Resident Evil 4 (2005): Before You Play – Strategy Guide for Achievement Hunters

This guide is intended for achievement hunters, but the first section Game Mechanics will likely have some points of interest for anyone that wants to play the game well. It is a strategy guide more than a “how to” guide.

It is the goal of this guide to give you a set of specific pre-planned runs which when completed will complete 100% of the Steam Achievements for the game. In general it assumes you are competent at playing the game and that your skills with the game will increase from run to run. For each run it provides a list of Achievements you should be working on during the run and the runs are staged such that tools you will need to complete a run are unlocked by previous runs.

The guide does not provide the quickest nor the easiest way to complete all of the challenges, rather it intends to give a clear path for a player of any skill level to complete all of the challenges while attempting to keep each run entertaining and challenging. A lot of the information in the guide would be considered spoilers as it doesn’t appear in any of the in-game instructions, nor the official CAPCOM game manual. However, it is not the intent of this guide to give away “secrets” nor to remove any of the challenge of the game. Short sections with spoiler content have been marked, so it is up to you to decide if you want that information before hand or not.

Understanding the following game Mechanics will make the game more enjoyable.

Resident Evil 4 tells it’s story in two parts. The first and largest part is told as you play through the main game as Leon (and briefly as Ashley). Once you have completed this main story line, and “Extras” option will be added to the main game menu. Under Extras the additional story line can be accessed as Separate Ways where you will experience the same story line from the perspective of Ada.

All but one of the game Achievements is associated with the main story line played as Leon. One achievement is unlocked by also completing Separate Ways.

Once opened, the Extras menu will also contain two additional games:

Assignment Ada is straight run through the initial part of the of “The Island” as Ada, where you are tasked with getting samples of the parasite eggs and then escaping the island. It contradicts portions of the main story line and should only be considered additional content not cannon.

The Mercenaries is a timed survival event where you pick a character and a portion of the map. That character is subjected to wave after wave of foes to vanquish with limited initial resources and a specific time limit. The goal is to kill as many foes in the limited time as possible – and of course to survive for the full time. When first opened, you can only choose Leon as your character, in surviving the event you will earn points which can be used to purchase better starting gear. If you can complete the event with a 4 star rating you will open additional characters.

This guide does not really cover Assignment Ada nor The Mercenaries, as there are no Achievements associated with either game.

Saved games for Resident Evil 4 can be made manually anytime you encounter a typewriter (no ribbons are needed). The game is also broken into a series of “Chapters” and you have the option of saving at the end of each “Chapter” even if no typewriter is present.

The game also saves progress at specific points as you progress through a chapter. If your character dies or you fail your rescue mission, you will have the option of “Retrying” from these check points. Each time you “Retry” counts as a single death. Choosing not to “Retry” but instead loading a previously saved game (even one at the end of a chapter) removes the “Death”. You can complete the game with Zero Deaths simply by always choosing to reload a saved game rather than retry from any check points.

Once you complete either the main story line or Separate Ways, you will have the option of saving again. This saved game will be marked as “Completed”. Loading this saved game will restart the associated mission for a “Second Run”. Starting a 2nd or later run, your character will start with the maximum health bar and equipment your character had at the end of the previous run. You will also have the same coin count you ended the previous run with and will have the option of buying and/or upgrading equipment once before the game even starts. You will also have the option of changing your costume for subsequent runs.

When you load the game for the first time, the Extras Menu will not exist so you can only play the main story line as Leon. When you first start a New Gmae you will only have two difficulty options: Normal and Easy.

Once you have completed Leon’s story line on Normal difficulty, you will have the option of starting a New Game and choosing Professional difficulty.

The Extras Games, including Separate Ways do not let you chose a difficulty setting. They seem to run at Normal difficulty.

If you load a game from a saved “Completed” game, you will start a new run of the same story line on the same difficulty setting with the same equipment and max health bar of your previous run.

To complete all of the Achievements you MUST complete:
(1) Leon’s Main story on Normal (in order to unlock Professional Mode).
(2) Separate Ways on its default difficulty mode.
(3) Leon’s Main story on Professional mode.

The game does not Rank your play in any way.

