Chapter 1 - The Village - Resident Evil 4 Guide - IGN (2024)

Welcome to IGN's guide for Resident Evil 4 Remake. This page contains information on the opening chapter for the game, including your arrival to the mysterious Spanish settlement, surviving the fight in the terrifying village, and trek towards the lake.

Note that this guide for the Remake differs from the original Resident Evil 4 Walkthrough in many ways, as Chapter 1 is comparable in length to that of Chapter 1: Part 1, though certain encounters, enemies, and story elements have changed.

• Need Help With A Section?
• Surviving the Village Attack
• Exploring the Farm
• Exploring the Lakeside Settlement

See What’s Taking So Long

After the opening cutscene where Leon is being driven to a remote settlement in Spain, one of the police officers will disappear, prompting you to investigate.

Begin by heading down the moody path and ruined huts until you come to a gap that’s blocked by barbed wire.

Look for a smaller path just to the right to bypass the hazard and through a large broken gate. You can inspect the gruesome carcass on the right, or keep heading down the narrow path as it leads up a slope and into a low barrier. Use the indicated prompt to crouch down and move forward to find a battered looking house.

Head on inside to find a long hall to the left that wraps around, and a door before the corner leading to a bedroom. There’s a charm that you inspect to gain a File - Crude Charm, but otherwise the place is empty.

Head back out and down the hall to find a locked door covered in markings, and go right through the other door to meet your first Villager - aka the Ganado.

While not technically a zombie, there’s definitely something up with him, but Leon will quickly neutralize the threat.

Inspecting the downed body, you can grab the Hunter’s Lodge Key, and then investigate the screams coming from behind the locked door back down the hall. You’ll also now have access to your Map, Inventory, and Files to which the File - Mission Brief and the Crude Charm File have been added. Check back on the ground where Leon first spotted the missing police’s badge to add the File - Officer’s Badge.

Enter the locked door with the markings, and go down the stairs into the basement full of more gruesome things. Inspect the doorway with the cloth over it, and Leon will find out what happened to the missing officer, and hear the other officer get into trouble on the radio.

Escape the Hunter Lodge

As you turn to leave the basement, the Villager (Ganado) from earlier will come staggering down the stairs - crooked neck and all. He’ll move to lunge at you with surprising speed, so keep backpedaling away while putting some shots around his head or chest if you can. If you manage to quickly run away from his lunge, you can also quickly hit him with some knife slashes by tapping R2, or stabs by holding L1 first.

If a Ganado manages to grab you, you’ll have to spam the prompt to escape their grab while taking damage - but pressing the R2 prompt will forcibly stop them with a knife stab. Be warned, this will cause the knife to lose a good chunk of durability, so try to avoid getting grabbed at all costs.

Once the infested man goes down, head up the stairs and open the door to spot another Ganado staggering out of a door that wasn’t there before. He’ll move into the bedroom along with another enemy (which you can peek into through the cracks in the wall), but it’s best if you conserve ammo and stay away from them.

Instead, head through the door on the right that the enemy came out of to find a stairway going up to the second floor. Look at the base of the stairs for a cupboard holding a Green Herb inside, and use it if that first enemy tore a chunk out of your health - otherwise save it for later.

Once you enter the room up here, Leon will find clues about the target he’s seeking - and a map pointing to the edge of a large lake. Leon’s communication with his supervisor, Agent Hunnigan, will be cut short by the arrival of more enemies, prompting a swift exit to a path at the back of the lodge.

Head for the Lake

Since the Ganado aren’t giving chase, you can make your way down the new path at your own pace, and take in the creepy sights. You’ll need to cross a rickety bridge before coming to a path leading to another ruined building.

If you have some ammo to spare, note that you can shoot crows to sometimes find items like money, treasure, or gunpowder. There’s also a barrel splashed with yellow paint outside the house - and these barrels and crates can be broken open to find random items inside like ammo. You don’t even need to shoot or slash them, just pressing X will have Leon kick it apart.

Be sure to reload your gun as you head inside the hut to find another barrel, alongside a Typewriter - the classic save spot of the Resident Evil franchise.

While interacting with the Typewriter, you can also store items you don’t wish to bog down your Attache Case inventory. You can even customize the case itself by swapping out models or charms you find, and the current one will increase the rate at which you find handgun ammo.

Leaving the save room behind, exit the shack to hear the sounds of more Ganado somewhere close by. The path will lead towards a butchered wolf and some crows (shoot them if you want), and another ruined building to the left behind it. Check the inside for a drawer with more Handgun Ammo.

As you leave the shack, look for a path leading past an old pickup truck, and approach cautiously. There’s an overgrown building to the left that houses a crate you can break - but more importantly are the two Ganado waiting to ambush you just past the truck. One of them waits behind a nearby tree, while another is up on a ledge to the right of the truck and will drop down to try and flank you.

