. The crew must grab the saw hidden in a Teddy Moo doll, which is located in the lobby and saw their way through the doors leading to the ICU, and again on the shutters guarding the Isolation Ward Units. Behind one of the three shutters is the target patient. The crew has no way of knowing which chamber houses the target, and may end up having to saw open all three to locate him.
Blood Samples[]
Once the target patient is located, regardless of which plan was executed to access him, the crew must extract blood samples from him. These samples must then be put in testers, which are available in various rooms around the hospital. The samples may break while being tested, leaving the tester temporarily unavailable. After a sample is successfully validated, it may be picked up by a heister. This will allow the crew to call for the elevator which will be used for the escape. At this point the police may cut the power to the hospital, stopping the elevator and killing the lights. The crew must locate a circuit breaker and restore power, and then recall the elevator.
Two validated blood samples must be acquired to proceed, they will be stored in a cooler in the elevator. If a heister is downed and enters bleed-out mode while carrying any blood sample, valid or untested, the vial will break and will be lost. Once two valid blood samples are placed in the cooler and the crew is in the elevator, the elevator will attempt to go up to the roof to be retrieved by Bain in a helicopter. At this point, the police will retreat, and the army will start firing missiles at the hospital. The elevator may reach its destination and the crew will escape in the helicopter, or the elevator may fall to the bottom. In either case, the crew must pry open the emergency hatch with a crowbar to escape the trapped elevator. In the event of the elevator falling to the basement level, the crew must make a breakthrough the morgue, passing by several squirming body bags. The heist ends once everyone reaches the end of the hallway.
Walkthrough[]
Objectives[]
"A" denotes an objective for Plan A (stealthy approach), and "B" for Plan B (alarm is raised before the crew reaches the patient).
Objective | Reward ($1,000’s) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Normal | Hard | Overkill | OK 145+ | ||
1A | Take out all cameras | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
2A | Keep the hostages down | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
3A | Find the correct patient file | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
4A | Set up fake sentry guns | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
5A | Play doctor | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
6B | Saw open the doors to ICU | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
7B | Pick the right door to open | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
8А | Find out where the contaminated patient is | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
9 | Draw blood sample from patient | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
10 | Call the elevator | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
11 | Wait for the elevator | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
12 | Put two valid samples into the cooler | 35 | 44 | 88 | 88 |
13 | Take the elevator | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
14 | Open the hatch | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
15 | Escape! | 140 | 175 | 351 | 351 |
Total | 1995 | 2494 | 5002 | 5002 |
Video[]
Trivia[]
- Although initially considered non-canon, Day 6 of Breaking News 2018 retcons the heist into being canon. The remake of the No Mercy heist in Payday 2 is explicitly said to be a flashback, being the exact same heist as the one in the first game.
- The heist contains several references to the video game Left 4 Dead, which this heist and, to an extent, PAYDAY: The Heist itself is heavily influenced by:
- This heist shares its name with a campaign in Left 4 Dead of the same name, taking place at the same location (Mercy Hospital) the last stage of the campaign takes place in.
- The patient will begin to exhibit more physical symptoms of the Green Flu as the crew draws blood from him, such as occasional twitching, dark veins, pale skin, and bubbling flesh. During certain parts of the heist, players can even hear him cough like a Smoker from Left 4 Dead. This means that the patient is becoming a Smoker, which could be the start of the events that eventually led up to Left 4 Dead.
- This doesn't add up to the events in Left 4 Dead, since the Infected start mutating into Special Infected one week after the first infection. The heist ending happens at the same time as the first outbreak of the Infected in the Mercy hospital, which is two days after the first infection.
- The main melody of "Code Silver", No Mercy's heist theme, features three repeating notes (A, A one octave higher, A#) that are very similar to a recurring Left 4 Dead leitmotif used for incoming horde attacks (A, A one octave higher, G#), with the only difference being the third note. This also applies to the 2018 remix.