It is worth pointing out that of the “original” games, Resident Evil 4 was the first to use the “over the shoulder” camera angle instead of fixed camera locations. While it is up for debate about whether or not it was the first over all video game to use this camera angle (that debate is mostly over how specific you get about “over the shoulder”). This was “revolutionary” to this gaming franchise and instantly guaranteed this game would go down as legendary.

HOWEVER, you should not expect the same free camera movement you experience in modern games – not even close to the remastered Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 games. In this game the camera will roughly be over your character’s right shoulder, though sometimes it moves to give a more “appropriate” view of the world the game designers wanted you to see. You can sort of “look” with the camera tilting it up, down, left, and right… however, releasing the camera control it will auto re-center on the view the game designers had in mind. Turning the camera will not turn your character, so the amount of side looking is quite limited. In my case, it was typically better to just ignore the camera controls unless I was standing completely still and unmolested. You will find it easier to look around by aiming any weapon – then the “camera” controls will rotate your character and are “sticky” (meaning when you release the aim your character is facing where you were looking.

The original version of Resident Evil 4 is full of Quick Time Events. They often occur in sync with story line cut scenes as well as in critical battles. You need to be ready for these events at all times. The events come in two types. The first type expects you to quickly press two buttons at the appropriate time while the second type expects you to repeatedly press a single button over and over. In all cases the buttons you are expected to push will appear on the screen for a brief view.

Quick Button Push:
These events will always be one of two combinations (Aim+Fire or Interact+Select) when using a controller these take the form of (LT+RT) or (X+A). Exactly which combination is required appears to be mostly random.

Button Repetition:
These events will always be one of two possible buttons (Interact or Select) when using a controller they take the form of (X) or (A). It felt like (X) was the more common, but at any given time if you have to “replay” the event which key seems to be random.

While these events require the specific buttons to be pressed, they do not fail if other buttons are also pressed… This means that you can safely push all four buttons for the Quick Button events or both buttons for the repetitive events and still pass the “test”. Understanding this can be life changing in your ability to pass the scene. There is one specific case where the Button Repetition event will start with one button and switch to the other button in the middle of the event – spamming both buttons from the start greatly increases your chances of passing this event.

Video Refresh Rate:
While it seems poor game design to tie these events to the games refresh rate, that is EXACTLY what is done in this version of the game. By default the game runs at 60 frames per second regardless of the hardware it is running on. The Quick Button Push events require you to hit the displayed combination of buttons within a specific number of frames. The Button Repetition events require the displayed button to be pressed a specific number of times within a specific number of frames.

The timing of the events is dependent upon the difficulty settings. You will have less time to complete the events with harder difficulties.

From the main menu the Options->Video Settings will allow you to force 30 Frames per Second rendering. This option can not be changed from the Options menu from within a running game. You will need to exit the game and return to the main menu in order to make this change and then load your save point closest to where the QTE occurs. Doing so will basically double the time you have to respond to the QTE. There are three instances in the game where many have had issues completing the QTE on professional running at 60 FPS. If you find you are struggling getting past a QTE – make a save point, exit the game, change the video setting, and reload your saved game – the game was designed to run on a 30fps console, so this shouldn’t be viewed as some type of Cheat Code. Once you are past the event (usually still a challenge), save again at the first opportunity to exit and reset the game to 60fps – it looks much better and smoother at 60fps.[/spoiler]

There are three sets of costumes which can be used to play the main story line with Leon. On your first play through you will not have an option to change costumes and the characters will all use their Normal costume. Once you unlock other costume sets, you will be able to chose which set to use when you start a New Game. You can not change costumes once the game starts even when loading a saved game.

Leon wears a casual outfit, with black jeans, boots, black top, black gloves, and starts with a brown jacket (which is removed later in the game).

Ashley wears a plaid skirt, boots, a casual orange top, and has a darker orange sweater tied around her neck.

Ada wears her iconic red dress, black flowing neck ribbon, complete with thigh holsters for her knife and handgun. She also has her dark glasses on.

These costumes will be present in all in-game action as well as all cut scenes and quick time events.

The only special action we found associated with these costumes happens when Leon attempts to raise a ladder for a ledge Ashley is standing on. Ashley will call Leon a pervert for looking up her skirt..

Leon wears is R.P.D tactical police uniform.

Ashley wears white pants and low cut white tied top that is laced up in the back with a red ribbon.