Make use of your space to back up and aim for their heads or legs to stun them when possible. One of the most important aspects of combat in Resident Evil 4 against enemies like these is to stagger and follow up melee attacks. Most head shots or those fired by waiting until your target reticle closes in will knock your enemy back, and a white arrow indicator will appear. When close enough, Leon can unleash a melee attack to deal even more damage and send the enemy flying - often killing them.

If they get close with their weapons, you can also wait for them to attempt a slash or stab and tap the L1 button to bring out your knife and parry the blow. Simply blocking will let you avoid taking damage, but a well-timed parry will also stagger the opponent, setting you up to counter.

Be warned - if an enemy falls to the ground and begins to shudder violently, they’ll get back up like that first Ganado showing signs of infestation. It’s a good idea to pump several more rounds into them before they get up (or stick your knife in them at the cost of durability) to ensure they can’t try to lunge at you - infested enemies are much more likely to shrug off staggering hits.

Once you’ve dealt with the pair and looted their corpses, make your way up the hill behind the truck and down another path. It’s more than likely you won’t notice the bear trap on the ground here - but don’t worry, it won’t deal any damage. Still, it’s a good indication that you’ll want to keep an eye on the ground in the future so you don’t get caught when enemies are coming at you.

Speaking of enemies, there’s one hiding in the overgrown building on the left as you head down the path. You can either try and be ready for his lunge and parry with your knife, or see if you can line up a shot through the cracks in the building to force him out.

Once he’s down, check the building he was in to find some Handgun Ammo, a Flash Grenade, and a Red Herb to mix with the green ones you find to improve health restoration.

Past the long corridor is a large creepy looking door, which will lead you to the main village in this region. As you cautiously approach the village square, look for some cover to the left and a prompt to investigate the horrendous display just down the road.

The villagers won’t notice you right away once they are done with the execution, which is a good time to start planning for the eventual fight. The village encompasses a large area, and mobility will be your key to survival.

You can start getting a feel for the terrain by crouching down and quickly moving off to the narrow path on the left going behind the locked barn. Be warned as a woman will patrol down the alley between the barn and house near the village square, but will also walk back to the opposite side giving you time to dart by and pick up a Green Herb along the back wall.

Going further along this back path will give you cover from the square, and lead you to another woman with her back turned away - you can quietly eliminate her with your knife that only uses a bit of durability.

Since the far road to the gate in the northeast is guarded, you’ll likely want to grab the attention of everyone when you’re ready (or stab the patrolling woman in the back as she returns to the square).

Survive the Village Attack

• See the Village Map above for Item locations, breakable barrels, Treasures, and more!

From the moment the entire village is alerted to your presence, you’ll have to survive for around 4 and a half minutes (give or take depending on cutscenes). Make no mistake: You will be severely outnumbered, and even though you can find ammo and items stashed all over, you will want to prioritize running and gunning over trying to fortify and take on all comers.

While it might be tempting to hole up and try to take them all out, it’s usually better to conserve ammo (and your knife durability) by attacking sparingly only when you need to clear a path. Most of the Ganados will chase and jog after you, but a few others will almost always lag behind or take alternate paths in an attempt to grab or attack you by surprise. In such cases, a shot to the head or leg to stun them should be enough to create some breathing room.

Be wary of not watching your back. Some Villagers will lurk up from behind you grab and hold you down. It deals very little damage, but you won't be able to dodge incoming attacks until you break out of their hold, and can't use your knife to free yourself!

Some may even try to plant bear traps when you aren’t looking, so be aware of traps on the ground, and try to bait enemies into them if you spot one planted in the village!

There are multiple routes to take during this survival mission, and every path has its own benefits depending on where the bulk of the townsfolk are bunched up. Many of the buildings also offer cover, items, and a moment of peace before enemies come barging in after you - as well as multiple escape routes through windows. However, you’ll likely want to avoid the upper northeast part of the village as the small huts here are cramped and offer no easy escape routes. Below are some of the more important areas to consider moving through:

The large two-story house on the top right of the village square has a single front entrance behind some low fences. It’s one of the most important locations as it will actually trigger a cutscene upon entering where Leon locks the door, buying you a bit of time before they come in after you - and allowing you to push a shelf in front of a boarded window near the stairs.

It’s also important because it holds the most valuable loot: you can look under the stairs to find a First Aid Spray and some Handgun Ammo (get these first so you don’t get trapped later with enemies behind you. Just up the stairs, you’ll find a W-870 Shotgun mounted on the wall next to a glass display cabinet you can break to retrieve a Grenade, and also find Shotgun Shells on the bed past the stairs.