- The doctor and Bain sometimes mention CEDA, the agency in charge of containment of the Green Flu in the Left 4 Dead series before the military takes over.
- There are several first-aid stations throughout the level that cannot be accessed. These contain healing items for the survivors in Left 4 Dead.
- When the power is cut, there is a chance that the Witch from Left 4 Dead will make a brief appearance behind the locked closet door in the hallway near the reception desk.[1] When stared at for too long, she will scream and jumpscare the player who "disturbed" her. This is also seen in Left 4 Dead as getting too close to the Witch will disturb her.
- Shining a flashlight onto her face will quickly disturb her in Left 4 Dead, as the player does in the heist.
- In an office area, the player can find two x-rays, the first one depicts a hand with the thumb severed, reminiscent of the Left 4 Dead logo. The second depicts the thumb of the hand.
- Another one of the reasons that Doctor Eriksson may give is that the patient was in a car accident on the way to Riverside. Riverside is a small town in Left 4 Dead and is the setting of the Death Toll campaign.
- Inside the doctors' locker room, one of the nameplates reads "Faliszek." This is a reference to Chet Faliszek, the writer of Valve's Left 4 Dead series.
- At the end of the heist, there is a chance that Bain will say "Guys, you look pale, you feelin' alright?" suggesting that the PAYDAY crew has been infected with the Green Flu.
- Similarly, as the heist continues, sometimes a crew member will comment about his body start showing strange symptoms (such as coughing, which sounds exactly like the Smoker's cough), presumably that he is already infected with Green Flu (Chains: "There's an itch in my throat").
- However, despite mentioning or displaying symptoms, none of the heisters ever do mutate into any of the infected nor are deceased as evident in PAYDAY 2.
- At the beginning of the Heist, Bill from Left 4 Dead may come into the elevator and interrupt the briefing. This is also a reference to The Sacrifice comic where Bill went to the hospital to get a checkup before the infection started.
- While the player has to take the elevator to the roof, Bain will say "Get going - or you will be left for dead," referencing the name of Left 4 Dead. He also says "Sorry guys, you are left for dead" if the players fall into the morgue.
- In the morgue, the bodies in the body bags can sometimes be seen twitching, hinting that the bodies within the bags may not actually be dead, and the occupants may still be alive and turning into infected.
- A dead woman on a stretcher can be found in the morgue on the right near the exit. This woman is reused from Left 4 Dead, and can be found in the No Mercy campaign.
- After the elevator doors close, if one listens closely, they will hear the sounds of growling, similar to those of the Common Infected in Left 4 Dead. This is more easily heard if the music volume is turned off.
- While intercepting a phone call, Bain will sometimes explain to security that the cameras are not working because there was "a small weapons malfunction." This is what Han Solo says in a similar situation while in the detention center of the film Star Wars IV: A New Hope.
- One of the possible reasons Doctor Eriksson gives for a patient being in the ICU is "being bitten by a monkey at a local zoo." This is a reference to Braindead, where a monkey bite starts a zombie apocalypse.
- It could also be a reference to the movie 28 Days Later, where the zombie outbreak starts because of monkeys injected with an experimental virus breaking out of their containment and infecting people.
- Prior to starting the heist, a nurse may use the PA system to call various doctors and sometimes patients, most being references.
- Dr. Acula (a variation on the name of the famous fictional vampire Dracula) for a blood transfusion, a reference to the TV show Scrubs.
- "Emergency, paging Dr. Beat," a reference to the song Dr. Beat by Miami Sound Machine.
- Dr. Mario, being a reference to the Mario game of the same name.
- Dr. Wily, Dr. Right, and Dr. Light is a reference to characters of the Mega Man series, Dr. Right being the Japanese name of Dr. Light.
- William Overbeck, the full name of the character Bill from Left 4 Dead.
- Dr. Greenthumb a reference to Cypress Hill.
- Dr. Dorian another reference to the TV show Scrubs.