Ada wears a tactical uniform similar to Leon’s but without the R.P.D logo but with her iconic butterfly on the sleeve. Her top is cropped showing her belly button.

This set of costumes is unlocked by completing Leon’s story line for the first time. There are no special attributes for these costumes, but they do show up in all in-game action as well as cut scenes and quick time events.

Leon wears a Mobster Outfit complete with a suit, red tie, fedora, gloves, and a white scarf. His knife is reskinned into a switchblade. If you have unlocked and purchased the Chicago Typewriter it has a barrel magazine as well as a front grip. There are several special actions Leon will take when reloading the Chicago Typewriter.

Ashley wears a medieval suit of armor showing only her face. In this outfit. She will close the suit’s visor when Leon aims his weapon or any foe approaches her Ashley is invulnerable to any damage from any foe or Leon. She makes an incredible amount of noise walking around in this suit of armor and Leon has to take a knee anytime he catches her jumping off a ledge. Any foe attempting to pick her up will instead fall over themselves in the attempt. This can be quite useful in many circumstances in the game where you can easily leave her as bait to draw foes away from you.

Ada wears her standard iconic red dress, with neck ribbon and thigh holsters.

This set of costumes is unlocked by completing Separate Ways as Ada. These costumes are visible in all in-game action, but are not visible in any of the cut scenes where the Normal costumes are instead visible.

There are six special weapons which can be unlocked. Other than the Punisher which is unlocked by an in-game side quest, these weapons are only available in Subsequent Runs started by loading a Cleared save game. This means that you cannot unlock them for any New Game for Leon’s story line nor Ada’s Separate Ways.

Size: 3×2
Strictly speaking this weapon isn’t “unlocked”, but by shooting 10 blue medallions early in the game it becomes Free from the merchant and by shooting all 15 blue medallions it comes with a free damage upgrade. The important thing about this hand gun is it’s ability to hit multiple targets if they are lined up and also to penetrate/break wooden shields. It is immediately available in the same game when you shoot the medallions.

Size: 5×2
The Matilda is a three-round burst pistol unlocked by completing Leon’s storyline at least once. It can be purchased when you load your completed saved game to start another round. With a bump stock it is the largest handgun in the game with mediocre damage per round, but it is the fastest firing handgun with the largest capacity. It is relatively expensive to purchase and upgrade.

Size: 8×2
The infinite rocket launcher is essentially identical to the standard rocket launcher but can be used as many times as you like during game play. Once unlocked this weapon can be purchased for 1,000,000 coin… meaning you are not likely to be able to purchase it at the beginning of a second run, but it will be available at every merchant in each additional run, so you should be able to buy it before any second run is complete.

Care should be exercised when using this weapon as both Leon and Ashley can be injured by the explosion of the rocket if it hits anything other than a foe too close to them. Much of the game is played in relatively tight spaces making this weapon dangerous to your health or to failing the mission of rescuing Ashley.

Size: 4×2
This high powered handgun is unlocked by attaining 5 star rating with all characters in The Mercenaries. Costs nothing to get, but costs 790,000 coin to fully upgrade. Once fully upgraded ammo becomes infinite and damage is 99.9 – making each round nearly equivalent to a rocket. Until fully upgraded, you must find and carry ammunition for the gun which is only found if the gun is in your inventory.

Size: 7×3
This fully automatic machine gun is unlocked for Separate Ways by completing Assignment Ada and for Leon in the main game by completing Separate Ways. For Ada the weapon costs 300,000 coin and for Leon it costs 1,000,000 coin to purchase… like the Infinite Rocket Launcher it is unlikely you will be able to afford this weapon at the start of a 2nd run, but it should be affordable before you complete your 2nd run. It comes fully upgraded and with infinite ammo. Each round has a power rating of 10 standard handgun rounds and it spits out the lead at 10 rounds per second with no need to ever reload or let up on the trigger. When equipped with the Special 2 costumes, it has a the distinctive look of a mobster “Tommy Gun” with a barrel magazine and front pistol grip.

Size 7×3
Unlocked by beating the main game on Professional Mode. It is free on subsequent professional runs, comes with infinite charges, and is fully maxed from the start. The weapon has 2 modes of operation, a flash, where you immediately fire after aiming and a charged blast which emits penetrating laser beams at multiple targets.

