With theResident Evil 4 Remakenow on the verge of release, its new ‘Chainsaw Demo’ has given fans a taste of what will come. The famous opening segment that includes Leon’s first encounter with a Ganado in the first house, up to the ‘Village’ onslaught featuring the infamousDr. Salvador, is all present within this demo.
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While there is still much to be showcased for the rest of the game’s first chapter, there is a variety of new information in both gameplay and story that fans can dive deep into.
5Intro Sequence
Given the original’s lack of an explanation of how Leon S. Kennedy managed to transition from lower-level capabilities inResident Evil 2to one far more experienced and deadly inResident Evil 4, the new intro sequence is perfect for context.
Despite the rumors prior to the third trailer of Krauser being cut from the remake, there is not only footage of his first appearance in the Island segment but also an additional cutscene during the game’s opening with both him and Leon training. While this in itself could have also been edited to cut out scenes to be left as a surprise for the full release, it implies there is potentially a greater amount of story details and appearances from Krauser that fans should expect to see once the full game is available.
4First Ganado
Shortly after the opening sequence, players who are familiar with the original title will know of Leon’s first encounter with one of the villagers. In the original, the house players would enter was smaller and more compact, resembling something more of a cabin with only one Ganado inside. This time around, the first location is more expansive, with more rooms to explore and a major difference in the manner of how the first fight begins.
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Rather than Leon facing off against the one Ganado and players having to take him down while fully functional, they will instead face off against a Ganado in the basement that is on the verge of full mutation. While the entire sequence could play out differently in the final game, consideringCapcom’s edits, it is enough to suggest that there will be a great length of variation in this reimagined version of asurvival horror classic.
3Transition To The Village Encounter
As the buildup to the Village encounter originally contained multiple enemies to come across, the demo for the remake repeats this but in a better way. Instead of giving players an easy tutorial ride through, if players aren’t accurate with gunshots or quick to expend ammo on enemies, it could very well lead to a tough battle. It appears as though Capcom is attempting to double down on the survival horror aspects ofResident Evil 4and making players pay for not using resources wisely.
Despite the demo experience being short-lived, it managed to tease just about enough to leave players wanting much more, with the demo being almost identical to the original’s demo prior to its 2005 release. If this buildup is set as an example of what the rest of the remake will include, it could mean fans are set for many surprises.
2Secret TMP
While it is unclear whether this is a glitch or an intended secret implemented within the demo by Capcom, players can find a hidden TMP weapon in a sewers section. In order to access this, players must discard every single item within their inventory and avoid picking anything up along the way to the Village, where they can then find the weapon for permanent use even after restarting.
If this is intentional, it would imply that Capcom may have added more secrets for players to uncover, suggesting the full game may have much more to unfold. Given how difficult the fight with the villagers and Dr. Salvador is in this demo, the addition of the TMPto the collection of Leon’s handgun and shotguninstantly improves players' odds of survival.
The biggest takeaway from theResident Evil 4 Remakedemo is the surprise difficulty mode that players will be invited to randomly, which ramps the intensity to a completely new level. Rather than the first Ganado being the only threat to Leon in the basement of the first house, there are three Ganados who are on the verge of mutation, far more aggressive and faster. The same applies to enemies within the Village who are quicker, more agile, and more relentless in their pursuit.
These factors are much less of a threat when compared to the addition of the terrifying Dr. Salvador, who resembles the original game’s ‘Super Salvador’ in its Mercenaries mode in terms of the fast movement speed and constant swinging of the chainsaw. While this difficulty mode is stated to be exclusive to the demo only, it could very well be placed in the full game in a future update, or at the very least, the game’s hardcore or professional difficulty could be incredibly similar.
Resident Evil 4 Remakereleases on the 24th of March on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