- Dr. Muller might be a reference to the antagonist in The Adventures of Tintin.
- One of the nametags worn by a doctor is Dr. PhilGood. This is likely a reference to "Dr. Feelgood."
- Some of the phones in the offices show the text "idkfa" on their displays. This is likely a reference to the idkfa cheat code used in the Doom games, which grants the player all weapons, full ammunition, all keys, and full armor. In addition, some of the computer monitors on the desks have a "UAC" logo on the back.
- Inside the doctors' locker room, there is an open locker that has a nametag reading "Dr. Crowbar." This is a reference to Valve's Half-Life series, where the protagonist is a theoretical physics doctor and uses a crowbar. The locker also contains a crowbar which can be obtained and used to open the elevator hatch at the end of the heist.
- The name tags that the crew uses to pose as doctors are based on Overkill employees.
- With the release of Diamond Heist during Crimefest 2017, No Mercy was the only remaining heist from PAYDAY: The Heist that had yet to be remastered for PAYDAY 2. Before it was confirmed during Spring Break 2018, Almir Listo did note there is a possibility for a remaster on the Locke and Load Day 10 AMA subreddit. The heist has been confirmed to be remastered for PAYDAY 2, released on October 30th, 2018 during the Breaking News event.
- While Bill does reappear in a cameo in the remastered version, he does not have any new lines due to the passing of his actor Jim French in late 2017.
Bugs[]
- Occasionally, after finishing Plan A and cutting the wire, the chosen door will remain closed and will be unable to be opened by the saw. If the correct wire was chosen, the mission cannot be completed.
- Guards will sometimes spawn after setting up fake sentry guns, or even after playing doctor; the latter will force players to go loud and initiate Plan B, as guards cannot be stopped without drawing out weapons and going loud.
- In Plan A, the nurse who briefs the crew about the statuses of the three patients may (humorously) clip through walls. This does not affect gameplay in any manner.
- One of the ladders in the construction room can be used to clip into the morgue. Despite the fact that the escape objective is only triggered after the players get through the elevator, the escape in the morgue isn't programmed to appear with the objective's trigger. As such, the escape can be used normally at any point where the ICU is accessible.
- It is possible to get outside the elevator, when it closes, causing you to be locked out and unable to finish the heist unless the player outside leaves.
- Sometimes even if you found the right patient, the game didn’t proceed further and even thought you’re still finding the right patient. (you can still draw the blood from the patient and take the valid blood, except you’re unable to proceed to elevator and escape)
- In extremely rare cases, the guard can see through the floor and spot a hostage or dead body even when he hasn’t come up from the staircase, which immediately triggers the assault.
References[]
Heists | Release: First World Bank • Heat Street • Panic Room • Green Bridge • Diamond Heist • Slaughterhouse DLC: Counterfeit • Undercover • No Mercy |
Weapons | Primary: AMCAR-4 • Reinbeck • M308 • Brenner 21 • AK Secondary: Mark 11 • Locomotive 12G • Compact-5 • GL40 Pistols: B9-S • Crosskill .45 • Bronco .44 • STRYK |
Deployables | Ammo bag • Doctor bag • Trip mine • Sentry gun |
Enemies | Regular: Security guard • Cop • FBI • Gangster • Blue SWAT • Heavy SWAT • Murkywater Special: Bulldozer • Cloaker • Shield • Sniper • Taser |
Characters | Dallas • Hoxton • Wolf • Chains • Bain • Minor characters |
Gameplay | Assault Waves • Civilians • Crew AI • Drills • Environmental hazards • Police Custody • Reputation • Risk Level (Overkill 145+) • Shout • Stealth • Upgrades |
Miscellaneous | Achievements • Challenges • Companies (GenSec • Murkywater) • DLC • FBI • Gangs & Mafias • Graphic options • Masks • Overkill Software • Steam Trading Cards • Timeline • Update history |