The flash mode can be used to stun enemies that suddenly appear around corners with an effect that is similar to a Flash Bang Grenade but which also does some amount of damage.

Charged beams automatically target foes and objects that are in the general direction Leon is looking. The charged beams will kill most foes with a single hit while at the same time triggering traps, exploding barrels, boxes, and other targetable items. It is by far the most powerful weapon available in the game and the easiest to use.

This guide is for the original Resident Evil 4 game released in 2005 which has far fewer Steam Achievements (12) than the HD Remastered game from 2023, so the strategy to get to 100% Achievement is much more straight forward than it has been if you have been reading our guides for previous Resident Evil games. To complete all of the achievements you will only need to play the main story line twice and Separate Ways once.

We do suggest three additional tasks, including an additional Professional run of the main storyline with Leon simply for challenge and fun:

• Leon’s Main Story on Normal
• Optional: Assignment Ada
• Separate Ways
• Leon’s Main Story on Professional
• Optional: Mercenaries 5 Star Rankings
• Optional: Leon’s Story on Professional to play with the toys

The only real option you have when you first start to play is whether or not to play the game on Easy or Normal. You must complete the game on either setting to unlock the Extras menu where you can play Assignment Ada, Separate Ways, and The Mercenaries. However, you must beat the game on Normal in order to unlock Professional difficulty… so just start with Normal.

The goal of the first pass is entertainment. Play the game the way the authors intended. Focus on exploring the game, learning all the ins and outs, the secrets and the story. Try out every weapon you find and read every file you find. This is a story rich game and one of the best horror games of all time – make sure you enjoy it. Do not worry about the time it takes you to complete the game or what resources you use to do it. Just Enjoy the game.

• The Extras Menu
• Professional Difficulty
• Special Costume #1
• Matilda handgun for purchase from the Merchant on subsequent Normal runs
• Infinite Rocket Launcher for purchase from the Merchant on subsequent Normal runs

During this first pass you can complete all (7) of the achievements related to the story line which cannot be missed as long as you complete the game:

• It Begins With A Ring
• A Rock and a Hard Place
• Secure the Ballistics
• A Bloodline Severed
• The Castellan Falls
• The Ties That Bind
• We’re Going Home

You should also complete two basic challenges along the way:

• Do Not Shoot The Water Save just before you get on the small boat at the lake, walk to the end of the pier and simply shoot the water. This is instant death, so you will need to reload your saved game after the cut scene
• A Terrifying Assassin After being dropped into the spike pit follow the path to the farthest room in the tunnels and turn the power on. You will need to dodge the Assistant several times until he finally shows himself. Tip over the liquid nitrogen tank in the room and kill the assistant when he gets frozen in the mist. Use either a rocket launcher or strong head shots… rocket launcher is much easier, just saying…

Once you have completed the main story line you will have access to the Extras menu where you can play Assignment Ada. This is a straight shot from start to finish with no boxes and no save points, so you have to complete it start to finish in a single run. Ada is tasked with picking up parasite samples and then making it to the extraction point. This story line contradicts the story told by Leon’s main story line and the Separate Ways story line so isn’t considered part of the Actual story.

The reason to run this Extra game is simply to unlock the Chicago Typewriter machine gun for Ada to use in the Separate Ways extra game. This machine gun (while useful to Ada) is by no means necessary for Ada to complete Separate Ways.

This run is not necessary to complete any of the Steam Achievements and so is completely optional, run it simply based on whether or not you want to experience it.

• The Chicago Typewriter for use by Ada in Separate Ways on any 2nd or later run

The Extras menu will also contain the Separate Ways game where you experience the main story line from the perspective of Ada. Besides being necessary to complete the Steam Achievements, it is also important to the story line and reveals a lot of information about what is going on behind the scenes and how it ties to other familiar characters and Umbrella.

There are no difficulty settings for this extra game, so it does not matter what difficulty you used to unlock this extra game. You can save games while you make this run and they will be tinged in red on the save game menu and listed as saved by Ada.

The primary goal of this extra game is enjoyment. Ada has some special equipment and skills that change up the flow of the game from how Leon approached things, and there are plenty of challenges to overcome. Though you are working with generally the same map and foes, the changes in what can be accessed and what is blocking her path will keep you on your toes.

