After a short tutorial sequence that shows you how Leon controls himself, you will broadly have to push open a large door that will really mark the beginning of your mission. In this first chapter of our complete Resident Evil 4 walkthrough, we’ll see how to get out of the famous village sequence into the Lakeside Dwellings beyond the farm.
Table of Contents
Village
We’ll spare you the details about the first 15 minutes of the game: after meeting a first crazy villager, Léon is forced to push open the giant doors of the village. Inside, the locals have decided to have a small barbecue in the square. After viewing the situation with the binoculars, you can attack this mythical sequence, which will also be repeated almost identically in Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil Village. Immediately head through the small path on the left and at the end of the path discreetly take out the first villager with your knife (R2/RT while crouched). This discreet corner contains a green plant and some ammunition : prepare well, it will now be necessary to step into the large bath. Storm the villagers as soon as you feel safe so you can never be taken from behind. You’ll have to run from their constant attacks anyway, so you’ll need to get to know the place quickly. For a quick topo of the main spots in the village, open your map: In the eastern part, you can knock down the lamp and set fire to the cow in the barn. The highest house has a grenade in one of the cupboards, but beware, there are also plenty of enemies hidden in it.
In the western part, the largest house is the one you want to quickly take refuge in. A small cutscene is triggered and it is possible to barricade a window to save time. Upstairs, the first shotgun is waiting for you, needless to say, it will be very useful to you (a couple of cartridges are on the bed not far away). Do not try to hide a little higher in the tower, the floor will soon collapse under the weight of Leon. The principle of this sequence is simple: survive until the bell rings the reminder for all the indoctrinated people in the area and finally leave you alone. You can speed things up by taking out as many villagers as possible, but if you’re playing in hardcore mode, it’s in order to save ammo: only fire when you really need to. Once the place is empty, take the path west to get to the farm.
Farm
Apart from a few loitering farmers, it is currently fairly quiet in this area. You can make your first request there, which requires you to explode 5 medallions that are scattered in the corner and are very easy to find. There is also a treasure to collect by shooting a metal object attached to the blade of a mill above the well. After scouring the area a bit, head towards the locked gate and take an immediate right. Before going up the ladder, go around the room to get your very first yellow grass. If you continue you will enter the barn and you can find the missing mechanism to open the cross gate a little earlier. Once you get your hands on it, a well-built foe equipped with a giant mace and a calf’s head will charge at you. Don’t wait for him to break open the door and rush up the barn ladder to shoot him quietly from a safe angle. Note that he will come with a few extra villagers. Once this new threat is eliminated, go back and fix the grid and head to the lake houses.
Lake homes
Be careful, on the way the villagers will cause a landslide that you have to dodge quickly and throw projectiles at you from your left side. Eliminate them and head to the right of the landslide to find yourself in front of another set of dilapidated dwellings. The tall grass can obscure your view and it will be especially distracting to see the wolf traps and explosive lines that can be seen all over the arena. To make matters worse, some villagers throw dynamite: to counter them, the best solution is to aim at their arm so that it drops the stick and blows itself up (possibly with some of their friends). The enemy you should pay the most attention to is the villager in the top left when you enter the area, eliminate her first. As usual, do some cleaning and proceed to knock on the door’s padlock a little further (you have to hit it 3 times to make it collapse). Kill the villager at the bottom, go through the hatch and free Luis to close this first chapter.
