Resident Evil 4 Remake: The Hidden Trick To End The Village Fight Early

"Resident Evil 4" is a deeply unsettling game, but there's one segment that has been giving players headaches (and nightmares) for years: the opening action sequence at the village. While spying on a bunch of infected villagers, the people of the town suddenly turn on Leon, forcing players into an intense timed confrontation. The swarm of villagers is only broken up when the town's church bell rings after a few minutes. This triggers a cutscene in which all of the killers disperse, leaving a confused Leon alone in the middle of town.

It's such a memorable sequence that an early part of "Resident Evil Village" largely copies it, swapping out the infected villagers in favor of hulking werewolves. In both cases, the player may feel outnumbered and totally underprepared. The scene is also so intense that it's no wonder why the developers of the remake have kept it largely intact. However, some players have figured out that there's a cheeky way to get around this encounter almost entirely.

As discovered by gamers on Reddit and shared by @KuyaDenzel95 on Twitter, Leon can bypass the swarming Ganados if he climbs to one of the village's rooftops, takes aim with a sniper rifle, and fires at the bell tower in the distance. A direct hit will ring the bell, distracting the bloodthirsty villagers and starting the cutscene in which they all leave town. Leon will have to move fast in order to make this shot, though. If any of the villagers manage to follow him to the roof, it'll be nigh-impossible to line up. 

Today I learned you can skip the opening village fight in Resident Evil 4 Remake by shooting the bell from a rooftop. A scoped rifle makes it easier, obviously.
Jesus the amount of detail from this game is outstanding!

Credit to the users Sorekasho and Tactical_Banter on Reddit. pic.twitter.com/BVwsQ22qoA

— Denzel⁷ (@KuyaDenzel95) March 26, 2023

Of course, as some players have noted in the replies, this trick unfortunately won't come in handy during your first playthrough. At the top of the game, Leon does not yet have access to a ranged weapon like the rifle. You can only count on using this exploit during a New Game Plus playthrough, at which point you'll have access to all of the weapons with which you completed your previous run. Still, for players who want to skip over this feverish battle on their second run, it ought to feel pretty great to outsmart these bad guys with a single well-placed shot.