• Special Costume #2
• The Chicago Typewriter for Leon to purchase form the Merchant on any 2nd or later run

Completing this extra story and unlocking the second optional costume will complete the following Steam Achievement:

• The S Stands for Stylish!

Having completed the main story line as Leon, you will now have the option of choosing Professional from the difficulty list when you start a New Game.

You will now also have the option of choosing one of the optional costumes. Choosing Special #2 will dress Ashley in a full medieval suit of armor which makes her untouchable by foes and friendly fire from Leon. This can be a great asset in several key and challenging sequences of the game… use your own discretion as to whether or not you want to make this run easier or more challenging.

NOTE: The weapons you unlocked (Matilda, Infinite Rocket Launcher, and the Chicago Typewriter) cannot be accessed in this playthrough as they were unlocked for Subsequent runs only. So you will only have access to the same weapons you used in your previous run and have the same issues with constrained resources.

The primary goal of this run is challenge. Professional is definitely more difficult, but you should be comfortable with all the game controls and the puzzles at this point where you will not need to spend as much time wondering what is coming up. In most cases you just need to “execute better” than you did on Normal mode.

• P.R.L 421 laser rifle
• The Chicago Typewriter for Leon to purchase form the Merchant on any difficulty

This run will complete your Steam Achievements!

• A Heart of Steel

Congratulations!!!

There are no achievements associated with the extra game The Mercenaries.

However, if you want to experience the Hand Cannon weapon, the only way to unlock it is to get to 5 Star rating 60,000 points with each of the 5 characters in each of the four scenarios of The Mercenaries. This is no minor task – in fact it will probably take more game play time than all of the Steam Achievements combined.

Each of the 5 playable characters Leon, Ada, Krauser, Hunk, and Wesker has specific skills as well as specific starting gear. When you first access this extra game you will only have access to Leon as a playable character. You must obtain at least a 4 star ranking 30,000 points or more in specific stages.

The 4 characters that can be unlocked:

• Ada – unlocked by 4 star rank in the Village (stage 1)
• Krauser – unlocked by 4 star rank in the Castle (stage 2)
• Hunk – unlocked by 4 star rank in the Island Fort (stage 3)
• Wesker – unlocked by 4 star rank in an area unique to the extra game (Stage 4)

The key to getting better ratings is to learn how and when to reach each of the time bonuses in each stage and to then capitalize on the additional bonuses for combination kills kills within 11 seconds of each other for the first 30 seconds of after collecting the time bonus.

It would be a shame to unlock all these great weapons and not use them to unleash pure carnage on the foes that haunted your first runs…

To access a 2nd (or later run), chose Load from the game menu and choose a saved game marked as Completed. You can make 2nd runs of both the main story line as Leon and Separate Ways as Ada, so make sure you chose the saved game for the campaign you wish to play.

Your character starts each 2nd (and subsequent runs) in the state he ended the previous run in. Same health bar max (you start fully healed) and the same equipment (including upgrades). If you are starting a 2nd or later run on Professional, the P.R.L 412 laser gun and Hand Cannon are Free – but The Chicago Typewriter and Infinite Rocket Launcher each cost 1,000,000 coin. You are not likely to start a 2nd run with 2,000,000 spare coins, but if you use the laser gun you should have no real issue purchasing both of the other weapons before the end of the 2nd run. Remember you will also have to spend coin to upgrade the Hand Cannon (790,000). Keep another weapon available besides just the laser gun, as there are a few instances where you cannot make the laser hit the target – the rifle is typically the best choice for a second weapon.

This run should be used to simply enjoy the toys you worked so hard to unlock.

By far the easiest way to deal with mobs of angry villagers is to find a ladder such that it is the only means of getting to you. Stand about one step back from the ladder and use the knife to cut the villagers in the face as they come up the ladder – They take the knife damage and the fall damage. There are two instances in the game where this doesn’t work. In the opening battle in the village DO NOT use the tower ladder – they will throw dynamite up there every time. When you are first attacking the fortress on the island – the large machine gun guy jumps up on your platform rather than climbs the ladder – here use your handgun and time it for when he is still in the air, this will knock him back down.

When in the house assault with Louis, on the second floor run from ladder to ladder pushing them over. You do have to watch for the whipping parasites that come out of some villager’s heads – deal with them as quickly as possible.

