Resident Evil 4 Remake nerfs a key exploit from RE4 original

Combing through the new Resident Evil 4 Remake gameplay trailer, there’s a lot of great stuff on show. The cabin sequence looks better than ever. We can see elements of the new crafting system. Even treasures like the elegant mask are seemingly interactive now. But as we await the Resident Evil 4 release date, it looks like Capcom’s horror game is nerfing a very useful exploit from the original RE4, making a particular type of weapon upgrade significantly weaker.

In Resident Evil 4 2005, when you visited the Merchant to upgrade your weapon’s ammunition capacity, your gun would automatically refill. Let’s say you’ve just drained the Red 9 battling the Bella Sisters on your way out the village, and want a complimentary ammo boost ahead of the Mendes boss fight.

Instead of reloading and using up your precious handgun bullets, you just pop to the Merchant, buy the ammo capacity upgrade, and enjoy an entirely full magazine as well as your newly enhanced gun. It was a fantastic way of managing and preserving ammo, especially when purchasing the unique upgrade for the Striker, which automatically gifted you a whopping 100 shotgun shells.

Scrutinising the latest Resident Evil 4 Remake gameplay, however, it seems this exploit has been removed. We see Leon shopping with the Merchant, and buying the ammo capacity upgrade for the Red 9, boosting the magazine size from eight rounds to ten. When he exits out of the buy menu and returns to gameplay, however, the Red 9 still has its original eight rounds – no bonus ammo at all. We’ve skipped ahead to the exact moment in the video below.

So, as you head into Resident Evil 4 Remake, be aware: you need to manage your ammo that bit more carefully this time around, especially with powerful weapons like the Broken Butterfly.

Check out the full Resident Evil 4 system requirements so your PC is ready for a return to the lethal pueblo. You might also want to take a look at some of the other best zombie games (although, as we all know, the Ganados are not really zombies), or maybe the best upcoming games headed to PC.