The downside to going into this house is that it will summon even more Ganado to begin attacking on all sides, raising ladders to the second floor window and walkways around the second floor on both sides. It will also force the appearance of the terrifying bagged-head Chainsaw Man (who will also appear about halfway into the fight from the western gate if you don’t go into the building first).

As the enemies take a chainsaw to the front door, race to the second floor window overlooking the square to push down the ladder when you spot someone trying to climb it, then hop out one of the other back windows once they bust down the door. The wooden walkways out here have more ladders to kick down, and more space to gain distance on other rooftops from your attackers (but watch for those throwing axes at you!)

Just to the side of the two-story house is a shorter house close to the locked barn, and has a few items inside - but be aware there’s a Ganado hiding in the closet waiting to jump out and ambush you!

Across the other side of the village square is an open barn with a cow inside. Once you have a large group on your heels (including the Chainsaw Man), consider darting through the barn, as it will trigger the lamp above to crash down and light everything on fire — including the cow that will charge forth and crash into anyone unlucky enough to be in range.

A smaller collapsed house can be found off in the southwest corner, but offers limited room to escape pursuers and a path leading back to a dead end above the entrance gate, and is best avoided until after the fight. You can instead run around past a cart with a Red Herb to the southeast alley up past a larger home with two rooms — just be aware of Ganado inside early on that can block your escape through the window.

Lastly, there’s a tower just above the large town hall building with a long ladder to climb. You can find a Green Herb up here, but it’s not advisable to try escaping up here, as the floorboards will break away to send you hurtling back down to the ground in front of your enemies

As for the Chainsaw Man, he is a formidable and tough foe to deal with, and you can either avoid him entirely (and let his wild chainsaw swings hit his friends instead), or try to eliminate him using the bulk of your ammo. The Grenade and Flash Grenade can also open him up for extra damage, but you may want to save that until you are completely surrounded, as it will make all Ganado in the area stunned and open to getting kicked in the face.

If he manages to get enough space to charge at you, you’ll have one chance to parry with your knife - taking the huge durability loss is far preferable to getting instantly sawed in two. Always try to put a bit of distance between yourself and the chainsaw by climbing, jumping, or vaulting out of a direct path. If you kill him, you’ll likely get an Emerald worth a good bit of money for your trouble, but if you are low on health or ammo, it may be better to focus on running.

Remember if you’re low on health, the chickens that scramble around the village square can drop Chicken Eggs you can eat for a bit of health - no need to shoot them!

After enough time has elapsed, you’ll hear the church’s bells begin to ring, and all the enemies will instantly stop fighting you. A moment later, they’ll trudge toward the Town Hall and leave a bewildered Leon behind as they lock the door behind them.

Now that everything's back to relative peace and quiet, you can take your time searching the rooms and alleys to make sure every crate is broken and items are picked up. If you haven’t already, be sure to grab the Green Herb both at the top of the tower, and to the left of the Town Hall entrance by a blocked sewer entrance.

Make sure to inspect all the smaller homes near the top for boxes to break, and then head through the now unlocked gate towards the lake.

Through the gate is another large area, though not as sprawling or as crowded as the village. Look for a small shack on the right as Leon spots the windmill to find another Typewriter to save at, and break the nearby barrel for an item.

Moving into the farm area, the few Ganado around here will most likely have their back to you, allowing you to explore a bit before engaging. Note the one in the pasture area past a fence, and another near the back of the large barn (near a rear door that’s locked from the inside). If you didn’t use up the durability of the knife in the last fight, you should consider using some stealth kills, as it only takes a bit of durability if done silently.

Opening the Windmill Door

• See the Farm Map above for Item locations, breakable barrels, Treasures, and more!

The front of the barn is also boarded up, and the other side has a mysterious shrine you can’t interact with, as well as a Green Herb.

As you head toward the main gate, look for a bright blue note to the right that holds a Request - Destroy the Blue Medallions.

This Side Quest of sorts will task you to destroy all five blue medallions hiding around The Farm area - see our Request guide in the link or image above for details on their locations.

Break the chests around the locked gate, and head through the iron door to the right. Note the beeping as you enter - there’s a tripwire mine around the other side of this circular room, but you can duck under it. You can disarm it by crouching down and slowly getting close to the box, or just duck under it (and lure enemies into it later).

Be sure to check around the back past the ladder in the ground floor of this room, you’ll find a Yellow Herb that can be combined with any other herb to increase your maximum health!

Climbing up to the second floor, look near some Shotgun Shells for a slot with a missing gear for the windmill door. To find it, you’ll have to get into the barn - which can be done on this upper level. There are two ways out - one leading to the upper window of the barn, and one dropping down to a lower path to another locked door you can open by cutting the lock with your knife.

Once you enter the barn, you’ll find a Ganado working on the second floor next to a small cabinet with ammo (or bypass her if you came in on the ground floor).

