28 March 2023 , 11:00
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With the remake for Resident Evil 4 now out in the wild, players have already started finding cool exploits – including one that could save you a lot of effort and resources early on.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of Resident Evil 4 is aware of the game’s iconic opening, where Leon S. Kennedy slowly makes his way to a village only to be confronted be a swarm of infected inhabitants. It’s still there, fully intact in the remake, but it happening so early on means that getting through it without depleting your health and ammo can be tough.
It’s fortunate, then, that despite Capcom’s survival horror reworking not having even been out for a full week yet, players have already discovered an exploit that lets players totally skip the Resident Evil game's opening village confrontation. The clip proving such was published by Twitter user @KuyaDenzel95, who credits Reddit users Sorekasho and Tactical_Banter for the initial discovery.
As can be clearly seen in the clip, rather than trying to survive for as long as possible, scrounging around for ammunition while trying to hold off villagers and a chainsaw-wielding mini-boss until the church bell rings, players can pre-emptively make the church bell ring long before. Simply take your gun, look off at the church in the distance and fire at the bell. If you’ve placed your shot correctly, the overly grabby villagers should stop attacking and a cutscene will trigger that sees them walk off.
Admittedly, this is far easier to pull off when playing in New Game+ mode and you have a rifle with a scope. Even still, this exploit is sure to come in handy for those still trying to get to grips with Resident Evil 4 early on in the game. Because while the opening village sequence is no doubt iconic, it can also be a touch overwhelming for newcomers.
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Saved by the bell
Having completed Resident Evil 4 remake one-and-a-half times myself (once fully through on my own for review and then halfway through on our Mirror Gaming day one stream) imagine my surprise to learn of this cool hack. It was made obvious to me early on that Capcom has poured a lot of attention and care into the game, but I’d never considered that there’d be Easter eggs like this included.
While many players will probably think that the ability to skip Resident Evil 4’s opening fight in this way is scandalous, I’m personally glad that the option is there. Mainly because people aren’t likely to find it by themselves the first time around, it can help newcomers conserve resources if they want to do it and – perhaps most exciting of all – it’s sure to help future speedrunners.
It’s one of those unobtrusive exploits that is there if you want it, but doesn’t drastically alter the game if not. Now I’m wondering if there’s any more waiting to be discovered.