Resident Evil 4 remake patch removes a major speedrunning skip

The Village Chief from Resident Evil 4 player looks at Leon
(Image credit: Capcom)

A new Resident Evil 4 remake patch has eliminated a major speedrunning exploit surrounding one boss.

As reported by MP1st yesterday on April 23, a new Resident Evil 4 remake patch was deployed by Capcom for all platforms. Buried in the new update was a fix for an issue that was causing some players to warp straight through walls when aiming down a scope for a weapon.

This sounds like a major issue for Capcom's remake, but it's actually a famed exploit instead. As we reported earlier this month, Resident Evil 4 remake players were skipping the village chief boss using a method whereby they warped through the barn by aiming through a rifle scope.

Since Leon can only acquire a scoped rifle later on in the remake, this was only technically possible on successive playthroughs. Travelling straight through a wall in the barn, Leon could skip the fight against Bitores Méndez entirely, and it was expected that this would be a major speedrunning exploit for Resident Evil 4 remake players going forward.

Capcom has now struck down that possible exploit for future speedrunners. Considering some Resident Evil 4 remake speedrunners have been clearing the game in under two hours, we could see times set back by several minutes thanks to the exploit being patched out.

If you're still looking for an easy workaround to the Méndez fight, look no further than the explosive bolts. Players were lacing the ground with the mines before dropping down into the boss arena in the barn, meaning the entire fight would last literally one second in some rare cases. Here's hoping Capcom doesn't take an axe to this exploit as well.

A modder hooked up Resident Evil 4 remake with a classic fixed camera earlier this month, and the result is pure survival horror heaven.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.