Down on the ground, you can find the Wooden Cog next to a Kitchen Knife and some Shotgun Shells. The Kitchen Knife makes a great backup knife until you can repair your Combat Knife, should it break.

Unfortunately, after stepping into the barn, the front entrance will burst open to reveal an entirely new enemy for Resident Evil 4 Remake, the Brute. This Bull-headed Man wields a large two-handed hammer, and his attacks cannot be parried by your knife. His overhead slams and swinging sweeps hit hard, and he can also start spinning his weapon wildly - so getting some distance is the best strategy to survive. If he gets close, press crouch to evade, but be ready to move away as he ends his spin with a downward slam.

If you’re on the first floor, you can escape through the other locked door since the lock to cut is on this side - but be warned, more Ganado have appeared outside while you were in the barn. If you’re still up on the second floor, you’ll likely want to hop back out the window, you might be able to get the Brute stuck trying to get out or swing at you from inside, and use your Shotgun to knock him back inside when he tries to crawl out.

With so many enemies that have now appeared, you may want to consider luring them back to the tripmine in the windmill if you didn’t deactivate it, otherwise try to use the various paths and open area outside the barn to pick off Ganado or bait the larger enemy into cleaving through his friends.

Once the enemies are defeated, be sure to finish looting the barn’s crates and barrels, plus a cabinet with a random item. There’s more crates outside - including one in the smaller barn with the cows, and behind the shack near where the pearl pendant was.

Return back to the second floor of the windmill and install the Wooden Cog, and pull the lever to open up the gate to open a new path further towards the lake.

After crossing a large bridge, you’ll come upon a large fortified villa with a sealed door. Since you can’t enter, check around the left side to find some crates, then return to find a large cart you’ll have to move out of the way to proceed.

Be wary when moving forward down this next path past a barrel. In the original Resident Evil 4, a large boulder trap is set off as you move down the path - but this time the Ganado have something else in mind.

Once you spot an enemy on the bridge above, he’ll shout and trigger an explosion above you to shower the area with debris and rocks from above you. If you’ve drawn close, you’ll have to press a prompt to evade, otherwise advance very slowly and retreat once you get spotted. Once the debris litters the area, watch out for a Ganado dropping down behind to ambush you.

There’s a smaller path to the right of the debris field you can take as two more Ganado appear on the high bridge to toss weapons at you. Don’t bother engaging them and run past, and look ahead to fire on a woman with a pitchfork at the end of the trail.

Past the woman is a long tunnel thankfully devoid of enemies, but you can find a crate to break by turning around after rounding a corner.

• See the Fishing Settlement Map above for Item locations, traps, breakable barrels, Treasures, and more!

As you enter this new area, be on your guard - the Ganado are lurking just out sight all around, and they have traps a plenty.

The first one you should deal with is straight ahead, peeking out of a large ruined building. He’ll light some dynamite before tossing it at you which can be a major pain, especially as more enemies arrive. Wait until he’s lit the fuse and is preparing to throw and then shoot him to make him drop it, and it will explode (or if you have good aim, you can shoot the stick itself).

Don’t walk too far into the weeds, as you’ll step on a bear trap - and you can expect more to be planted in this area. Poke it with your knife to flip the trap, then head into the small shack on the left.

Duck as you enter to avoid another tripmine, and get the attention of another Ganado down the road - but let him come to you, as there’s another bear trap at the entrance, and you can also lure him into the explosive.

More Ganado will come after, so quickly break the crates here, but watch out for another dynamite thrower on the high ledge above the shack. You can either try to lure the enemies into the dynamite, or run around behind the larger building to get out of range of the dynamite thrower - just be wary of more bear traps hidden among the tall weeds.

Enter the large ruined house where the first dynamite thrower was, and break the crates in here to get some items, plus some Shotgun Shells near the front.

As you take out the dynamite thrower on the high ledge and move further up, be sure to look up into the trees to find a nest with yellow ribbons you can shoot down for more items. Up ahead is another larger house, and another Ganado with dynamite you need to shoot out. Be sure to loot all the crates around the area and up on the high ledge, and then cut the lock and head inside.

As you enter the mysterious home, you’ll hear an ominous banging - but it’s not what you might think. Before moving further, loot the cabinet on the right, and slowly enter the next hall. A tripmine is low to the ground here, so you’ll need to carefully approach while crouched to disarm it (or shoot it at range).

In this next room, there’s another cupboard with loot, and a creepy photo on the desk you can inspect. The banging is coming from farther in, so look for a large shelf that you can push aside to reveal another hallway.

Down here is a cabinet with more loot - and the source of the noise: a Ganado banging on the floor where a trapdoor lies. Attack the Ganado and remove the threat, and head down inside the cellar to find a surprising find writhing about in a large bag.

Introductions will be cut short by the arrival of a new threat, and this chapter will conclude.

• Continue to Chapter 2