Shooting a leg, running up and Kicking is a great way to destabilize several targets. The kick can even hit multiple foes and foes that are still stable – you just need one target for the kick.

Unless you really need the extra close view of the villager’s heads popping, there really is no need for the basic rifle scope. You do of course still need the infrared scope to pick off parasites on specific foes.

When ascending the tower where some priests roll barrels down the steps, dispatch the first three foes with a rifle (P.R.L. 412 works fine too), climb the ladder to the platform and deal with the dynamite throwing villager, then you can roll barrels with the lever and use the knife at the top of the ladder.

After the rolling barrels, you have to ascend an elevator – stand where there is a gap in the railing and use the shotgun to knock the priests that drop onto the elevator off the platform – keeping their weight off the elevator makes it constantly move along. If you stand in a corner you knock them into corners and their weight pauses the elevator.

When approaching the “Bell Tower”, before proceeding onto the bridge use your rifle to head shot both of the priests walking around the tower landing. You will have to wait a significant amount of time for the 2nd priest to show up on your right. Killing both of these prevents the alarm that means three catapults – well worth the wait.

Rocket launchers are boss killers and actually quite cost effective for exactly that use. You don’t have to carry them all the time, but they are in the game on purpose and some boss fights will be much longer and harder if you don’t use them.

Ashley’s armor makes her invulnerable (special #2 costume). You can then use her as bait by making her “wait” out in the open and at least lessen the full court press on you. You also can no longer hurt her with “friendly fire” so shotgun blasts in her general direction are workable.

Don’t kill chickens they drop eggs but do kill snakes as they drop eggs when killed. Killing crows is always profitable and you can kill entire groups with a flash bang grenade.

Swing twice when breaking boxes and vases to avoid snake bites.

Always use herb mixtures with yellow in them first to make subsequent heals more powerful – at the beginning of a 1st run, a single green herb is a full heal.

Don’t forget to pick up the 100,000 coins from the last boss before the jet ski.

Don’t forget the game QTE run expecting 30fps not the standard 60fps. Most experience issues at the last train jump and pull up. Almost everyone needs it for the walking statue. The final Krauser fight can be hard to time. Has to be changed outside of game play at options from the main menu.

Save pretty much every time you pass by a typewriter as there is no penalty for doing so. Don’t forget the typewriter at the exit of the bell tower before starting across the moved bridge.

If you want to finish with zero deaths – never continue – just re-load your last save. There isn’t any reward for doing so, but some like to see that Zero Deaths at the end.

the lake monster… you can throw the harpoons while being pulled – you don’t have to wait for the stops where you explicitly have to throw a harpoon.

you can no longer drop both of them with the pull of a lever – so don’t try – just drop the first one (preferably the one in chains), then go back and forth between the platform and zip line. After the zip line turn and shoot the remaining twin in the back near where the parasite comes out.

shoot his waist to break him off his legs, he then swings around the room like a kid on monkey bars and is easier to deal with. Breaking him in two takes a lot of damage so be prepared to dodge and weave (or bring a rocket launcher).

This is a 2 second fight – use the magnum to hit the large hey on the head that comes at you from the beginning then use a rocket launcher to kill Ramon as he screams at you.

Use your knife don’t try to shoot him takes a bit to learn when to swing. Catch him in the door on first encounter. In last encounter be ready to avoid death blow if he kicks you (30fps can be useful to avoid his one shot kill if he knocks you down).

When fighting him with Ada, again use your knife. On the third encounter run around the work table first then get ready with your knife.

Hand Grenades (but not flame grenades nor flash bangs), blown up barrels, and the two cranes will drop him – approach and physically attack. Make sure you have enough space for Ada’s rocket launcher. DO NOT climb on a platform after you have already used the crane on it. Crossing the bridges that drop is another place the 30hz can be useful – don’t attempt to cross if you are low on health. When he is “across” the bridges be prepared to QTE dodge steel girders and use a rifle to hit eyes on his legs then the main eye in his mouth. DO NOT get back up on a platform if you have already used the crane on that platform.

When fighting him with Ada – try to keep a good distance between you and him and shoot him while he sets up. when he does rush you dodge and run by him to get the distance again. A rapid rate of fire works best here as do grenades to pause him.